10 years in, and ‘Hamilton’ is still downright revolutionary

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I streamed “Hamilton” earlier this month — in fact, on Aug. 6, the day the musical celebrated its 10th birthday — compelled by my partner’s confession of never having seen the smash Broadway show (gasp!).

He later admitted to being surprised by how much he enjoyed it. I found it nearly as exciting, as thrilling as when I first saw the production, from a high balcony seat in the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway in October 2017.

Except that this time, I knew all the words to the songs. (To an obnoxious degree.)

How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean … . 

The way I look at it, you’re either a hard-core fan of the Lin-Manuel Miranda creation, or … you’re wrong.

The proof is in the numbers: the hip-hop musical won 11 Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize for drama after its debut, among dozens of other accolades.

Ayo I’m just like my country, I’m young, scrappy and hungry, I am not throwing away my shot … .

And even after a decade, “Hamilton” (based on a 2004 biography of Alexander Hamilton written by Ron Chernow) is as fresh — as revolutionary — in subsequent viewings to me because, above all, it entertains. Hard.

I remember that after that New York performance, I sat stunned at what I had just witnessed, then being jarred back to my senses by the roar of the standing ovation. Wow.

I’ve been a Broadway series subscriber at the Denver Center for decades, and no other performance before or since has had me so, well, high on the art. When the national touring company performed “Hamilton” at the Buell Theater in 2018, and again in 2024, I was there. When it came to Disney+ in 2020, of course I got a subscription so I could revisit the magic. (Yes, I used the word “magic” and Disney in the same sentence.)

And every time, I am driven anew to read up on the facts behind the man and the history. Some things you may not know about “Hamilton”:

• It took Miranda about seven years to write the lyrics and music for the smash Broadway musical, and a full year to write one song: “My Shot.”
• Ariana DeBose played The Bullet in the original cast, including the off-Broadway version.
• Hamilton did, in fact, advise his son to not fire his weapon in the duel that led to the 19-year-old’s death.
• George Eacker, who fired that fatal shot, died of tuberculosis two years later, at the age of 29.
• Hamilton and his wife, Eliza Schuyler, had eight children. Their second child, Angelica, suffered a breakdown after Philip’s death and spent the rest of her life in an asylum.
• Miranda earns a 3% royalty every time “Hamilton” is performed. He currently is worth about $80 million.
• Miranda played Hamilton in the musical on Broadway for less than a year, starting with its debut in 2015.
• Despite its popularity, “Hamilton” is not the highest-grossing Broadway show of all time. That honor goes to “The Lion King.”
• Hercules Mulligan, Alexander Hamilton, John Laurens and the Marquis de Lafayette didn’t actually meet at the same time in a pub in 1776, as depicted in the musical. (“Raise a glass to the four of us, tomorrow there’ll be more of us.”) Hamilton met Mulligan three years earlier, and likely was introduced to both Lafayette and Laurens after 1777.
• While it’s hard to tell from “Hamilton,” the American Revolution lasted eight years.
• Aaron Burr was the grandson of theologian and preacher Jonathan Edwards.
• Hamilton did engage in flirtatious correspondence with Angelica Schuyler, the sister of his wife, Eliza. (The cad.)

Are there problems with “Hamilton”? Sure. Critics accused Miranda of downplaying the role of slavery and of glorifying the founding fathers who supported it. While many lauded him for casting Blacks as major characters (Washington, Mulligan, Lafayette, Angelica Schuyler and Thomas Jefferson, for example), others, like Cheryn Hong of The Michigan Daily, said “Hamilton” takes the “talent and music from Black culture to tell a story of white men.”

Historical inaccuracies are also brought up, such as that there is no inkling that Hamilton, who once worked on a slave ship, was actually against slavery at all (in fact, few whites of the time came out against the heinous practice). While the musical implies that he was pro-immigration, his support for the Alien and Sedition Acts (which restricted immigration and citizenship) weakens that argument.

So much for the most humorous line: “Immigrants, we get the job done.”

However, one common complaint is a stretch: that the female characters are only there to support the men. Um, it was the 1700s, remember? (I thought Miranda did his best to give Angelica Schuyler opinions and grit, for what it’s worth.)

The New York Times recently called “Hamilton” “the Broadway hit that coupled hip-hop music with the Founding Fathers — an unlikely pairing that forever changed ticket prices and spurred an era of race-conscious casting.”

Soon, as part of the 10-year celebration, fans can see the musical — recorded with nine cameras and more than 100 microphones, according to The Times — on the big screen as it hits theaters nationwide on Sept. 5.

And I will likely be there. Because, when it comes to “Hamilton” — and taking the liberty (get it?) to paraphrase King George III — I’ll love you ’til my dying days.

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