Hamilton (2020 Film)

On Saturday night, July 4th, Sharon and I watched Hamilton on Disney+. We saw the play on Broadway in 2018. The play was inspired by the 2004 biography by Ron Chernow; I read the book in 2017.

Hamilton was directed and produced by Thomas Kail and produced, written, and composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Miranda also stars as first Treasury Secretary and Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. The film is edited together from three performances of Hamilton at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in June 2016 with the original principal Broadway cast members.

Hamilton was originally planned for theatrical release on October 15, 2021. However, in response to the pandemic, it was moved up and released digitally worldwide on Disney+ on July 3, 2020.

Divided in two acts, the musical depicts the life and career of Alexander Hamilton, an orphaned immigrant from the Caribbean island of Nevis. The first act covers Hamilton's arrival in New York City in 1776, his work as an aide-de-camp to General George Washington during the American Revolution, and how he met and married Eliza Schuyler. The second act covers Hamilton's postwar work as the first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States and his death in a duel with Aaron Burr.

I really enjoyed the film.  I highly recommend it.  I rarely see a film and think that I want to watch it again; I am going to watch Hamilton again (Sea Ranch?).

When we saw the performance on Broadway, Jack talked about how the actor playing Thomas Jefferson was very different than the performer in the original cast.  At the time, I said that I was disappointed in the casting of Jefferson.  I found the original cast member (Daveed Diggs) in the film very good.

I was thinking that the film could win several Oscars.  Unfortunately, by rule, filmed versions of theatrical performances are not eligible for the Oscars...

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