By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com
photo from Broadway in Tucson
The fabled vigor of "Hamilton" fills the national touring company that's playing in Centennial Hall. Now we know what all the fuss has been about.
It's true, the first national touring production of “Hamilton” to reach Tucson is worthy of the Lin-Manuel Miranda show's barrier-shattering reputation world wide.
Everything good that you've heard about the breakthrough rap dialogue and defiant hip hop rhythms of this multi-cultural hit drawn from our nation's history are all up there on the Centennial Hall stage at the University of Arizona.
The voices are strong and the sound is good. That towering, whacked-out stage design by David Korins looks exactly like it does in all the Broadway photos of this barn burner.
Stretching wide from wing to wing, defined by the brown-toned wood scaffolding and stretched out stairways, balconies and railings, the silent details add a somber enormity to the soaring scale of such a larger than life spectacle.
There is plenty of room for the remarkably agile cast of 25 actors, singers and dancers to fill. And fill it they do.
Julius Thomas III is in complete control as Alexander Hamilton, bulging with brilliance and ambition to match. Equaling his talent is Donald Webber, Jr., playing Aaron Burr.
Polar opposites in their objectives as energetic young firebrands that history has put upon the threshold of America's founding, they are also motivated by opportunities of wealth defying an ordinary imagination.
You don't need to know much about history to appreciate “Hamilton.” Miranda didn't set out to tell a story about one of our lesser-celebrated forefathers so much as he wanted to create an emotional experience on stage, driven by muscular music powered by street rhythms of compelling urgency.
Key to this heart-felt frenzy is the swirling choreography of Andy Blankenbuehler. There are no still moments. For a full two hours and forty five minutes the music is nearly continuous, generating a throbbing thrusting feeling, like everyone is moving with purpose, having a definite place to go.
For sure it's no place for people to just sit around talking. The program lists 34 separate musical numbers, rolling across the stage like waves of emotion, each one building on the last one, sweeping crescendos pushing us toward the one historical moment everyone does know – Hamilton's fatal dual with Burr, his nemesis.
Just know, this is no warmed-over road show reproduction. The Broadway heart of “Hamilton” is shining in Tucson. This one feels fresh and strong and vigorous.
Broadway in Tucson has also worked out the mechanics of moving people through its COVID protocols. Be sure to have document proof of you vaccinations or a negative COVID test result in the last 72 hours. Also bring a comfortable mask, which must be worn at all times (except when eating or drinking).
There's also a list of items you can't bring, such as large handbags. Check the Broadway in Tucson website for the full requirements. Arrive about an hour before curtain to avoid that rushed feeling.
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