It’s impossible to overstate just how much it means to have the national touring production of “Hamilton” back up and rapping to sold-out houses at the Buell Theatre after the economic devastation of the pandemic shutdown. To the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. To those who work on or around the show. To culture-starved theatergoers. To the general psyche of the city.
This return run of “Hamilton” was first scheduled to run for eight weeks in 2020 as part of a powerhouse schedule that had set up the Denver Center for the most successful year in its history. This lineup was stacked: “Mean Girls,” “The Lion King,” “The Book of Mormon,” “My Fair Lady,” “1776” and more, including a new musical on The Temptations.
Then, COVID. By the end of 2021, the extended hiatus from performing had resulted in an estimated $100 million loss of revenue to the Denver Center alone, Director of Communications Suzanne Yoe said in December.
“Nothing about this global pandemic has been easy, so it means so much to the DCPA, the touring industry and all artists involved to have Broadway back after such a long hiatus,” John Ekeberg, the Denver Center’s Executive Director of Broadway, said before Thursday’s re-opening night. “The audience is ready – and so am I.”
That audience included fans of all ages. Reba and Kevin Lib brought a large group that included their 7-year-old daughter, who knew every song coming in. “It’s a fantastic musical – and it’s history,” said Reba, who also attended “Hamilton’s” first visit to Denver in 2018, a zeitgeist moment for the city that sold out within five hours of tickets going on sale.
“It’s wonderful to be here tonight because it means the Denver Performing Arts Complex is back in full swing,” she said. “We feel such a sense of relief that we have somewhere to go again to see all of the arts.”
Patty Kingsbaker, a retired talent agent, braved the post-snow drive from Colorado Springs to attend Thursday because, she said, “The show is just perfect. The story, the music, the book – all of it. I feel so blessed to be in the room where it’s happening.” Especially now.
“I think we’ve become too introspective during the shutdown,” said Kingsbaker, 71. “We need to hear stories – and we especially need to hear other people’s stories to help us get out of ourselves.”
Hamilton National Tour.
“Hamilton'' became an immediate cultural phenomenon in 2015 when Lin-Manuel Miranda first introduced his Broadway adaptation of Ron Chernow's biography of American founding father Alexander Hamilton. And when a filming of the original Broadway cast was streamed on Disney+ in July 2020, it brought the show to another level of cultural consciousness. There are currently six productions being staged around the world, including the one visiting Denver through March 27.
“Hamilton” revolutionized, re-invented and in many ways reinvigorated the American musical form, in part because of its barrier-busting embrace of hip-hop and spoken word. In part because it brings women into the historical narrative. In part because it brings history alive. (Teachers have hailed “Hamilton” as a vital new teaching tool that both makes history accessible – and causes attuned teens to howl and swoon.)
And in large part because of Miranda’s controversial decision to cast the show with primarily non-white actors playing the founding fathers.
“Our cast looks like America looks now, and that’s certainly intentional,” Miranda told the New York Times. “It’s a way of pulling you into the story and allowing you to leave whatever cultural baggage you have about the founding fathers at the door.” The DCPA Theatre Company has embraced the same concept in how it is currently presenting “Rattlesnake Kate,” a world-premiere musical about a pioneering Colorado frontierswoman who is played at different ages by three actors of differing ethnicities.
To some, telling the story of America’s inception with non-white actors playing Hamilton, Aaron Burr, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson is a proactive political statement in support of equality, unity and the dream of a post-racial society. To others, it’s an outrage. Miranda has come under fire from those who challenge his characterization of “Hamilton” as an anti-slavery abolitionist. But I think there is a far greater (if subtler) good in his storytelling approach.
This is a time when cultural caretakers are wrestling with one of the central questions of Miranda’s own musical: “Who tells your story?” White people had their chance to tell this same story – and they did, with “1776,” which is a pretty fine musical itself that, not coincidentally, is also currently being re-imagined with a cast that reflects multiple representations of race, gender and ethnicity. It’s time to take a fresh look at old stories through historically underrepresented lenses.
The scene outside the Buell Theatre before Hamilton performed on Thursday night.
What’s most universally impactful about “Hamilton” is that the title character (born in the West Indies) is established from the start as a bastard, an orphan and an immigrant –one who would go on to help the colonies win the Revolutionary War, push through the U.S. Constitution and revolutionizing the nation’s financial system. He is the classic underdog, a flawed hero who represents all of those communities of people who have been excluded from the country's larger narrative – and from the American stage and screen. Hamilton’s story is, literally, that of the American Dream. And it lands all the more impactfully in 2022 when told by a Black actor.
While the remainder of the Denver run is essentially sold out, 40 seats for each performance have been withheld for a digital lottery, with winners having to pay only $10 per ticket. To enter, sign up on the official Hamilton app, called #HAM4Ham. Those selected can buy up to two tickets. Additionally, patrons are encouraged to check denvercenter.org for late-release seats that might become available at short notice.
If you do happen to get seats, take it all in – the artistry, the poetry and the energy, especially given where are and what we have all come through the past two years. Chances are, you will be humming one the musical’s many mantras as you leave:
“Look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now.”
John Moore is the Denver Gazette’s Senior Arts Journalist. Reach him at john.moore@denvergazette.com