They’re brewing up a revolution down on Lafayette Street. And even theater reactionaries seem destined to be swept up in its doubt-defying ardor.
“Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda’s independent-minded new musical for the masses at the Public Theater, shot open like a streamlined cannon ball on Tuesday night. When one of the young rebels who populate this vibrant work says, “History is happening in Manhattan,” you can only nod in happy agreement.
“Happening” qualifies as both an adjective and a verb in this instance. Adapted from Ron Chernow’s 2004 doorstop biography of Alexander Hamilton — “the 10-dollar founding father without a father,” as the show’s lyrics put it — this speeding bio-musical has become the most fashionable (and unobtainable) ticket in town.
More important, “Hamilton,” which is directed with vigor and finesse by Thomas Kail and features the multifarious Mr. Miranda in the title role, persuasively transfers a thoroughly archived past into an unconditional present tense. Written and composed by Mr. Miranda, this work may reap the pattern-bestowing benefits of two centuries of hindsight. Yet it exudes the dizzying urgency of being caught up in momentous events as they occur.
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Hamilton
Book, music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, inspired by the book “Alexander Hamilton,” by Ron Chernow; choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler; directed by Thomas Kail; sets by David Korins; costumes by Paul Tazewell; lighting by Howell Binkley; sound by Nevin Steinberg; hair and wig design by Charles LaPointe; arrangements by Alex Lacamoire and Mr. Miranda; orchestrations/music direction by Mr. Lacamoire; music contractor, Michael Keller; production stage manager, James Latus; associate artistic director, Mandy Hackett; associate producer, Maria Goyanes; production executive, Ruth E. Sternberg; produced with the support of Jeffrey Seller, Sander Jacobs and Jill Furman. Presented by the Public Theater, Oskar Eustis, artistic director; Patrick Willingham, executive director. At the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village; 212-967-7555, publictheater.org. Through May 3. Running time: 2 hours 45 minutes.
WITH: Daveed Diggs (Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson), Renée Elise Goldsberry (Angelica Schuyler), Christopher Jackson (George Washington), Brian d’Arcy James (King George), Jasmine Cephas Jones (Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds), Lin-Manuel Miranda (Alexander Hamilton), Leslie Odom Jr. (Aaron Burr), Okieriete Onaodowan (Hercules Mulligan/James Madison), Anthony Ramos (John Laurens/Philip Hamilton) and Phillipa Soo (Eliza Hamilton).
A version of this review appears in print on February 18, 2015, on page C1 of the New York edition with the headline: Founding Fathers as a Bunch of Chill Dudes. Order Reprints| Today’s Paper|Subscribe
