Since it’s not likely that I will ever get to actually watch a live performance of this musical, I will have to be content with this recording of one such performance. In case you’re living under a rock, this is of course the musical biography of American founding father Alexander Hamilton, written and composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and starring himself as Hamilton. With a running length of two hours and forty minutes watching this is a serious commitment but it is worth it as this is truly a masterpiece that so perfectly encapsulates that piece of American history. It commemorates the deeds of the Founding Fathers, and serves as a surprisingly complete biography of Hamilton, but it also highlights their flaws and how they were, in the end, mere mortals.

This musical in two acts details the life of Hamilton and with it the early history of the United States. Beginning with how he arrives in New York as an orphan born in the Caribbean to study, he establishes a name for himself with his rhetorical skills and writing. During the Revolutionary War, he serves as aide to George Washington and later marries Eliza, a daughter of the wealthy Schuyler family. The first act ends with victory and the US having to decide what kind of government they wish to have. Hamilton serves as the new nation’s first Treasury Secretary under Washington and in doing so establishes its economic and banking underpinnings. The second act opens with Thomas Jefferson returning to the US from France and becoming a rival to Hamilton. When Washington retires, John Addams becomes president and Hamilton too leaves the cabinet. Hamilton’s own political career is effectively ended when he chooses to publicize an affair he had to prevent others from using it against him. Yet when it is Jefferson’s turn to run for president against Hamilton’s one-time friend Aaron Burr, Hamilton still chooses to endorse Jefferson.

Even before this musical returned Hamilton to prominence, probably the best known fact about him is that he died in a duel against Aaron Burr so that’s not a spoiler. The musical is planned around this by having Burr act as an outside narrator and commentator to Hamilton’s career. It probably exaggerates the influence that they had on each other’s careers and similarly exercises artistic license in many other ways as well. For example, the Marquis de Lafayette only arrived in America after the war with England had started and the suggestion that Eliza’s sister Angelica loved Hamilton herself but gave him up for the sake of Eliza and her own family’s future isn’t true either. It does make for a better story so I suppose it’s alright. It’s also fascinating how many of the roles go to non-white performers. Miranda justifies it as elevating the show above being about a story of mainly white men as the history of America belongs to all Americans. More problematic is that the show presents Hamilton and those on his side of the aisle as being against slavery. The evidence for this seems more mixed, ignoring the fact that Washington too was a slave owner as was his own father-in-law. I think this charge is serious enough that the show should have been more honest about it. On the same, it makes for a surprisingly complete biography of Hamilton and I really like how it doesn’t forget Eliza’s efforts to preserve his legacy after his death.

Before seeing this, I was pretty dubious about the musical uses both rap and song in a historical epic but it’s amazing how well this works in practice. Between the diversity casting, the rap and character takes such as framing Jefferson as a kind of hip-hop star, there is no doubt that this is a very modern interpretation of history and that’s exactly what is needed to rekindle interest in these events of the past. The songs are excellent and giving each character their own leitmotif makes it much easier to keep track of who they are and their motivations. I think that Miranda himself as Hamilton is the weakest link in this particular production as the rest of the cast have far better singing voices and stage charisma. Characters like the Schuyler sisters, Washington and Jefferson all makes memorable entrances but I suspect that it is the hilarious King George III of England that is the audience favorite with the distinctive solo. My personal favorite however must be Burr’s The Room Where It Happens which captures the need of a politician to actually be the one with his hands of the levers of power. I also like how it demonstrates that while the musical is broadly sympathetic towards Hamilton, he is still a politician who makes deals and compromises to get things done.

That brings me to the greatest point this musical makes: that it is impossible for authoritarian regimes, for all of the effort they spend on making propaganda, to create something even a fraction as good. Hamilton may be a hero of the Revolutionary War and the nation’s first Treasury Secretary but he’s also the nation’s first politician to be felled by a sex scandal and American history isn’t just unafraid to admit it, it embraces it. It also highlights how George Washington deliberately stepped down as president despite his immense popularity because he knew his actions would set the precedent for the nation. It invites the audience to examine their actions for themselves and to criticize their mistakes and all too human foibles. That it actually works very well as a history lesson while delivering plenty of comedy, action, romance and tragedy, is just incredible. Watching this live must be an incredible experience but short of that, watching this film version in the privacy of your own home should be obligatory for all of those interesting in politics.