THEATRE REVIEW: "Hamilton" at The PrivateBank Theatre (Chicago, IL)

      On April 20th, 2017, Kathryn and I saw a performance of the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical "Hamilton" at The PrivateBank Theatre (now called the CIBC Theatre) in Chicago, IL.  This was the Chicago Production of the musical, which ran from September 27th, 2016 through January 5th, 2020.  From what I remember, the first block of tickets to the show sold out the day they went on sale.  It was when the second block of tickets went on sale at a later date that I overdrew my checking account (again) by purchasing two balcony level tickets for $65 each.  




     "Hamilton" was a show I knew next to nothing about.  I did not watch the 2016 Tony Awards when the Broadway Production won  11 Awards including Best Musical.  I didn't listen to the cast recording prior to seeing the show.  There was so much hype for the show already, and I wanted to be blown away by the production.  Unfortunately, that did not happen.  The songs were sung too fast for me to follow along, let alone understand what anyone was saying.  There were three women standing in the row behind us, singing along to the music.  Sadly, that was more annoying than helpful.


Kathryn and I going to see "Hamilton."


     During intermission, Kathryn and I were reminiscing about elementary school art class and the various sayings the art teacher would say like "Dullsville." or "Smoothy... Smoothy... Watch a jungle movie..."  During Act Two, I think I was pretty much ready to leave.  Kathryn liked the show more than I did, but she was annoyed by the people behind us too.  After the show, I compared "Hamilton" to the musical "Cats."  -- People love it now... but wait a couple decades, and people will love to hate it.




     One thing I noticed about the scenic design by David Korins was, not just the turntable, but how flammable it looked.  I did not notice it right away.  I noticed it when one of the characters lit the contents of a wastebasket on fire.  At that point I noticed all the wood in the set design, how flammable that looked, and how flammable the character's period clothing looked.  I don't think I was all that alarmed or worried about it.  Also, I didn't get why Hamilton's (?) mother wasn't trying to save him while he lay dying, but rather was reviewing the French alphabet with him.  I was in the mood to be critical I guess.  I didn't love the show.  But I'm glad I got to see it.  Besides Karen Olivo, the cast featured Miguel Cervantes, Alexander Gemignani, and Daniel Breaker.  



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