Hamilton's America (2016) Reviews

• Absolutely breathtaking

  tiaane2016-11-01

  Hamilton's America is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. I got emotional multiple times while watching this because it was so incredibly moving. The behind the scenes of this amazing musical is told from the beginning to essentially where it is now and the impact it has. The story of how it came to be is told by Lin-Manuel Miranda one year before opening night of the show in 2014. Lin reflects on all the things that has inspired him to write this musical. One year before opening night things are still not completely ready. We take a look back to 2008 where Lin performed an early version of the song 'Alexander Hamilton' at The White House Poetry Jam and realized that there's more to be told of this story on stage. Over the years he develops this thing that he's not sure will even work. You hear rough versions of some of the songs through the years. Lin writes the lyrics in places like Aaron Burr's bedroom. Finally on opening night, the show is received incredibly well and more people want to go see this show. Throughout the documentary the inspiration and history behind a lot of the songs are told one by one by people like Ron Chernow (whose biography of Alexander Hamilton inspired Lin), the actors who played the people that were historically involved and people who are currently in the same position of government like Obama. You get a much broader sense of what happened and how it affected things that are still relevant today like Hamilton's financial plans for the country. It's essentially a history lesson of these people and it's done incredibly well with clips from Hamilton playing, which were fantastic to see considering I haven't seen the actual musical, and the actors' mindset while portraying historical figures on stage. Things like how deeply flawed these people were and still made such a big difference. The ending in particular is very emotional, where Leslie Odom Jr. (Aaron Burr) and Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton) visits Burr and Hamilton's grave and talks about how 'Hamilton' essentially revived their legacies by telling their stories to an audience who wouldn't particularly be interested before, but who became interested in the historical significance and impact they had and still have through 'Hamilton'. I would recommend this to anyone who has even the slightest interest in 'Hamilton' or even just interested in the history of The United Sates of America. 9/10

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• PBS does 'Hamilton' proud!

  LiquidPoetry19212017-03-10

  If you were unable (like most of us) to score a ticket to one of the most successful musicals in Broadway history, this documentary in PBS's 'Great Performances' series is an absolute must-see! From the ironic way 'Hamilton' creator Lin-Manuel Miranda stumbled upon the history of Alexander Hamilton, to the way he decided to turn it into a hip-hop production, this documentary beautifully explores the history of Miranda's masterpiece. Filled with commentaries from individuals such as Ron Chernow, the Hamilton biographer who penned Miranda's inspiration for the play, to words of praise from former Presidents George Bush and Barack Obama, to hearing from Leslie Odom, Jr., the amazing actor who portrayed Aaron Burr, this program provides insights that may have been previously unknown by PBS viewers. One of those 'insights' came from Miranda himself, explaining how he based the Hamilton/Burr rivalry on feuding rap adversaries Tupac and Biggie. Just one of the MANY things you'll learn from this marvelous show! In short, if you've missed seeing the phenomenal theatre production of "Hamilton"...or even if you have, PBS's "Hamilton's America" is must-see viewing for every member of the family!

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• A great documentary about developing an incredible rap musical!

  Irishchatter2017-05-14

  I seriously thought this documentary would leave you singing away at some of the songs like "Alexander Hamilton" and others which I can't remember at the top of my head. It shows us the story on how the incredible mind of Lin Manuel created this by reading the rest of the real Alexander Hamilton's history til death. Seriously I cannot wait til the movie screens on cinema, I definitely would be the first person in the queue to see the movie haha! Definitely worth seeing this documentary although be aware, you'll see corrupt George Bush appearing in this so he might put you off but try not to at the same time!

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