“Hamilton” has turned 10, and the musical theater sensation still has a vibrant, relevant, ever-shifting tale of revolution and democracy to tell.
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s mix of American history, theatrical diversity and contemporary hip-hop had its off-Broadway premiere in 2015, and is as much in demand as it was years ago. The show’s national touring production is making its third trip to The Bushnell — the only theater in Connecticut it has ever played — for a 16-performance run Nov. 4-16.
“Hamilton” was last at The Bushell in 2022. That engagement had originally been scheduled for a year and a half earlier but was delayed by the COVID pandemic. That was the “Philip” tour, one of three Hamilton” companies touring at the time. Both the 2018 and 2022 engagements were at The Bushnell for three weeks.
Where there were once two or three simultaneous touring companies, there is now only one. And the tour is very busy, still selling out multi-week engagements in major cities. The two weeks in Hartford follows a six-week stay in Boston. A separate tour covers the UK and Ireland, and the New York and London productions are still running.
The cast of the national tour of “Hamilton.” (Joan Marcus)
One of the elements that keeps “Hamilton” so fresh is that no cast is expected to mimic the performances of the original Broadway cast, which included Miranda himself in the title role. Thomas Kail’s expert direction provides a visual structure that creates clear spatial relationships among the characters (as well as objects like a dancing bullet) but also allows for personal expression and reinterpretation by the actors.
In Hartford, Alexander Hamilton — the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury — is played by Tyler Fauntleroy. Angelica Schuyler, eldest of the three Schuyler sisters who figured heavily in Hamilton’s life, is played by Marja Harmon. The central role of Aaron Burr, who takes on the same sort of narrator/antagonist position that Judas Iscariot has in “Jesus Christ Superstar” is played by Jimmie “J.J.” Jeter, a veteran of both the Broadway and touring productions.
Outside of the main characters, many of the performers in “Hamilton” take on two or more distinct roles. The most notable pairing is of Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson, characters who are both asked to speed rap their key songs. On this tour, Lafayette/Jefferson is Christian Magby.
Nathan Haydel, a student at Berklee School of Music who has been with the tour for just over a year, has one of the trickier juxtapositions. In the first act he plays John Laurens, a friend of Hamilton’s who advocates for the abolition of slavery. In the second act, Haydel plays Hamilton’s son Philip, whose actions trigger much of the drama toward the end of the show.
Tyler Fauntleroy (center) as Alexander Hamilton at his writing desk in the national tour of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton.” (Joan Marcus)
Haydel said the other members of the cast helped him find his way through the disparate roles. “I had ideas I came in with but it definitely got a lot easier the more I was talked to about it.”
Instead of making Laurens and Philip starkly different, Haydel made the counterintuitive creative decision to “highlight more of their similarities rather than making them two different personalities. They’re two sides of the same coin.”
Haydel did some of his own research into John Laurens and Philip Hamilton in order to capture the nuances of those characters. “It was helpful in a bunch of ways in terms of understanding the lines and the relationships between them and other characters.” Mostly it helped him understand Miranda’s interpretation of this vibrant chapter of American history, drawn from Ron Chernow’s 2004 biography “Alexander Hamilton.”
“It’s helpful to know all that stuff, but the show is still the show,” Haydel said.
Left to right: Lauren Mariasoosay, Marja Harmon and Lily Soto as the Schuyler sisters in the national tour of “Hamilton.” (Joan Marcus)
Haydel, who is still in his 20s, said he discovered “Hamilton” in high school. “I started doing musical theater in school and I remember hearing it all the time when it first came out. It was everywhere. Everyone knew all the words and there were a lot of words. It’s kind of crazy to be part of the 10th anniversary now. Ten years ago, I was 13. That is really weird. That time period seems a lifetime ago.”
One of the connections between Haydel’s high school ambitions to be a musical theater performer and his professional achievement now involves Connecticut. Haydel attended the selective and intensive musical theater program in Norwalk then known as The Link and now known as the Norwalk Conservatory of the Arts.
“It’s a big part of why I’m here today,” Haydel said. “Shoutout to Danny (the program’s creator Danny Loftus George)!”
The show can also be especially meaningful to Connecticut audiences. Miranda and Kail both went to Wesleyan University in Middletown, as did the A&R music executive Peter Ganbarg who had a hand in the making of the mega-hit original Broadway cast soundtrack album. Miranda workshopped his first Broadway hit “In the Heights” at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford.
“Hamilton” on tour. The show is making its third visit to The Bushnell in seven years. (Joan Marcus)
The mix of established veterans and young blood in the “Hamilton” casts keep the show both fresh and grounded. Audiences have broadened, too, since there are many fans who grew up with the show.
Asked if audiences react differently in different cities on tour, Haydel said “Definitely” and mentioned a Montreal stop where the line “Sir, I was a captain under General Montgomery until he caught a bullet in the neck in Quebec” in the song “Right Hand Man” got a huge cheer every performance. In some cities, the line “Immigrants! We get the job done!” from the song “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)” can be a rallying cry.
When the video version of a live “Hamilton” performance, the one that airs on Disney+, was put on cinema screens earlier this year, there was widespread debate over audience behavior because some crowds were singing along throughout the entire screening. The live rendition does not have that issue, Haydel said, but he understands the sing-along urge. “I’m very in support of the enthusiasm and the energy,” he said.
Outside of the full-time gig of two key roles in the biggest musical theater sensation of the 21st century, Haydel has a career as a songwriter and musician, releasing music under the name Nat Riel. He has been trying to keep his own music active on the road but “It can be hard. I try really hard. I’m carrying around all this stuff, working on new stuff.”
The national tour of “Hamilton” runs Nov. 4-16 at The Bushnell, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford. Performances are Tuesday through Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 and 7 p.m. $60-$197. bushnell.org. The tour also still offers a popular “Ham4Ham” lottery to win great seats at short notice for $10.