Last week I went to see a perfect West End quality Musical in Manchester.
The chorography was amazing and the lighting was as good as I’ve ever seen. Hamilton has been a phenomena since it opened on Broadway in January 2015. The show was created and written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, an Academy award winner for, “How Far I’ll go” from the Disney film Moana and “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto.
He’s a very talented man, a true Broadway legend, and even starred as the title character Alexander Hamilton in New York ,for the opening months of it’s sold out run. It’s the story of one of America’s founding fathers telling the story of his involvement in the American Revolution and the early political history of the USA. The story is told through hip hop, rap, R&B, soul and pop.
Hamilton has taken over Manchester’s Palace Theatre until late February 2024 and by all accounts it looks like it’ll be sold out for every performance, during that three month run, which is amazing for the Manchester theatre scene. I was there on press night and you could sense that everyone in attendance knew the show backwards and loved every minute of it.
Shaq Taylor, who you will have seen in the current Ikea adverts and also starred as the Beast in the UK tour of Beauty and the Beast, which visited Manchester earlier in the year, plays Hamilton and is magnificent. How he remembers every line of his dialogue, which is delivered at lightning quick speed, is beyond me. He’s not the only talented performer on stage, they all are.
That said, I enjoyed the experience, but I didn’t really enjoy the show. It’s not my cup of tea. I’m not a fan of hip hop, rap or R&B, so I guess it’s not aimed at me. I wrote a column a couple of weeks ago in which I suggested that reviews of shows have a limited value. The fact I didn’t enjoy the show is irrelevant. If other people loved it and plan to see it repeated times makes me very happy.
Someone texted me, when I revealed I’d attended the show, saying that their fourteen-year-old daughter had already seen it three times and would be going again. As he phrased it, “this was the door that opened up the musical theatre World to her”. That’s a lovely thing to read. I hope she goes on to enjoy Musical Theatre, in all it’s forms, as much as I do.
This week I’ll be up at the George Lawton Hall in Mossley watching the latest incarnation of School of Rock. It’s by the next generation, mainly, of Mossley Amateur Operatic & Dramatic Society. Having popped into one of the rehearsals to record a couple of interviews that you may have heard on my radio show, I can tell it’s going to be good. If there are tickets left, I’d suggest you try to get along and support them.
My guests this week on Break-a-Leg on Tameside Radio from 7pm on Sunday include Lilian Tsang, who’s one of the stars of Life of Pi which opens at the Lowry in Salford on Tuesday 5th December and runs until Sunday 7th January. Lilian is a fascinating actor who told me all about the show but also her personal story about dreaming of performing when she was a little girl in Hong Kong. I’ve also been chatting to Janet Fagan, a great community hero, who encourages and includes everyone from Denton in amazing shows. The Ensemble Theatre’s “The Princess and the Merry Crew” will be at Denton Festival Hall from 12th to 16th December. Plea se join me on Sunday at 7pm, and repeated Wednesday’s at 9pm, for Break-a-Leg – all things Theatrical & Musical Theatre.
