‘Hamilton’ lives up to the hype

Last season, undisputed honors for the hottest theater ticket in town went to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” in its regional debut at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts.

This season, the “Hamilton” love continues unabated, albeit with a different touring company of the same show. The “Angelica” cast has begun a four-week run at Miami’s Arsht Center. The actors are different from the ones in the “Philip” cast who played Fort Lauderdale last season, and of course, each brings his or her interpretive skill set to these now-famous roles.

But as the silent attentiveness to specific moments and the appreciative roars at the end of multiple numbers so clearly demonstrate, the play (or musical, in this case) is resoundingly the thing. Everyone from diehard “Hamilfans” to first-timers in the audience is there to experience the groundbreaking vision of Miranda and his creative collaborators.

Miranda, director Thomas Kail, musical director-orchestrator Alex Lacamoire and choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler set out to tell the story of the “10-dollar Founding Father” by bringing a great man’s history to life, flaws and all, from a 21st-century perspective.

In terms of touring Broadway, each element of “Hamilton” is of the highest caliber: from David Korins’ massive brickand-wood set to costume designer Paul Tazewell’s alluring interpretation of revolutionary style; from the hurricane-summoning and mood-underscoring lighting by Howell Binkley to the clarity of Nevin Steinberg’s sound design. Conductor Patrick Fanning leads a superb eight-piece orchestra.

Part of the joy of seeing different casts perform “Hamilton” is appreciating the way the chemistry changes as performers interpret the roles. Director Kail and choreographer Blankenbuehler don’t force carbon-copy performances, so even for those seeing “Hamilton” multiple times, there are fresh discoveries to be made.

In Miami, Edred Utomi’s Hamilton is at first the unpolished newcomer, then a quick study who ingratiates himself into the circles of power. The actor is a wonderful singer and dancer who slays in his critical (and comical) rap battles with Bryson Bruce’s cocky Thomas Jefferson. And his seduction scenes with Olivia Puckett’s Maria Reynolds — he’s dressed in vibrant green, she in fallen-woman red — positively sizzle.

Alexander Ferguson, a standby actor for five characters (Hamilton, Burr, John Laurens/Philip Hamilton and King George), performed as Burr at a considerably hotter temperature than Broadway original Leslie Odom Jr. Playing the show’s sometime narrator and the man who ended Hamilton’s life at 49 in a duel, Ferguson is a great singer-dancer, and his work on “The Room Where It Happens” is a study in ravenous ambition.

As the Marquis de Lafayette in the first act, Bruce is difficult to understand, perhaps because of the too-heavy French accent he uses. Once he switches to playing Jefferson in the second, the actor oozes confidence, calculation and charisma, and his look-at-me rosy frock coat is just right for a performer who seems to dance with goofy abandon.

Tall and deep-voiced, Paul Oakley Stovall is a literally commanding George Washington, moving as he sings the nostalgically bittersweet “One Last Time,” and funny as he appropriates the style of a wrestling announcer to referee the Jefferson-Hamilton rap battles.

Then there are the two loves of Hamilton’s life: one actual, the other exaggerated by Miranda for dramatic effect. Zoe Jensen is a sweetly besotted Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, a loving wife who encourages her workaholic husband to engage more with the family and then transmits the sorrow of her broken heart as she sings “Burn.” Stephanie Umoh plays her elder sister, Angelica Schuyler, Hamilton’s mental match, though she keeps her attraction unrequited for Eliza’s sake.

In every way, “Hamilton” lives up to its reputation. The musical is enlightening, deeply touching, thoroughly engaging. It’s the work of creators at the top of their game. If you love great theater, don’t throw away your shot while the show is in town. Whether you buy a ticket or enter the daily lottery, you need to be in the room where “Hamilton” happens.