This year marks two anniversaries – 244 years since the end of the American Revolutionary War with the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781, and ten years since the first performance of Lin Manuel Miranda’s record-breaking musical Hamilton which commemorates the former as part of its retelling of the life of founding father Alexander Hamilton.
From late September onwards there is the opportunity to watch the original Broadway cast in UK cinemas or see it live in the West End or catch the UK tour as it visits Norwich and Glasgow, and I would highly recommend doing so. But what has made this musical such a runaway success?
On paper the marriage of hip-hop music and history seems an unlikely pairing, but the clever lyrics, innovative re-imagining of the story and foregrounding of the immigrant identity of the young USA makes for a compelling watch. The almost Shakespearean arc of the protagonist – sometimes hero and sometimes villain – follows a familiar tale of rags to riches to pride to the inevitable fall. I won’t give away any spoilers but the second half of the musical shows the power of grace, forgiveness and a kind of redemption.
As with that other musical powerhouse Les Misérables, we see two men in constant friction and opposition. Yet whereas Valjean and Javert symbolise Grace versus Law, Hamilton and his frenemy Burr are more alike than they care to admit – their differences are those of temperament, but they share the experience of losing their parents young, studying law, fighting against the British, bringing up their children, and their ambition to get to the top of their new country’s government.
Despite the Christian roots of his characters (Aaron Burr’s grandfather was the famous preacher, Jonathan Edwards), and the fleeting glimpses of something greater, Hamilton does not quite reach the same resolution as Les Misérables. Heaven is hinted at, but not quite seen. Despite his Catholic upbringing, Lin Manuel Miranda has stated on X that he is “not particularly religious”, yet in his grappling with the big questions of life, purpose and identity, he cannot avoid asking the questions which only the gospel can answer.
Two oft-repeated refrains in the musical are “Have I done enough?” and “Who tells your story?” As you watch and talk about this musical, how great to know that Jesus has done everything we need – it is finished (John 19v30) – and that whether our names live on for centuries or are soon forgotten, we can be assured that our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev.20v12).
When did you last get lost in a good book?
A YouGov poll in 2025 stated that 40% of UK adults have not read or listened to a single book …