Broadway at TPAC
Hamilton Lives up to the Hype
One of the many delights of writing for Music City Review is the variety of drama events we get to cover: besides the many wonderful resident Nashville-area theater companies performing a wide variety of drama, we have even more local events in drama works in progress, the Kindling Arts Festival, and neighborhood-specific improvised musicals. At MCR we get to discuss these events in community, we get to record accomplishments and help announce live Nashville drama to Nashvillians. We also get to cover some of the biggest shows in live theater when Broadway comes to TPAC. Instead of reviewing something you may never have heard of (but certainly ought to know about), suddenly we enter a global conversation. The conversation about Hamilton has continued since it first appeared on stage a little over ten years ago, when it won 11 Tonys, a Grammy, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The original Broadway production was filmed and is available on Disney+.
This is all to say that the purpose of this review is not to introduce the concept of Hamilton, its music, or really any other aspect of the original creation. There has been a plethora of articles about each of those aspects for over a decade. The purpose of this review is to describe the experience of Thursday, June 18th’s performance of Hamitlon at TPAC by the North American Tour. I am familiar with the soundtrack and watched the Disney+ version several years ago, but this was my first time seeing it performed live. All readers with input about Hamilton in Nashville compared to a previous performance, please comment to share your insights!
When the show started it felt somewhat surreal to actually be hearing the music I had been familiar with for so long. Oddly, I was prepared to be disappointed by the show; not because I doubted the ability of the performers or even the show itself, but because it has been so hyped and gushed over for years. What was startling was how it was better than I’d even hoped it would be. The show itself is that good, and the performance was that good. Even more startling in 2026: it made me feel patriotic. Actual patriotism, not jingoism or self-hate. An appreciation for flawed people who brought wholesome ideals into limited reality, a true interaction with history. Seeing the show felt like being a part of something, even 11 years after it became successful.
I’m a fan of sung-through shows, when the logic of music and plot must work together tightly. This requires extra timing and attention from the cast, and they are wonderful. Their choreography is tight, and the ensemble moves adeptly across the stage and its clever turntable. This feature of the stage, which has two concentric rings that turn when the choreography calls for it, gives the delightful experience of real-life special effects that really add to the play on multiple levels (metaphors of passivity, distance, strife, all made literal by movement), and I was happy to see that it is a feature of the tour.
The orchestra is excellent, and the entire cast is top-notch. They sing the songs the way we know them, but don’t do impressions of the original cast. The night I attended, King George III was played by understudy Will Jewett, and his rendition involved more physical comedy than in the Disney+ recording. I really enjoyed his version. His stiff, jerky movements compared to the rest of the choreography made a hilarious contrast. A. D. Weaver is George Washington, and has immediate gravitas, power, and a beautiful voice; from his first moment on stage we were sold on his Great-Man status. Jimmie “JJ” Jeter is Aaron Burr, and performs him with so much charming attitude, relatable through his smallness, comical and a sad foil to Hamilton.
Tyler Fauntleroy is Alexander Hamilton, filling the intimidating shoes of the titular character with charismatic ambition and idealism, his flaws real and yet understood, unrelenting without being entitled or demanding, and an engaging voice. It was lovely to hear “Dear Theodosia” live, the one moment when the two fathers are completely in line with each other. The Schuyler sisters are the melodic heart of the show, and Lily Soto is marvelous as Eliza, playing her with feeling and range, not sidelined as a simple 2-dimensional character. Angelica is played by Marja Harmon, whose powerful voice moved us with her captivating range, especially her regret in “Satisfied.” Christian Magby as Thomas Jefferson used physical comedy to be delightfully over the top.
This is a brief article because of the wealth of resources, my critiqueless opinion of the live show, and because most Hamilton fans know more about it than I do. What I want to make clear is that your everyday theater-goers like me can still be wowed by obvious things: one of the most successful Broadway shows of all time really is actually that good, and it is well worth the investment of buying a ticket.
Hamilton will be at TPAC through June 28th. for tickets and more information, see TPAC’s website. Two seats remain available at time of publishing, so move fast if you want an opportunity to see the show live here in Nashville!
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A Nashville native and MTSU graduate, Grace Krenz is a reader, a writer, and an arts enthusiast. She lives in Nashville with her husband and two children.
