The story of tonight: 'Hamilton' tour at Playhouse Square offers fresh way to enjoy brilliant musical | Theater review

Dec. 9—When "Hamilton" first visited Cleveland's Playhouse Square, in summer 2018, it was new to many of us, the folks not fortunate enough to have experienced the show on Broadway.

Oh, sure, we could have devoured the incredible Broadway cast recording for Lin-Manuel Miranda's race-defying, hip-hop-injected masterpiece about one of America's Founding Fathers — the winner of scores of awards, including Tonys, Drama Desks an Obie and even the Pulitzer Prize for drama — but some of us didn't.

And so the touring production that visited the KeyBank State Theater that July hit like a hurricane, a dizzying and expectations-defying demonstration of what a work of musical theater could be.

All that hype? Finally, we got it.

In summer 2020, when theaters were dark, we were given a gift in the form of the excellent live-recording version of the Broadway production, a film featuring the original Broadway cast's heavy-hitters — Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Phillipa Soo, Daveed Diggs, Renee Elise Goldsbury, Christopher Jackson and many others deserving of a mention who won't get one here — that we could stream on Disney+ to feed what quickly became a "Hamilton" habit.

We streamed and streamed.

And that cast recording? Once we were familiar with the show, it became a frequent listen.

So now, as "Hamilton" has returned to the Cleveland scene of the rhyme — a touring company has just begun a stint set to run through the holidays — we have to fight our familiarity with the brilliance of the Broadway cast. We know we can't take our sets expecting to hear "Wait for It," "That Would Be Enough," "The Room Where It Happens," "One Last Time" and so many other endlessly enjoyable songs and other moments from the show delivered the way we are used to getting them.

Fortunately, that's not too difficult given the talent populating the production's revolving stage.

And while it's hard to say anyone brings more to his or her role than the Broadway counterpart, Pierre Jean Gonzalez offers a bit more edge to the show's all-important titular role. His is a fiery Alexander, and it really works.

Meanwhile, if there's a role in "Hamilton" just made for a talented performer to flourish, it is that of eventual U.S. President Thomas Jefferson, and flourish in the role Warren Egypt Franklin does. Of course, he also portrays Frenchman Marquis de Lafayette in the show's first act, but it is in Act II that he delights, hair-tossing and hip-thrusting his way to an especially sassy take on Jefferson we won't soon forget.

A ton of vocal talent resides in this cast, but there may be no one with a voice more gorgeous than the one possessed by Nikisha Williams, who takes us up and down Eliza Hamilton's emotional roller coaster with a grace (almost) too powerful to name.

This is another case where we can't name everyone deserving of recognition, but we really enjoyed Marcus Choi's interpretation of the George Washington role. He may not have the aforementioned Jackson's imposing physical stature — certainly an asset for the character — but Choi adds myriad nice touches to the figuratively huge man who becomes the first president of a new nation.

Unfortunately, one sizable disappointment resides in the cast: Jared Dixon, who portrays Aaron Burr, the "damn fool" who we know from the show's table-setting opening number, "Alexander Hamilton," eventually will shoot our immigrant-to-Founding Father protagonist.

Burr is Hamilton's foil in the show, and role is arguably as important as the musical's namesake. While the passivity of Burr is at the character's core, Dixon comes across as too reserved; Burr almost fades into the background even when key to the action.

It's not entirely surprising, then, that the show's greatest song, Burr's "Wait for It," suffers from a lack of propulsion with Dixon in the spotlight. And the character's second-act crowd-pleaser "The Room Where It Happens" is only a bit better.

On the other hand, Dixon's, well, quietness works well with "Dear Theodosia," Burr's gorgeous duet with Hamilton about their young children and America's early days.

To be fair, on the night the media was invited to see the show, its second performance in Cleveland, you wonder if an audio issue may have plagued Dixon. He was noticeably louder — and, not coincidentally, Burr came across as more passionate — during the show's final stretch. Whether his microphone was turned up or the performer simply had a late cup of coffee, Dixon finished fairly strongly.

"Hamilton" is an astonishing work, one Miranda was inspired to write after reading Chernow's 2004 biography "Alexander Hamilton." And just about everything that makes it great — from from its hip-hop cadences to a toe-tapping rendition of the catchy-as-hell "Helpless" to the always hilarious appearances of the sarcastic King George (Neil Haskell) — is on display at in this production.

Hey, enjoy "Hamilton" any way you can get it, as often as you can.

If we one day cease to be delighted by the notion of a rap battle between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson over whether the federal government should absorb states' debts — a contest emceed by George Washington, mind you — we'll really need to "Take a Break."

'Hamilton'

Continues through Jan. 15 at Playhouse Square's KeyBank State Theatre, 1519 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. For tickets, $39 to $249, call 216-241-6000 or visit PlayhouseSquare.org.

Editor's note: This article was updated at 11:14 a.m. Dec. 9 to correct the names of the performers portraying Alexander Hamilton, Pierre Jean Gonzalez; and Thomas Jefferson, Warren Egypt Franklin.