Hamilton: ‘We’re here to be understood, not necessarily liked’
Lin Manuel-Miranda’s hit musical Hamilton has been praised for its ‘colour-blind casting’. The cast of the upcoming Sydney production say it is a pathway to powerful roles.
The first thing you notice is the shoes. The Australian is at the Bangarra Dance Theatre in Sydney for a special preview of the Michael Cassel Group’s upcoming production of Hamilton, the Tony, Grammy, Olivier and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda, before it returns to Sydney on July 30 for its final Australia run.
This is the first time the press has been invited into the sacred Hamilton rehearsal space, where the performers – all decked out in gym clothes, a jumble of audaciously baggy streetwear and skin-tight bodysuits – sing and dance their way through two of the musical’s intimidatingly verbose, rap-indebted songs My Shot and Yorktown.
It would look like a scene plucked straight from a ‘90s hip-hop music video if it weren’t for the footwear: follow the three stripes down an Adidas trackpant and you’re met not with an expected chunky sneaker but with an 18th-century kangaroo skin riding boot – or, for select female cast members, a Georgian heel.
“It makes the biggest difference when you’re preparing for the show because you walk differently, you kind of think differently,” explains Vidya Makan, who will step into the shoes of Eliza Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton’s devoted wife.
Makan, 30, who hails from Brisbane and studied musical theatre at Queensland’s Conservatorium, is one of several performers making their Hamilton debut. She will join returning cast members of the original blockbuster show, which opened in Sydney in March 2021 and went on to play in Melbourne, Brisbane, and New Zealand. “I can’t believe my life right now,” she says.
Makan had auditioned for the show before, making it through to the second round. “Sometimes things don’t line up for what you’re ready for.”
This time, she says, “I knew this was my shot … no pun intended.”
Makan, who is of Indian descent, grew up wanting to be a soccer player before she caught the musical theatre bug. “It was a scary thing for my parents. Growing up, I never saw anyone who looked like me on stage, so they were going, ‘Is this a viable option for someone like her? She’s got the talent, she’s got the voice, we’re supportive of what she does. But is there ever going to be room for her on Australian stages?’”
She says joining the cast of Hamilton, a production praised for its use of so-called “colour-blind casting” to explore American history, was “such an important thing for me”.
“There were … these nuanced, fleshed-out roles that are flawed and loved … It was always something I found very inspiring.”
At the heart of this production is Wiradjuri man Callan Purcell, who will reprise his role as Aaron Burr, the main antagonist and narrator of the story. For the 29-year-old Newcastle-raised performer, Hamilton is “an opportunity for Mob, for people of colour, to take up space, to be in positions of power, instead of perpetuating this thing that people from historically marginalised backgrounds are victims.”
“It’s a space where people see people of colour in moments of victory and at their ugliest as well. We’re here to be understood, not necessarily liked.”
Hamilton will return to the Sydney Lyric Theatre on July 30 before leaving Australia on October 31.
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