Hamilton in Plymouth: why Billy Nevers’ Aaron Burr is the performance I’ll never forget
Hamilton’s six-week run at Theatre Royal Plymouth has ended. Here’s why being in the room mattered, and what Hamilton has meant for the city.
I never expected the theatre to play such a big role for me. In the past I’d travel to London occasionally to see big plays, but since moving to Plymouth a decade ago the theatre has become one of the best parts of my life, and now I never miss an opportunity to visit.
I’m P M Buchan, a former comic-book writer and lover of horror and dark art. I’ve written monthly columns and comic strips for Starburst and SCREAM: The Horror Magazine. I’ve collaborated with award-winning artists including John Pearson, Martin Simmonds and Ben Templesmith, and have been interviewed by Kerrang! and Rue Morgue. My work has been reviewed by Famous Monsters of Filmland, Fortean Times and Times Literary Supplement. I’ve collaborated with bands including Megadeth and Harley Poe, and written for clients including Lionsgate and Heavy Metal Magazine.
This week in IF YOU GO AWAY, look out for 99% less horror and 100% more Hamilton.
Hamilton’s six-week run at Theatre Royal Plymouth has ended. Here’s why being in the room mattered, and what Hamilton has meant for the city.
From seeing Porgy and Bess in the West End to repeated trips to see Heathers touring the UK, I’ve had some incredible nights at the theatre, but I’ve never been moved by anything the way I was by Billy Nevers’ performance as Aaron Burr in Hamilton at Theatre Royal Plymouth. It was the most nuanced, inspiring and impressive performance I’ve ever seen on stage. For my money, Billy Nevers outshines even the originators. His Burr was powerful, persuasive, and unforgettable, with a presence that was unrivalled.
I’m prone to hyperbole at times, but there’s no other single performance that’s come close. On Broadway, Leslie Odom Jr. played Burr as a force of darkness held in check only by intense self-restraint. Nevers, by contrast, never lapses into darkness. He plays a character who we can all relate to, doing everything that’s expected of him but being side-lined while others surge ahead and overtake him. When Nevers finally reacts, nothing could feel more natural, inevitable, or justified.
I’ve had nights at the theatre that I wished I could revisit, but Nevers was so good it feels criminal that no recordings exist. I understand the logistics and why rights holders guard their investments, but his performance was so transcendent that I don’t want to revisit the Broadway film or soundtrack, because I know I’ll begin to forget how he sounded. I’ll have lost something precious if I forget how blood-chilling it was when Nevers sang “Intemperate indeed, good man.”
A cast at the top of their game
Night after night, Nevers delivered a powerhouse performance, but the entire touring cast of Hamilton were equally unforgettable. Marley Fenton made a brilliant Hamilton, cocky, charming and persuasive. Casey Al-Shaqsy as Eliza felt less lacking in guile, and therefore more emotionally convincing than Phillipa Soo in the Disney version, while Chasity Crisp as Angelica absolutely blew us away.
Across the board, the cast were at the top of their game. Louis Maskell as King George contorted his face spectacularly, delivering a comic turn with a vocal range that rivalled Jonathan Groff and an electrifying presence. Akmed Junior Khemalai as George Washington singing ‘History Has Its Eyes On You’ sent shivers down my spine. Although I haven’t named them all, there wasn’t one weak cast member on stage.
We were lucky enough to watch Hamilton three times over the summer, and collectively I think that we saw all the main alternates and standbys taking leading roles, as well as the principal cast. That gave us three very different but equally memorable performances, and only reinforced how strong this touring company is. On our first visit, we were going to see Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton and experience the story we’d been watching and listening to at home. By our second and third visits, we were paying to see Billy Nevers and Louis Maskell onstage again, trying to commit their performances to memory.
From Disney+ to Devon (and why the screen isn’t enough)
For many of us in the UK, Hamilton arrived first through a screen. Disney reportedly paid a record fee to capture the original Broadway cast, releasing it on Disney+ in July 2020, right in the middle of lockdown. It was utterly brilliant and, in a lonely year, united millions.
But the screen is no substitute for being in the theatre. In the Lyric auditorium of Theatre Royal Plymouth there are no second screens, no talking, no distractions - just you and the cast, in the same room, with live music vibrating through the air. Seeing it again later in the run, the show landed differently each night. One left me buoyant and the next caught me with unexpected sadness. That’s the magic you can’t replicate at home. If you’re new to Hamilton, the lyric density can feel like a hurdle the first time that you hear it. A practical tip is to listen to the original cast recording once before you go, then let the live show do the rest.
Why live, shared culture matters now
Growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, there were TV shows and films it felt like we all watched together, shared touchstones we’d talk about at school and work. Those moments feel almost gone. Streaming, smartphones, and the pandemic have fractured our attention into hyper-personalised bubbles. Researchers have shown how online lives have left many young people lonelier and less connected. You can feel it in everyday life: fewer shared experiences, more isolation.
That’s why theatre matters. Being there in person demands your attention and rewards you for giving it. You sit with strangers and laugh at the same lines, gasp at the same twists, rise in the same ovation. It’s messy, human, and utterly unlike scrolling a feed. Watching Hamilton with a packed crowd in Plymouth, when Billy Nevers as Aaron Burr sang ‘The Room Where It Happens’, you could feel the tension inside him building as the song progressed and when he exploded so did the crowd around us with a deafening wave of applause. Plymouth’s Hamilton run has united the city. Restaurants and bars were full, the city centre felt alive, and thousands of us shared in something bigger than ourselves.
Plymouth’s Theatre Royal advantage
Not every city the size of Plymouth gets to host Hamilton for six weeks. We can because Theatre Royal Plymouth (TRP) is a regional powerhouse. Opened in 1982 and substantially refurbished in 2013, it’s the largest and best-attended regional producing theatre in the UK. The Lyric auditorium holds around 1,300 people, supported by TRP’s TR2 centre in Cattedown, which builds sets, costumes and careers, and anchors one of the UK’s most ambitious community programmes.
What did that mean this summer? On each my visits, only a handful of seats were empty, meaning that somewhere between 50 and 60,000 people likely saw Hamilton in Plymouth. Before the show arrived, there were forecasts that it would inject around £8m into the local economy.
I’ve lived in a few other cities across the UK and neither offered the quality of life that I’ve found in Plymouth. I can drive ten minutes from my home, park easily, and watch a Broadway-calibre show that, if I book early, is affordable enough to visit with my family. I doubt there are many cities in the UK where that’s possible, and it’s something worth celebrating.
Be in the room where it happens
Hamilton has left Plymouth and will next appear in Norwich and Glasgow. If you saw it, you’ll know why people are still buzzing. If you didn’t, keep your eyes open for the next time lightning strikes. And when it does, make every effort to be there. Support the talented people giving us these nights, support the theatres that make it possible, and be in the room where it happens. Performances like Billy Nevers’ Burr won’t last forever. At some point he’ll move on, and this transcendent moment will only exist in memory for those of us lucky enough to have witnessed it.
IF YOU GO AWAY is back. Did you miss it? After an extended break over the summer, I’ve been writing all about my inevitable Halloween plans, reviewing novels, interviewing artists and generally preparing my usual barrage of cheerleading for transgressive art. But before I was able to finalise any of it and push the button, my usual editor at our local newspaper went on holiday, just as I was trying to get all of these obsessive thoughts about Hamilton out of my head.
After writing 1,000 impassioned words about Hamilton, it seemed a shame to let it go to waste. Usual services will resume next time, with more chainsaws, loud music and dark art. I stand by the sentiment, however. Find yourself something that excites you so much that you’re willing to bankrupt your family by paying to see it three times, then queuing outside while your parking runs out so that you can thank the cast and take unflattering selfies for posterity.
– P M Buchan
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