Over five years after it first took the world by storm, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton hit Disney Plus earlier this month, giving everyone – well, those with a subscription – the chance to relive the epic tale of Alexander Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
With Lin-Manuel’s beloved Tony award-winning musical now available for a pretty wide audience, it’s found itself becoming quite a hot topic once more, sparking much conversation and debate. Not all of it has been good, mind you, as some are taking issue with its portrayal of slavery. But for the most part, the talk surrounding Hamilton has been pretty positive.
One thing in particular that seems to come up a lot though is the meaning behind Eliza’s gasp at the very end and what exactly it signifies and represents. The debate still rages on, but while visiting SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle show this week, actress Phillipa Soo spoke a bit about it, first asking co-host Julia Cunningham what she thought it represents.
“I thought it was a breaking of the [fourth] wall, like why the story is called Hamilton,” Cunningham said.
Meanwhile, Cagle said:
“I felt like she was seeing him because we were jumping several years ahead to her death, but I think in that time she was also realizing she had told his story.”
And finally, Soo explained:
“I would not be able to tell you what I was thinking precisely in that (2016) moment when it was shot. Night to night it was different. But yes, the character of Eliza sees Hamilton or sees that legacy or sees that orphanage … or sees her kids telling her story. It was an exploration for me every day because you do a show eight times a week for a year and you find new things every single time.”
She also told Cunningham that the breaking of the fourth wall was right and that she could “look out and see all these beautiful faces and acknowledge that story we had all taken a ride to witness.” The actress then added: “And I can imagine that since we shot the film a couple of weeks before I left the show, that a lot of that you’re seeing is not only that show, but also that year and moment in time.”
That’s definitely some interesting insight into the much-discussed moment, but no doubt fans will continue to dissect it and share their own thoughts on the matter. And with Hamilton now available on Disney Plus, folks can relive and rewatch it as much as they’d like, taking in all the incredible music, acting and production that it has to offer.