It has been an extremely difficult and physically and mentally demanding couple of weeks, involving much travel and more emotional trauma. I cancelled pretty much everything and changed all plans to spend as much time in Canada as possible, so I had about 12 very sickly hours in New York. But I was determined to spend 3 of those hours watching Hamilton (and trying, desperately, not to cough).

It has been the most-hyped new musical of my memory. I really wondered if anything could live up to the almost hysterical praise it has received. It was not a perfect musical, but it was a great leap forward. Its clever word smithery and use of hip hop, combined with outstanding choreography, pared down costumes, effective acting and generally beautiful singing meant that I felt that I was witnessing the birth of a new art form. I felt as the audience must have done in New York in 1949, watching South Pacific for the first time and knowing that the world of musical theatre would never be the same again.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s masterpiece here can be anticipated in his work in In the Heights. His use of melody, inventive mixing of musical genres and (it must be said) very short scenes that ensure that a modern audience never loses focus were previewed there. The transitions, in particular, are extremely well done. But the subject matter here is deeper, richer and more meaningful. I have never explicitly been taught US history of the relevant period, but have absorbed it by osmosis through my studies and wider reading. Miranda expertly explains who all of these people are and gives them distinct personalities, very quickly and effectively. The story cycles rapidly from the revolution, to the birth of the nation in 1776, to the constitutional conventions, to the elections of the early 19th century, and then the ultimately fatal duel (if nothing else, this musical demonstrates very effectively why duelling was a horrific waste of life and should have been outlawed sooner than it was).

The casting also deserves special praise. As I saw a Sunday matinee, I saw Javier Muñoz as Hamilton rather than Miranda himself. Muñoz was clever, handsome, a beautiful singer and an emotionally devastating actor, especially in Act 2. He gave his all to the performance. I must admit that I could not say the same of all the cast, although I could not point to any particular person who was slacking. There just seemed a general tendency to mark and to hold back a little emotionally. This was, however, decidedly not the case for Philippa Soo’s exquisite Eliza, who played the ingenue beautifully in the first act and then blew me away with her depth of feeling in the second.

The men all had lovely voices, great energy and lots of presence. As an alumna of Mr Jefferson’s university and a person who is morally conflicted about the man himself (as, frankly, we all ought to be) it was a treat to see him played by Daveed Diggs, who was six foot something of pure charisma. He was a delight as Lafayette in the first half, but his appearance at the beginning of the second half as Jefferson reenergised the show and made me sit up a little straighter every time he came on stage. His mic drop rap battles with Hamilton were one of the highlights of the show, including phenomenal lines such as, “A civics lesson from a slaver.  Hey neighbor/Your debts are paid ’cause you don’t pay for labor.” The show is full of such rhyming gems spat out at breakneck speed. I may have to download the cast album just to pick up on the nuances of the text.

A hero of the show (and of the Founding Fathers) for me was George Washington, beautifully and authoritatively played by Christopher Jackson. We forget that the notion that a president’s term ought to come to an end was by no means a given, especially in the late 18th century. Andrew Rannells’ very funny George III (which reminded me of Hugh Laurie’s fabulous Prince Regent in Blackadder) explains this in the most direct way possible. Jackson’s portrayal of Washington reminded us of the essential dignity and nobility that he demonstrated by standing aside, the simplest and most profound act he could do. Leslie Odom, Jr as Aaron Burr, Renée Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler, Okieriete Onaodowan as Mulligan and Madison, and the rest of the cast were also very, very good.

My criticisms may seem very nit-picky, but I think are important. On the more petty side, I don’t think anyone with any sense would have described New York in the 1770s as the “greatest city in the world.” It wasn’t even the greatest city in the colonies, as Boston was much bigger and more sophisticated. On the more significant side, it must be noted that the British abolished slavery much earlier than the Americans, and the musical dances around this fact quite a lot, seeming to criticise the British for what would ultimately be the original sin of the southern states.

That said, it was truly inspiring to see a very diverse cast paying homage to the men who founded their country. Most of the founding fathers would not have looked this cast in the eye. But the founding fathers, human though they were, were inspired by something greater than themselves, something greater than even they knew (ahem, Scalia). When they said that “all men are created equal,” they didn’t mean the men on that stage. And they didn’t mean women. But they created an ideal that has inspired the best in some very talented people for centuries. And it has inspired a piece of art that could not have been created in any other country on earth. I salute it, and I’m so glad that I saw it (and, by mainlining pre-unwrapped lozenges, I managed not to cough). A guaranteed Tony-winning smash.