When I went to see Hamilton in Chicago, there were screens off to the sides of the stage scrolling the words and (very helpfully at times) stating which character was singing which line.
Yeah, Miguel Cervantes did the role in Chicago (and looks like he’s currently doing the Broadway run) and he knocked it out of the park. I remember the first time I listened to the album after seeing it in Chicago I was disappointed in Hamilton’s voice.
After listening to the album like 75 different times since seeing it live I forgot how much nuance goes into the live performance. Especially with the King George songs. In the album, by the third one I’m thinking “Alright, I get it, it’s basically the same song.” Live each one is wildly different despite being the same tune.
You probably happened to go to an open-caption performance. I’ve seen some shows at Shakespeare in the Park that were open-captioned and it made it so much easier to follow along!
I just watched it again with the captions and I’m still crying at the same places. It’s not perfect but it’s still a darn good show. It’s funny but the one part that is jarring to me is the start of My Shot. Every other time the songs seem to transition in so smoothly but that one seem to start awkwardly and it seems like the first third should be sung by someone else about Hamilton.
Now for the continuity errors. Watch Angelica’s dress in Satisfied. The flowers on it come and go from shot to shot. Anybody catch any others?
By the way, I’ve been watching more discussions about it and there are a lot of subtleties I wouldn’t pick up. Not only do characters have their themes, but they sing in a style that reflects their character. King George sings in the most old-fashioned, 60’s British Invasion style. Eliza sings more pure classic Broadway while Angelica who is more forward-thinking and revolutionary is the sister who raps. Burr also sings in a more conservative Broadway-type style than the other Founding Fathers and does much less rapping. Washington does more conservative, on the beat rapping alternating with pure singing while Lafayette sticks to rapping. Also, Burr is choreographed to walk in straight lines while Hamilton tends to circle more.
Unless I’m mistaken, that’s deliberate. In “Satisfied,” Angelica is flashing back and forward between the party where they met Alexander and the wedding.
I’ma have to watch it again to make sure.
Just pulled it up on my phone. There’s definitely flowers the appears and reappear form shot to shot. It’s not deliberate, but I don’t think I would’ve noticed if someone didn’t point it out to me.
I had thought it was a recording of a single 2016 performance, but apparently it was pieced together from two different performances. That might explain costume/prop differences in different shots.
I’m not watching it till the Mandalorian comes back, but I sincerely hope it quenches any desire I have to see it in real life.
We watched it on the 4th. A couple of notes:
- Brilliant and entertaining.
- Historically, fairly accurate.
- Thank the gods for subtitles.
A good musical, not sure if it a great musical. I was expecting much more based on the hype, and am glad I resisted the temptation to shell out big bucks for tickets the last time we were in NYC (I would have been fine with paying regular ticket prices to see it, just not secondary market prices). Maybe I need to watch it again with the subtitles turned on, but I’m afraid the subtitles would fly by too fast to read.
The upbeat stuff was fun, and the George III comic relief was good. I just didn’t hear much that got to me emotionally - certainly nothing to the level of “Look Sharp” or “Molasses to Rum” from the other Founding Fathers musical, 1776.
ETA: An interesting coincidence - I had just started the book “Valley Forge” by Drury and Clavin (excellent so far, BTW) the day before watching Hamilton. “Valley Forge” is the first time I remember hearing much about John Laurens, then all of a sudden he is in the opening number of a musical!
I really enjoyed the show and I’d like to watch it again on Disney+ and see it live but I agree that the first thing I said once its over is “Now, I really want to see 1776 again” some for the juxtaposition, some because I missed Franklin from 1776 and some because I enjoy 1776 music much more.
The subtitles are very useful and I didn’t find them moving too fast too read.
Try relistening to Wait for It, It’s Quiet Uptown, and the ending number Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story.
Lyrics from Wait for It:
Death doesn’t discriminate
Between the sinners and the saints
It takes and it takes and it takes
And we keep living anyway.
We rise and we fall and we break
And we make our mistakes.
Okay, I saw it again, and noted that the flowers swap in and out based on whether it’s a close-up or not. I asked Kayla about it, and she told me that close-ups were shot at different performances.
The film was shot at three times- the wide shots at two regular performances with an audience and the closeups on stage but without an audience. I assume that for the closeups scenes were repeated as needed to get the required shots.
Saw it, and it lived up to the hype, IMO. Standout performers were Daveed Diggs, Jonathan Groff, and Renee Elise-Goldsberry.
Hamilton speaks to us even now:
“There are seasons in every country when noise and impudence pass current for worth; and in popular commotions especially, the clamors of interested and factious men are often mistaken for patriotism.” - Alexander Hamilton (Oct. 26, 1778)
I finally got to listen to The Deep. It was…different, but interesting. I’ll check out the album hopefully this weekend. Thanks for the recommendations!
Haven’t seen the Disney+ version yet, but I’ve seen the live version 6 times in San Francisco - once paying full prices, five times from the lottery where the tickets are $10. We listened to the soundtrack before we saw it for the first time so understanding the lyrics was no problem.
Every time we see it we get something else out of it. Lafayette’s first song is halting, his last is rapping full speed. “What’d I Miss” has a more traditional Broadway musical style showing how Jefferson was out of it in France. He later comes up to speed and raps.
BTW, if you live anywhere near a city with Hamilton (when it comes back) download the app and try the lottery. It really works, and you usually have a day before the show, though the last time I won it was the morning of the show. Which works for us retired people.
Holy shit, I just put something together: this song was mentioned in the back of the book The Deep, by Rivers Solomon, as the inspiration. I didn’t realize that the song was written by Lafayette!
You mean you aren’t getting Disney + until season 2 of Mandalorian?