I’m still wondering where this conception that it’s “mostly rap” is coming from. There are 46 songs in it - three are rap (the two cabinet rap battles and “Guns & Ships” - maybe 4 if you count young Philip’s little ditty); and I’m not even sure “Guns & Ships” counts.
“Satisfied” has an epic rap by Angelica. And I think there’s more sprinkled throughout. But, yeah, it’s not mostly rap.
I’m slightly obsessed with this musical. Some songs that were cut.
I think it’s easy for someone not familiar with the different genres to not distinguish between rap and hip hop.
Indeed, they did. Right up to moments before it started our son was complaining about everything. But from the first notes of “Alexander Hamilton” he (and the rest of us) were thrilled. I don’t know how Lin-Manuel Miranda dreamed this show up, but it’s an incredible accomplishment.
Finally saw this in Chicago last night. I went in cold and was absolutely blown away. I didn’t know it was going to be a straight musical all the way through. About halfway through the third song I thought to myself, “Are they ever going to just talk?”
I agree that going in without listening to anything first did make some of the story a little confusing, but I caught on soon enough. Only issue I had is that the actors that played Hamilton and John Laurens/Phillip looked very similar, especially from the mezzanine. Not an issue in the second act, but in the first act they had the same hair and dress most of the time:
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Okay, I spent the day listening to the soundtrack and I have question for anyone who managed to see it with the original cast. Was King George played for laughs? In the Chicago show he’s pretty much the funniest part of the show with an over the top fake accent. In the soundtrack he sounds a bit more sincere.
I’ve only seen the (recent) Chicago cast in person, but yes - George is played for laughs. I’ve seen some videos of the Broadway George, and that’s the case there as well. I think they toned it down a bit for the soundtrack, but I’m not sure “Dat da da da, da da dah daey yi yi!” can ever be played straight!
Miranda has said that he asked British actor and musician Hugh Laurie what George III would say to the American people after 1776 if he could speak to them directly. Laurie laughed, wagged his finger and said, “You’ll be back!” Miranda took it and ran with it.
Yes, King George always gets laughs. Usually starting before he opens his mouth, at his first appearance in the spotlight in a costume that must weigh 80 pounds.
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The King is many people’s favorite character, and certainly one of the most memorable. Meaning absolutely no disrespect to Jonathan Groff, I never thought his Tony nomination was deserved. The success of the character comes entirely from the costume, the staging, and the songs themselves. Performance is almost incidental; anyone in that part who can carry a tune is going to be entertaining and memorable. Yes, Groff was good, but not Tony-Award good.
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He didn’t exactly “dream it up.” He brought historian/biographer Ron Chernow’s book about Hamilton on vacation for some light beach reading, and was inspired by the tale of the immigrant Founding Father.
Through a combination of luck and luck, I got a ticket to the show while in NY this week. It was the first musical I’ve been to (lots of opera, no musicals), and I thought it was amazing. Oddly enough I was completely familiar with the first half of the score, but not the back half - the consequence of my daughter playing it from the start during car trips, but us never having that long a drive. It made for an interesting experience, but didn’t change the fact that I loved it from end to end.
Now I want to go again…
It’s hysterical that he not only saw it as a hiphop tale, but he researched to see if someone else had already done the same thing.
Bumped.
Leslie Odom Jr., who played Burr, will appear on PBS’s Live from Lincoln Center on April 27. Check local listings: http://www.playbill.com/article/leslie-odom-jrs-december-19-nyc-concert-to-be-taped-for-broadcast-on-pbs
For the few people who haven’t already heard it - the Hamilton Polka
Jimmy Fallon’s wife took a video of his reaction the first time he heard it.
Chris Jackson, who originated the role of George Washington in the first production of Hamilton, hosts an interactive “Be Washington” project for historic Mount Vernon: Be Washington: It's Your Turn to Lead · George Washington's Mount Vernon
I was just notified that I’ve been selected as a Ticketmaster Verified Fan and can purchase 4 tickets for the Boston show at face value tomorrow morning. Pretty psyched for the chance to see this in the fall!
Damn - that’s awesome, Telemark! What is the “Verified Fan” thing? I know that it was a really big deal in order to get tickets to the Springsteen Broadway show.
Sell! Sell! SELL! 
That’s cool that you won’t get squeezed out by the resellers. I had to buy my secondary although, amusingly (to me anyway) the broker service was having a 12% off sale so it wasn’t that far off face value+fees by the time I was done. Of course, it also helped that the show was very enjoyable.
I’ll be seeing the show with some friends in Chicago late next month.