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Hamilton on Disney (2 Viewers)

Excellent show. I don’t know if it broke EVERY mode of Broadway, because there is much there that reminded me of both Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita- for instance the King George song has the same feel as King Herod’s song in JCS. 
 

But nonetheless amazing. 

 
prosopis said:
I would also say this show has sparked a little interest in finding a book about this aspect of the revolution. I know there was a revolution and I know the main points but much of what they talked about was news to me. It seems like a really cool story.

Any book suggestions on the revolution subject? I am not a fan of dry history books but I do like historical stories. Does that make sense?
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Most books on the Revolution focus on either the politics or the persecution of the war. The Glorious Cause is probably the best at covering both

ETA: but Founding Brothers is easily the most-widely enjoyed

 
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Otis said:
RUSF18 said:
Surprised my wife with tickets to this back in February. I thought it was incredible and couldn't wait to watch it again. It definitely delivers and it's great to see it even in some form with the original cast. 

One thing anyone who has seen it without the originals can tell you though, if it's not clear from watching this version, is that while Miranda is obviously a genius in how he was able to put this together, he's nowhere near the level of a performer on stage compared to the rest of the cast. The guy we saw in February blew him away but obviously Miranda's stature is on another level. 

Fun fact: went to college with the guy who played Charles Lee in the original cast and was in the ensemble for the show. He was also one of the understudies for Hamilton and got to play the role at least once. Not exactly what we were all expecting out of him when he was telling us about pursuing a career in dance. 
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He’s clearly outclassed by the rest as a singer. Decent rapper though 
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Totally agree with all of that.

But I do think his acting and ability to convey the subject and emotions overrides the other actors' superior technical abilities.

 
DallasDMac said:
I feel like I was at a completely different show. I honestly wish I understood any of the hype surrounding this thing. I mean, even when I don't like something, I usually get why others did, why they thought it was great, etc. But I'm completely flummoxed. Makes me feel a little dumb TBH.
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You wrote before that you couldn’t understand the lyrics when you saw it live.  I think understanding the lyrics is critical to the enjoyment of it.  Try listening or watching it while reading the lyrics.  The writing is historically accurate, succinct and very clever.

 
cashman88 said:
You wrote before that you couldn’t understand the lyrics when you saw it live.  I think understanding the lyrics is critical to the enjoyment of it.  Try listening or watching it while reading the lyrics.  The writing is historically accurate, succinct and very clever.
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I believe Miranda himself might say you should put that in quotes. 
 

it’s as historically accurate as it needs to be to get the major points across, but he also took privileges for the sake of entertainment and drama in storytelling. 

 
Had the privilege of seeing it three times live - twice in NYC and once in London (my daughter’s first time seeing it). Excited to watch the Disney+ version with the original cast.

 
prosopis said:
I would also say this show has sparked a little interest in finding a book about this aspect of the revolution. I know there was a revolution and I know the main points but much of what they talked about was news to me. It seems like a really cool story.

Any book suggestions on the revolution subject? I am not a fan of dry history books but I do like historical stories. Does that make sense?
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Glorious Cause, mentioned by wikkid, is best overall one that I’ve read.  You could look to Chernow’s Hamilton and Washington biographies for slices of those lives.

Since you like historical stories, have you read any Gore Vidal?  His Burr is a counter-history; historical fiction told from Aaron Burr’s view of events.

 
Watched it on Disney+.

They sang the whole thing. I realize it’s a musical, but I was thinking it would be a few songs here and there, not every line.

 I had the subtitles on so I could understand what they were saying. Truthfully, I didn’t see how the acting added much to the performance, as much of it was just dancing around anyway. With a few exceptions where it added context to the words, you could probably just listen to the soundtrack and be fine.

 
timschochet said:
Excellent show. I don’t know if it broke EVERY mode of Broadway, because there is much there that reminded me of both Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita- for instance the King George song has the same feel as King Herod’s song in JCS. 
 

But nonetheless amazing. 
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That is intentional. Miranda has been upfront that there are clear call outs to Les Mis and Gilbert & Sullivan in addition to Biggie  and Mobb Deep. Part of the brilliance is fitting hip hop into a classic Broadway structure not just writing a hip hop show. 

 
bcdjr1 said:
Watched it on Disney+.

They sang the whole thing. I realize it’s a musical, but I was thinking it would be a few songs here and there, not every line.

 I had the subtitles on so I could understand what they were saying. Truthfully, I didn’t see how the acting added much to the performance, as much of it was just dancing around anyway. With a few exceptions where it added context to the words, you could probably just listen to the soundtrack and be fine.
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IMO the biggest difference seeing the show vs listening to the soundtrack is the humor. Things like Jefferson handing the Reynolds pamphlet to the orchestra conductor, Eliza beatboxing and Madison crying entering the stage after Its Quiet Uptown don’t come across on the soundtrack. 

 
prosopis said:
I would also say this show has sparked a little interest in finding a book about this aspect of the revolution. I know there was a revolution and I know the main points but much of what they talked about was news to me. It seems like a really cool story.

Any book suggestions on the revolution subject? I am not a fan of dry history books but I do like historical stories. Does that make sense?
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Not a book, but the HBO mini series “John Adams” is very good.  Also takes a bit of historic license.

 
DallasDMac said:
I'd rather slam my junk between two bricks than listen to one disc of hip hop, yet alone 34. But my wife wanted to see it, and I like having relations, so I went. The show was a helluva lot longer than the relations...
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If you can't last 2.5 hours, that's on you

 
why did 2 guys play different characters later in act 2?  i mean that was confusing and why could they just hire a different person?

 
Watched it last night with the family.  I found the rap/musical hybrid a bit distracting at first was drawn into the story as my ears and brain adapted.

 
thecatch said:
The Chernow biography was fantastic, but it's also 800+ pages and probably not a good recommendation for the casual history fan.  Something like 1776 by David McCullough is an easier read for Revolutionary War stuff.
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Just ordered 1776 for my Kindle.

 
Eephus said:
Watched it last night with the family.  I found the rap/musical hybrid a bit distracting at first was drawn into the story as my ears and brain adapted.
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This was my take as well watching it last night for the first time. Took me the first act to adjust but got really into it the second act.

I couldn’t see myself paying up the nose like many have, but I can also see why so many are so enamored of this production. Absolutely top notch numbers and clever as hell lyrics.  

 
Yankee23Fan said:
The rewind part was maybe the coolest thing I have ever seen on Broadway ever. 
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I had heard the music a decent amount before seeing it but never really listened to it until I saw the show. And this part completely blew my mind. 

 
The way he wove musical themes in and out throughout the show is just amazing. The way the staging worked- minimal set with double rotating floor and set pieces wheeled in and out- amazing. The way they used lighting to completely change the set and story- amazing (and maybe better seen live than on tv). And the way they used the cast- which feels like a cast of 50 but is only 15 or so- and complete shock when they took the stage for their bow... amazing. 

we live around the corner from Joe's Public where this originated, and friends were telling us we absolutetly had to see it... had an opportunity to see it with one of the original Blue Men (friends from floppinho's preschool) who kept seeing it over and over, and bailed... the idea of a hip-hop musical about Hamilton sounded like torture. always regret that. 

 
Tom Hagen said:
bcdjr1 said:
Watched it on Disney+.

They sang the whole thing. I realize it’s a musical, but I was thinking it would be a few songs here and there, not every line.

 I had the subtitles on so I could understand what they were saying. Truthfully, I didn’t see how the acting added much to the performance, as much of it was just dancing around anyway. With a few exceptions where it added context to the words, you could probably just listen to the soundtrack and be fine.
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IMO the biggest difference seeing the show vs listening to the soundtrack is the humor. Things like Jefferson handing the Reynolds pamphlet to the orchestra conductor, Eliza beatboxing and Madison crying entering the stage after Its Quiet Uptown don’t come across on the soundtrack. 
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all of the things I listed as amazing above... won't come across on the soundtrack alone. it's truly a jawdropping piece of theater to see live. and while I like the soundtrack fine... it's not something that resonates with me enough to choose to listen to outside of the performance.

 
El Floppo said:
all of the things I listed as amazing above... won't come across on the soundtrack alone. it's truly a jawdropping piece of theater to see live. and while I like the soundtrack fine... it's not something that resonates with me enough to choose to listen to outside of the performance.
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Same here, but my wife and daughter had the soundtrack on constant rotation around here in 2017-18.

 
DallasDMac said:
I saw it live with my wife. I fully admit, I did not understand probably 3/4s of what was said/sung. It was the longest 2.5 hours of my life. I prayed for a light fixture to break loose and fall on my head, rendering me unconscious for 2 hours.
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This. I wanted to hang myself while shooting myself in the face.

 
Yankee23Fan said:
There is more. In the end, for me, this is the best version of broadway I've seen since the 10th anniversary global Les Mis concert.
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:goodposting:

To all of that but especially the last bit. I can still get chills watching the 10th LM concert. The principals were so perfect (specifically Lea Salonga for me) and I feel the same way watching Hamilton again with the original company.

 That said, I’m a huge broadway nerd. My wife and I had “Helpless” as our first song at our wedding 3 years ago.

 
Walking Boot said:
LOCO said:
why did 2 guys play different characters later in act 2?  i mean that was confusing and why could they just hire a different person?
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Isn't generally profitable to use an actor for just one act. If he's good, let him act all day. Certainly works for the Jefferson actor, he's fantastic.  And it was more than just two of the main characters. Lafeyette/Jefferson, John Laurens (the one who died at the end of the Revolution)/Philip (Hamiton's son), and Hercules Mulligan (4th member of the bar gang)/James Madison. Plus the third sister was also the married woman he slept with. A bunch of other actors in the "ensemble" had multiple roles throughout.
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Not only that, but there were deliberate parallels in the casting as LMM notes here. Notably, from the opening number:

  • Daveed Diggs (Lafayette/Jefferson) sings "We fought with him" - as both men did, albeit in different senses of "fought with"
  • Anthony Ramos (Laurens/Philip) sings "Me, I died for him" - again, both died on his behalf
 
Watching it a second time and I have to say I like it even better the second time through. 
 

one complaint: We thought the first act was so much better. Second act was a little bit of a let down after that.  

 
bcat01 said:
Miguel Cervantes is the best Hamilton.  Miranda is no comparison. 
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My wife and I got to see Cervantes as Hamilton in NYC shortly after Miranda's run ended and I agree that despite Miranda's brilliance, Cervantes is a superior performer.

 
There are times when a work of art just makes you marvel at the wonder of the human mind and feel like as a species, we're meant for more than grinding out 9-5's and just surviving. Right? If someone among us can do this, what kind of creativity is out there that we aren't tapping. Everyone has things that hit them like that, I think. For me this was one of those things, as dramatic as that sounds. It just seems impossible. I get that some find it overrated, and that it's not for everyone--but I feel sorry for anyone who can't enjoy this, even if I understand it I still wish that you could.

I find it hard to fathom the natural talent, raw creativity, lyrical wit, and pure willpower it would have taken to write and arrange something like this over the 7 years that Lin-Manuel Miranda put into it. It's not just great hooks, important topics, a good story, and powerful themes either. The way themes, lyrics, and bits of music thread through the whole play from beginning to end and tie it all together is brilliant. Hearing him talk about writing like, the Cabinet rap battles on the A Train in NYC or Dear Theodosia on his honeymoon...it's enough to make anyone feel like an underachiever. 

For some reason for me his interpretation of Washington's mindset when he stepped down instead of running again, it's really powerful. It was an incredibly important precedent to set, and the foundation of a lot of the faith we have had in our political system (as cynical as we all are about it--and the play embraces that too--it is almost 250 years we've gotten out of a couple painstakingly written pieces of paper, and that's interesting on its own), so including it as a major point makes sense. But not everyone would have thought of that or intuitively seen it's importance as a theme, contrasting it with the King for both laughs and poignancy. 

Lots more to say but this is getting long enough.

For anyone who doesn't know, he also wrote most of the original music for Moana. On top of that (and this next part will be for a niche audience here) he's writing all the original music for the tv/film adaptation of the "Name of The Wind" novel--a critically acclaimed epic fantasy framed in a way where a washed up fellow in hiding tells the story of his own rise and fall as a storied, nearly legendary bard and wizard. Kind of a cynical and meta but still epic take on the classic hero's journey, considered to be one of the few books in a usually maligned genre (fantasy) that lives up to the prose of "real literature". Needless to say writing songs and lute music that lives up to that kind of in-universe legend is a tough task. But what a guy to get to make the attempt. 

 
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Loved it.

Best thing Ive seen on TV in a couple years. 

🔥🔥🔥

And right after my damn woman made a snide comment about it like its my fault she doesn't understand some of it. Jackass. But it didn't ruin anything. :D

 
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leftcoastguy7 said:
So did Hamilton have a thing with the older sister? Or were they just friends?
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According to my wife who has become a Hamilton geek it was not likely.  Angelica was married when he met Eliza and she lived most of the time in London.  There would have been little opportunity for an affair.

 
bcat01 said:
According to my wife who has become a Hamilton geek it was not likely.  Angelica was married when he met Eliza and she lived most of the time in London.  There would have been little opportunity for an affair.
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And Peggy?

 
Otis said:
Watching it a second time and I have to say I like it even better the second time through. 
 

one complaint: We thought the first act was so much better. Second act was a little bit of a let down after that.  
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First act had the best tunes...I found myself thinking the same thing.

 
ConnSKINS26 said:
.

For anyone who doesn't know, he also wrote most of the original music for Moana. On top of that (and this next part will be for a niche audience here) he's writing all the original music for the tv/film adaptation of the "Name of The Wind" novel--a critically acclaimed epic fantasy framed in a way where a washed up fellow in hiding tells the story of his own rise and fall as a storied, nearly legendary bard and wizard. Kind of a cynical and meta but still epic take on the classic hero's journey, considered to be one of the few books in a usually maligned genre (fantasy) that lives up to the prose of "real literature". Needless to say writing songs and lute music that lives up to that kind of in-universe legend is a tough task. But what a guy to get to make the attempt. 
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Iirc, he was also making a movie version of his first show (Tony award winning) "in the heights" when covid hit. I never saw it, but I think it was similar in musical style. Should come out soonish.

He also has done a bit of acting- Mary Poppins rehash and His Dark Materials, and iirc wrote some of the music in some of the recent Star Wars films.

He's nonstop.

 
El Floppo said:
Otis said:
Watching it a second time and I have to say I like it even better the second time through. 
 

one complaint: We thought the first act was so much better. Second act was a little bit of a let down after that.  
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First act had the best tunes...I found myself thinking the same thing.
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Second act has the emotional gut-punches - "One Last Time", Phillip's death & "Quite Uptown", "Who Lives Who Dies..."

Wrecks me every time I watch/hear it

 
mr fancypants said:
I was thinking that the actor playing King George looked somewhat familiar.

Turns out he played the main character Holden Ford in the series Mindhunter.
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Mindhunter was my first time seeing him but my wife has been obsessed with him as a performer for a long time. He either won a Tony or was nominated for the lead role in Spring Awakening.

He also does the voice of Kristof in the Frozen movies. 

 
I had heard a lot about this, with several friends having seen it and my wife and one of my daughters as well. I stayed away from the production when it came through due to the cost and but being familiar with the music, but watched it last night on Disney+. Very well done, very clear Les Mis and other notable Broadway musical influences. If he keeps going Miranda could be the next Andrew Lloyd Weber.  I'm very glad that I was able to watch with subtitles since I was not familiar with the tunes or lyrics whatsoever. 

I do wish he had given just a little more technical details about the battle tactics and a little more about the immediate lead up to and reason behind the duel at the end. It just seemed a little bit light in both these areas. 

Also, did Hamilton actually point his gun at the sky just like his son did, or were those embellishments for the drama of it?

Lastly, Les Mis and Weber set incredibly high bars for musical themes. I do think he could have done better with the thematic through lines, although I admit if I had a more refined ear for hip hop they may have resonated more with me. I did get the old school NYC rap themes and the Eminem/rap battle cadences, and picked up on the romantic musical themes, but it seemed like all could have been punctuated better and more powerfully. I'll have to watch again, but if it's true that he was heavily involved in the new SW trilogy scoring this might be an ongoing (pardon the pun) theme with his writing. The new trilogy score was also considerably lacking in memorable, powerful themes tying back to the recurring elements of the stories themselves. Another example where the comparison is probably not all that fair, considering John Williams' skills, but something Miranda certainly seems to have room to improve upon.

 
Oh and I haven't seen Moana but a couple of my kids live the music. It certainly doesn't seem to be lacking in emotional gravitas, musically speaking, from the bits I've heard. Does it have thematic through lines like a Broadway music (or top notch space opera) might have?

 
RUSF18 said:
Mindhunter was my first time seeing him but my wife has been obsessed with him as a performer for a long time. He either won a Tony or was nominated for the lead role in Spring Awakening.

He also does the voice of Kristof in the Frozen movies. 
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He was also pretty well known due to a role on Glee back in the day, among a certain demographic.

 
The other crazy thing about Miranda is that he was *this* close to having an EGOT already at a pretty young age, I'm sure he'll achieve it sooner rather than later. 

 
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