Earlier this year, I did a free week of Broadway HD, which has recordings of Broadway/West End shows. Since it was free, I watched the Phantom Sequel that Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote. NEVER DO THAT IT WAS AWFUL.
Also this was my first time watching and first time listening all the way through and I’ve just got to say it even though I’m pretty sure it’s flameful: Lin-Manuel Miranda is an absolute genius, the man behind it all, a once in a generation writer and composer, but he is not the strongest actor or singer in this cast and it really, really showed compared to his amazingly talented co-stars. His talents lie elsewhere obviously, and in abundance, but I found it a little distracting at times!
100% agree
Yes I thought the touring cast Hamilton pulled off the tomcat aspect better than LMM. He was better looking, had more swagger, was more commanding in presence on stage.
Earlier this year, I did a free week of Broadway HD, which has recordings of Broadway/West End shows. Since it was free, I watched the Phantom Sequel that Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote. NEVER DO THAT IT WAS AWFUL.
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It was awful.
We saw it in a theatre, and the people next to us left at intermission. The first part was so bad, but the second half was better.... enough better that I didn't go home upset about how bad it was. I was upset that Raoul turned out to be a horrible person though.
I think that I was more upset about the people leaving because they missed the only good parts, and because they did that several times during the two seasons they sat next to us. It was weird.
I remember reading stuff about the double casting that made so much sense but now I forget why they did that. Can anyone clarify for me why DD played both Lafayette and Jefferson? And the other double roles too? Laurens/Hamilton’s son and Peggy/mistress?
My 13 year old made the observation from the medium.com article about Peggy/mistress. Thanks for sharing this - I will share it with her and she will get a kick out of being right as well as the other double cast decisions.
I agree that Leslie Odem was amazing. As for sounding nasally - I wonder if he had a sinus thing going on during this filming because he sang Theodosia and a couple other songs live at a gala I attended in December and he sounded amazing - no nasal issues.
Daveed Diggs stole the show for me in this recorded version.
I watched in person from the nosebleeds and would like to say if you loved this and can afford to go live in the future, do it. The staging was some of the most amazing I have ever seen (except for Aladdin and I haven’t seen Wicked), and you get a whole new appreciation when you can see it from far back.
Also in the live touring version, our King sort of stole the show. He was very flamboyant and danced around a lot. It was HIGH-LARIOUS. This king was very boring in comparison.
I want to watch it again but want to remember to turn on the sound bar attachment we have so the booms can be felt more similarly to the live experience.
This was still great. It truly is my favorite musical.
We watched last night. I'd never heard the full soundtrack before watching. I thought it was enjoyable and I can understand the excitement and hype around it, but it didn't blow me away. The case was amazingly talented and the staging and choreography were very well done, but I haven't been singing any of the songs this morning. I know I'm in the minority, but it didn't have a great emotional impact on me. I will most likely still see the touring show, but I won't buy the soundtrack. I don't understand the Thomas Jefferson love. I liked when he was Lafayette, but Jefferson sounded nasally to me. Burr had the best male voice, Eliza's voice touched me the most, and Angelica nailed all of her songs, especially when she sang so fast.
So I finally watched Hamilton this morning. There were some talent standouts but overall I thought the touring cast was better. This is definitely rare. Maybe it's just a show you have to be there for to feel the energy. I still really loved it but it didn't elicit the same feelings the live show did.
On the other hand, the live production of Newsies was every bit as good as seeing it live. Possibly better because you can see more.
I agree that Leslie Odem was amazing. As for sounding nasally - I wonder if he had a sinus thing going on during this filming because he sang Theodosia and a couple other songs live at a gala I attended in December and he sounded amazing - no nasal issues.
Daveed Diggs stole the show for me in this recorded version.
I watched in person from the nosebleeds and would like to say if you loved this and can afford to go live in the future, do it. The staging was some of the most amazing I have ever seen (except for Aladdin and I haven’t seen Wicked), and you get a whole new appreciation when you can see it from far back.
Also in the live touring version, our King sort of stole the show. He was very flamboyant and danced around a lot. It was HIGH-LARIOUS. This king was very boring in comparison.
I want to watch it again but want to remember to turn on the sound bar attachment we have so the booms can be felt more similarly to the live experience.
This was still great. It truly is my favorite musical.
I agree about the King! I know everyone loves Groff sauce, but we saw Michael Jibson and thought he was so sassy and flamboyant!
I saw it on its last day in Denver in the theater, which happened to be my birthday. This year it was set to be in Denver for DD's bday and that was the plan. Alas...
She's watched it 4 times now and I'm on my 5th. I'm just excited to see the OBC, even if LMM isn't the strongest performer, or touring productions had better casts. I love Christopher Jackson and Daveed Diggs and Jonathan Groff, so getting to see them was a treat.
Seeing it live was a million times better in terms of immersion, but watching this I saw so many things I missed.
I remember reading stuff about the double casting that made so much sense but now I forget why they did that. Can anyone clarify for me why DD played both Lafayette and Jefferson? And the other double roles too? Laurens/Hamilton’s son and Peggy/mistress?
I picked up on some of that before, but the Laurens/Phillip one wasn't quite spot on - Laurens essentially offered to die for him in the duel, but he didn't. He died several years later completely unrelated (but technically in battle).
Also, the soundtrack leaves out the part about Laurens death, though it's very brief.
I saw it on its last day in Denver in the theater, which happened to be my birthday. This year it was set to be in Denver for DD's bday and that was the plan. Alas...
She's watched it 4 times now and I'm on my 5th. I'm just excited to see the OBC, even if LMM isn't the strongest performer, or touring productions had better casts. I love Christopher Jackson and Daveed Diggs and Jonathan Groff, so getting to see them was a treat.
Seeing it live was a million times better in terms of immersion, but watching this I saw so many things I missed.
Did he intend for it to be 100% factual? My understanding was no, but I guess it’s cool if kids still want to learn what was fact and what was fiction.
No he's openly talked about the liberties he took with the timeline. Apparently he bounced a lot of it off Chernow but still had to do it for the story.
I saw it on its last day in Denver in the theater, which happened to be my birthday. This year it was set to be in Denver for DD's bday and that was the plan. Alas...
She's watched it 4 times now and I'm on my 5th. I'm just excited to see the OBC, even if LMM isn't the strongest performer, or touring productions had better casts. I love Christopher Jackson and Daveed Diggs and Jonathan Groff, so getting to see them was a treat.
Seeing it live was a million times better in terms of immersion, but watching this I saw so many things I missed.
Did he intend for it to be 100% factual? My understanding was no, but I guess it’s cool if kids still want to learn what was fact and what was fiction.
No, I don’t think it was ever supposed to be completely factual. I know there are many upset because it portrays him as anti-slave when in reality he bought and sold slaves for his in-laws (though he did not own any himself). But my guess is since this will be an introduction of sorts for many kids to who he is & US history that someone should at least set the kids straight. When DD first heard the soundtrack at age 9 she got super into it and read books on him & did reports and often set us straight on things the musical left out. I think a course like this is good for them to learn fact from fiction.
Did he intend for it to be 100% factual? My understanding was no, but I guess it’s cool if kids still want to learn what was fact and what was fiction.
No, I don’t think it was ever supposed to be completely factual. I know there are many upset because it portrays him as anti-slave when in reality he bought and sold slaves for his in-laws (though he did not own any himself). But my guess is since this will be an introduction of sorts for many kids to who he is & US history that someone should at least set the kids straight. When DD first heard the soundtrack at age 9 she got super into it and read books on him & did reports and often set us straight on things the musical left out. I think a course like this is good for them to learn fact from fiction.
If you don't have the book of the lyrics, I would recommend. Lin Manuel annotated the lyrics with historical information (such as these four did not meet in one night but over the course of a month, this timeline is shortened to make the pacing of the show move better).
It also included costuming and staging information and why they made the choices he did. Plus a deleted third cabinet battle.
Last night, DH said he was going to pick the movie and wouldn't tell any of us what it was, and then he started up Disney+ (I didn't even know he'd started the subscription, lol) and pulled up Hamilton! We watched the first half and we'll finish it up tonight.
DH and I saw it on Broadway last year and it's interesting to compare the performances/see how things have evolved. Agree that LMM is not the strongest Hamilton, performance-wise. Our king was a lot more physically active/campy/fun. Daveed Diggs as Lafayette is fantastic.
I like having a version able to watch at home, but the presence of it is totally different. I think it's probably impossible to completely capture the energy and ambiance of a live performance. Some scenes still gave me goosebumps, and I appreciated things about the staging that I think I missed the first time I saw it. Being able to get close-ups at times was really good. But it doesn't quite have the same level of power, IMO, as seeing it in-person. It definitely reinforces for me that there is magic in a live theater performance.
If you don't have the book of the lyrics, I would recommend. Lin Manuel annotated the lyrics with historical information (such as these four did not meet in one night but over the course of a month, this timeline is shortened to make the pacing of the show move better).
I enjoyed the soundtrack initially but reading all the added history is really what got me into it.
I made MH watch it Saturday and really had to stop myself from filling him in on all the extra info. I didn't even point out that the Schuylers were my distant relatives.
No, I don’t think it was ever supposed to be completely factual. I know there are many upset because it portrays him as anti-slave when in reality he bought and sold slaves for his in-laws (though he did not own any himself). But my guess is since this will be an introduction of sorts for many kids to who he is & US history that someone should at least set the kids straight. When DD first heard the soundtrack at age 9 she got super into it and read books on him & did reports and often set us straight on things the musical left out. I think a course like this is good for them to learn fact from fiction.
If you don't have the book of the lyrics, I would recommend. Lin Manuel annotated the lyrics with historical information (such as these four did not meet in one night but over the course of a month, this timeline is shortened to make the pacing of the show move better).
It also included costuming and staging information and why they made the choices he did. Plus a deleted third cabinet battle.
I wonder how many people realize that the real life Theodosia Burr Alston, the subject of "Dear Theodosia," married a slave owner / plantation owner who went on to become the governor of South Carolina in 1812.
I have watched the first half and love the energy of it.
I loved Leslie Odom on the soundtrack, but he seems so nasal in the movie.
I also agree 100% with what seeyalater52 said about LMM's talents.
I've seen LOJ live at his own concert, and his acting/singing voice is different than his concert voice. I think when he's doing the acting/emoting stuff, his pronunciations get a little muddled.
He's still one of the best singers ever, though, IMO. lol
I saw a headline calling it fanfic and that sounds about right.
I wouldn't call it fanfic. For the most part it's historically accurate (at least according to Chernow). It's no more or no less accurate than any history that is taught in school.
I wonder how many people realize that the real life Theodosia Burr Alston, the subject of "Dear Theodosia," married a slave owner / plantation owner who went on to become the governor of South Carolina in 1812.
I bet not many, lol. That seems like a pretty random factoid. But maybe I'm just not a history buff.
I saw a headline calling it fanfic and that sounds about right.
I wouldn't call it fanfic. For the most part it's historically accurate (at least according to Chernow). It's no more or no less accurate than any history that is taught in school.
I think it’s a more glowing portrayal of Hamilton, Washington, etc. than they deserve, but yep, we could say that about almost any history textbook.
I wonder how many people realize that the real life Theodosia Burr Alston, the subject of "Dear Theodosia," married a slave owner / plantation owner who went on to become the governor of South Carolina in 1812.
Also, she disappeared at sea the same year her husband became governor. She was 29 years old at the time.
I wonder how many people realize that the real life Theodosia Burr Alston, the subject of "Dear Theodosia," married a slave owner / plantation owner who went on to become the governor of South Carolina in 1812.
I know that. And it doesn't impair my enjoyment of the fine melody and sentiment of the lullaby. Just like knowing that the rebels of the French Revolution didn't actually sing in counterpoint doesn't impair my enjoyment of Les Mis, which is based on a work of fiction inspired by a real person.
Everyone in Hamilton was worse in real life. Even, I'm sure, Hercules Mulligan.
I wonder how many people realize that the real life Theodosia Burr Alston, the subject of "Dear Theodosia," married a slave owner / plantation owner who went on to become the governor of South Carolina in 1812.
Also, she disappeared at sea the same year her husband became governor. She was 29 years old at the time.
This is why the "you'll blow us all away" lines always killed me. The song is for two children who never really make it to adulthood, both because they are "blown away." One by a gun, the other possibly by a storm at sea.
Only tangentially related, but I always thought Aaron Burr's activities with the Blennerhassets and whatever they were up to, would make a fantastic movie. Not sure who would really be the hero though.
Maybe they can make it the Hamilton Sequel, just make sure it's better than "Love Never Dies." (There, tried, to bring it back to topic)
Leslie Odom Jr. is the show. He deserved the Tony.
He's my favorite! Chris Jackson tearing up after One Last Time was just too much, remembering him singing that at the White House for Obama.
I saw Hamilton on Broadway in January 2017 and remember being floored that Javier Muñoz sounded better than LMM. But LMM's personality is what makes his performance amazing, even if it's not on the same technicality caliber as the rest of the cast.
I read LMM’s book (nerd, I know) and one of my favorite stories was that he was set for an off show and Javier was playing Hamilton and he found out that the Obamas were coming. And he wanted so badly to go on but it wasn’t his night, so Javier got to play the role for the obamas.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
I saw Hamilton in London in 2018 (which was a little odd. They LOVED the King . And they had to change some of the jokes). I think the movie came pretty damn close to live theater, and I liked that I could see facial expressions (totally missed Eliza’s “death” at the end live) and the way it was lit (The lighting design) was awesome - I couldn’t see that as well in the theater.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”