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cahnI saw Hamilton last week with my sister!! I am probably the only person who has ever flown to the Midwest to see Hamilton, but there you have it. (Okay, we went to see D's parents and do Holy Week with them, which we have never done with them before -- and we went to see my new nephew (who is super cute) -- but really we went so I could go see Hamilton with her.)
...It was AWESOME. I had seen clips, but it hadn't really prepared me for how -- perfect and perfectly integrated the whole thing was. The singing, the dancing, the use of the chorus, the choreography, the lighting (and I don't usually even notice lighting, though lately with all the opera I've been mainlining I've been paying more attention)... all of it was just really amazing.
C. and I represented two extremes of Hamilton consumption. I have listened to the cast recording I don't know how many times, actively searched out all kinds of information about the production, etc. C. had purposely (on the recommendation of friends) not listened to the recording as much as possible. Mixed results on both sides. C. was overwhelmed by amazingness but suffered particularly in the first act not being able to understand all the words. I found in general that knowing the words and the story let me concentrate on details of the production, which I really like, but was probably not quite as immersive, and in particular I think I wish I hadn't known quite so many little details of how the production worked, because I was watching for them instead of being surprised by them e.g., knowing that Eliza beat-boxes for Philip
Various random comments:
-The actor who played Alexander Hamilton (Austin Scott) was tall! I think he was the tallest person in the cast, including George Washington, and this caused me some difficulty -- apparently my suspension of disbelief is fine with POCs but not with a tall person as Hamilton?? (Probably because I was expecting a POC but not a tall person!) Anyway, he was very good, and a rather better singer than LMM, though to my mind not quite as completely frenetic (which may also be interpretation, and C. said she definitely got the total-forward-momentum vibe, so an interpretation that worked for the important bits).
-The actor playing Aaron Burr (Nicholas Christopher) was quite good in most scenes ("The Room Where It Happens" was an AMAZING showstopper, C. and I agreed it was one of the best songs of the evening, and Christopher really sold Burr's increasing intensity and anger) but suffered a bit in the more meditative songs relative to the Odom performance ("Wait for It" is one of my hands-down favorites in the cast recording, but wasn't here). Which, I guess, is why Odom has a Tony, because he's so amazing at both.
-Angelica (Raven Thomas) and Eliza (Julia K. Harriman) were both quite excellent. "Burn" was one of the highlights of the evening (and it's a song that is not usually one of my favorites). Only... I see dramatically why Eliza couldn't be in the scene when Angelica does the "I know my sister like I know my own mind" reprise but I REALLY WANTED HER THERE OKAY. C. says she likes them both better than the recording. I think so too, but a lot of that might be because of the added visual awesomeness.
-Lafayette/Jefferson (Chris De'Sean Lee) stole the show, especially as Jefferson (Lafayette suffered some from the audio issues noted below), from the moment Jefferson appeared and made repeated vigorous (and hilarious) motions to the audience to clap more for him (which we did). He was really excellent -- Lee was making the role his own and not just trying to be a Diggs clone. (He was, I think, more frenetic and playful than Diggs, who is a little more elegant.) C. and I also loved how Hamilton mimics him in the rap scene when he says "Doin' whatever the hell it is you do in Monticello?" I think my favorite bit was in the election scene between Burr and Jefferson; as Hamilton talks, Burr smiles and looks very confident, whereas Jefferson is standing very still with head bowed, and then when Hamilton says, "Jefferson has my vote!" Jefferson looks up, totally shocked for a second, and then does a happy dance. (It's the shock, actually, that was really hilariously fun to watch.)
-I had gotten the impression that "Say No To This" had, umm, a somewhat suggestive bit where Alexander and Maria get together. Not in this production -- they had a not-particularly-passionate kiss, and that was pretty much it. Which given the composition of the audience (mostly older white people, which I thought was... interesting) was probably just as well, but kind of funny. Also, note to K: in this production, at the end of "Say No To This," James Reynolds leads Maria offstage, gesturing to her to follow him (and she does), which is some evidence that at least in this production they're raising the possibility she is following her husband's orders.
-"Hurricane" was AMAZING -- it is not my favorite song in the recording, but the vortex-lighting and choreography around Alexander really sold it to me, and also at the end of the evening as the inevitable culmination of Alexander's arc: he wrote himself out, he's always written himself out, he's going to write himself out this time! ("Wait for it!" the chorus pleads.) In the context of the show I felt like it made alllll the emotional sense to me (rachelmanija, I know you've made all these points before about this song, but I didn't really get it emotionally in the gut until seeing it).
-In general the pacing of the show is amazing, and that's something I can't get a sense of from a recording. Every time I felt like I was about to burn out from the intensity, it would pull back a little and we'd get a slower or less intense section. And every time we relaxed back down, the pace would ratchet up again. It was really quite something.
-C. found Aaron Burr quite a bit more interesting than Alexander Hamilton, who, as she noted, actually spends a lot of time on stage standing still while things happen around him, whereas Burr is narrating, jumping around, etc. Also, Burr has a really compelling emotional arc.
-I now understand Hamilton/Burr in a way I hadn't, listening to the recording. I mean, their relationship comes across in the recording, but actually seeing them constantly in each other's space and alternating good-natured sniping at each other with actual friendship with anger was... well, now I get it, is all :)
-George Washington (Carvens Lissaint) had a great presence and we both enjoyed him a lot.
-Philip's death was much more affecting than on the recording, and surprisingly to me "It's Quiet Uptown" was less affecting. I always cry when I listen to this, every time, and I didn't cry in the theater. Some of this had to do with the fact that I've already built visuals for it in my head that don't match what was on the stage, but C. agreed as well -- I think also it's a song that works really, really well as an audio experience, and is less of a visual experience.
-The only thing is, I don't know whether it was intentional, sloppiness, or simply that the sound system in that theater wasn't good enough to deal, but the sound system left a little to be desired -- principal actors seemed miked a great deal more than the chorus actors (this affected the balance in numbers like "Right Hand Man," where IMO the chorus interjections need to be as loud as Washington for impact, and they weren't), and the miking itself was a little muddy -- some of the really fast raps (HI LAFAYETTE) didn't come through very well at all. I know that Hamilton is quite a bit faster than most musicals, so... I wonder whether the sound system is just not built for it (and I wonder whether the experience on Broadway itself would be better or the same).
-I hadn't been spoiled for the very end, which was nice but also kind of confusing. At first I thought it was representing Eliza dying, but we'd already seen her meet Alexander, and he had pushed her forward to stand in the spotlight -- so it took me a minute of processing after it was already over to realize it was breaking the fourth wall to show that her story was being told. It was pretty great.
...It was AWESOME. I had seen clips, but it hadn't really prepared me for how -- perfect and perfectly integrated the whole thing was. The singing, the dancing, the use of the chorus, the choreography, the lighting (and I don't usually even notice lighting, though lately with all the opera I've been mainlining I've been paying more attention)... all of it was just really amazing.
C. and I represented two extremes of Hamilton consumption. I have listened to the cast recording I don't know how many times, actively searched out all kinds of information about the production, etc. C. had purposely (on the recommendation of friends) not listened to the recording as much as possible. Mixed results on both sides. C. was overwhelmed by amazingness but suffered particularly in the first act not being able to understand all the words. I found in general that knowing the words and the story let me concentrate on details of the production, which I really like, but was probably not quite as immersive, and in particular I think I wish I hadn't known quite so many little details of how the production worked, because I was watching for them instead of being surprised by them e.g., knowing that Eliza beat-boxes for Philip
Various random comments:
-The actor who played Alexander Hamilton (Austin Scott) was tall! I think he was the tallest person in the cast, including George Washington, and this caused me some difficulty -- apparently my suspension of disbelief is fine with POCs but not with a tall person as Hamilton?? (Probably because I was expecting a POC but not a tall person!) Anyway, he was very good, and a rather better singer than LMM, though to my mind not quite as completely frenetic (which may also be interpretation, and C. said she definitely got the total-forward-momentum vibe, so an interpretation that worked for the important bits).
-The actor playing Aaron Burr (Nicholas Christopher) was quite good in most scenes ("The Room Where It Happens" was an AMAZING showstopper, C. and I agreed it was one of the best songs of the evening, and Christopher really sold Burr's increasing intensity and anger) but suffered a bit in the more meditative songs relative to the Odom performance ("Wait for It" is one of my hands-down favorites in the cast recording, but wasn't here). Which, I guess, is why Odom has a Tony, because he's so amazing at both.
-Angelica (Raven Thomas) and Eliza (Julia K. Harriman) were both quite excellent. "Burn" was one of the highlights of the evening (and it's a song that is not usually one of my favorites). Only... I see dramatically why Eliza couldn't be in the scene when Angelica does the "I know my sister like I know my own mind" reprise but I REALLY WANTED HER THERE OKAY. C. says she likes them both better than the recording. I think so too, but a lot of that might be because of the added visual awesomeness.
-Lafayette/Jefferson (Chris De'Sean Lee) stole the show, especially as Jefferson (Lafayette suffered some from the audio issues noted below), from the moment Jefferson appeared and made repeated vigorous (and hilarious) motions to the audience to clap more for him (which we did). He was really excellent -- Lee was making the role his own and not just trying to be a Diggs clone. (He was, I think, more frenetic and playful than Diggs, who is a little more elegant.) C. and I also loved how Hamilton mimics him in the rap scene when he says "Doin' whatever the hell it is you do in Monticello?" I think my favorite bit was in the election scene between Burr and Jefferson; as Hamilton talks, Burr smiles and looks very confident, whereas Jefferson is standing very still with head bowed, and then when Hamilton says, "Jefferson has my vote!" Jefferson looks up, totally shocked for a second, and then does a happy dance. (It's the shock, actually, that was really hilariously fun to watch.)
-I had gotten the impression that "Say No To This" had, umm, a somewhat suggestive bit where Alexander and Maria get together. Not in this production -- they had a not-particularly-passionate kiss, and that was pretty much it. Which given the composition of the audience (mostly older white people, which I thought was... interesting) was probably just as well, but kind of funny. Also, note to K: in this production, at the end of "Say No To This," James Reynolds leads Maria offstage, gesturing to her to follow him (and she does), which is some evidence that at least in this production they're raising the possibility she is following her husband's orders.
-"Hurricane" was AMAZING -- it is not my favorite song in the recording, but the vortex-lighting and choreography around Alexander really sold it to me, and also at the end of the evening as the inevitable culmination of Alexander's arc: he wrote himself out, he's always written himself out, he's going to write himself out this time! ("Wait for it!" the chorus pleads.) In the context of the show I felt like it made alllll the emotional sense to me (
rachelmanija, I know you've made all these points before about this song, but I didn't really get it emotionally in the gut until seeing it).-In general the pacing of the show is amazing, and that's something I can't get a sense of from a recording. Every time I felt like I was about to burn out from the intensity, it would pull back a little and we'd get a slower or less intense section. And every time we relaxed back down, the pace would ratchet up again. It was really quite something.
-C. found Aaron Burr quite a bit more interesting than Alexander Hamilton, who, as she noted, actually spends a lot of time on stage standing still while things happen around him, whereas Burr is narrating, jumping around, etc. Also, Burr has a really compelling emotional arc.
-I now understand Hamilton/Burr in a way I hadn't, listening to the recording. I mean, their relationship comes across in the recording, but actually seeing them constantly in each other's space and alternating good-natured sniping at each other with actual friendship with anger was... well, now I get it, is all :)
-George Washington (Carvens Lissaint) had a great presence and we both enjoyed him a lot.
-Philip's death was much more affecting than on the recording, and surprisingly to me "It's Quiet Uptown" was less affecting. I always cry when I listen to this, every time, and I didn't cry in the theater. Some of this had to do with the fact that I've already built visuals for it in my head that don't match what was on the stage, but C. agreed as well -- I think also it's a song that works really, really well as an audio experience, and is less of a visual experience.
-The only thing is, I don't know whether it was intentional, sloppiness, or simply that the sound system in that theater wasn't good enough to deal, but the sound system left a little to be desired -- principal actors seemed miked a great deal more than the chorus actors (this affected the balance in numbers like "Right Hand Man," where IMO the chorus interjections need to be as loud as Washington for impact, and they weren't), and the miking itself was a little muddy -- some of the really fast raps (HI LAFAYETTE) didn't come through very well at all. I know that Hamilton is quite a bit faster than most musicals, so... I wonder whether the sound system is just not built for it (and I wonder whether the experience on Broadway itself would be better or the same).
-I hadn't been spoiled for the very end, which was nice but also kind of confusing. At first I thought it was representing Eliza dying, but we'd already seen her meet Alexander, and he had pushed her forward to stand in the spotlight -- so it took me a minute of processing after it was already over to realize it was breaking the fourth wall to show that her story was being told. It was pretty great.
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Date: 2018-04-14 06:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-15 02:51 am (UTC)Curious about the LA production -- what did you think of the sound system quality?
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Date: 2018-04-18 12:34 pm (UTC)I'm glad you had an awesome time!
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Date: 2018-04-20 04:22 am (UTC)