Hamilton (2020)

[Nick]

Alongside the filmed stage version, there is also a behind the scenes documentary/cast reunion debuting today on Disney+ by The Undefeated. It’s 33 minutes and can be found under the Hamilton extras section.

 

[Skubersky]

Hopefully you still had Nik Walker as Burr and Shoba Narayanan as Eliza? Those were the biggest highlights for me.

So you saw Javier Muñoz then i'd assume, correct? Still jealous, especially with you getting second row center (especially since I actually think Javier is in some ways a superior Hamilton, just as he was in some ways with Usnavi). The price of the actual ticket wasn't the biggest deterrent for me. If I lived in NYC, I definitely would've spent the money. The thing I struggled with was all the extra money in airfare, hotel, etc, etc. At this point you're taking a whole-ass vacation, so might as well see other shows, too. I sort of talked myself out of it in that way by making the price tag so large


Just pulled out the playbill and yes, the insert lists both of them and now that you mention it, I do specifically remember Burr being absolutely phenomenal. Pierre Jean Gonzalez was Hamilton.

Having just watched the film, I’m willing to say Nik Walker > Leslie Odom Jr

 

[Legacy]

Having just watched the film, I’m willing to say Nik Walker > Leslie Odom Jr

Damn. That’s a hell of a statement.

 

[Nick]

Damn. That’s a hell of a statement.

I just finished watching it. I sort of felt Odom Jr’s performance fell a little weak during some periods. I thought his voice sounded a little off during “Wait For It” especially, which is too bad. I still thought his performance on the whole was pretty great.

The most cringe-worthy thing in the whole show was anytime Lin-Manuel had to give a highly emotional scene (read: fake cry). It didn’t work for me, but then again, there were quite a few moments that made up for that by me having to fight back the emotion I felt. Philippa Soo was fantastic at bringing that to the show.

 

[Frogki]

Just finished it and it was my first viewing of the show, I'd listened to most of the album but never got the chance to go view it live.

I'll probably post a more thorough review tomorrow but I have to say I loved it. It was a great thing to watch in a time where many (myself included) are incredibly anxious about our nations democratic future. The songs are fun and catchy, the choreography is eye catching and the story brings history to life in an incredible way. Very glad to have seen it tonight.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

The most cringe-worthy thing in the whole show was anytime Lin-Manuel had to give a highly emotional scene (read: fake cry)

He's ironically the weakest performer and singer relative to everyone around him.

 

[Nick]

I do want to add that the PG-13 rating thankfully did not hurt this whatsoever. The Hercules Muligan F-bomb was very noticeable because of the emphasis placed on it in the song, but the other censored one, while I noticed it, it didn’t take anything away. At the end of the day, we’re talking about a few seconds of censorship in a 2.5 hour musical.

Just finished it and it was my first viewing of the show, I'd listened to most of the album but never got the chance to go view it live.

I'll probably post a more thorough review tomorrow but I have to say I loved it. It was a great thing to watch in a time where many (myself included) are incredibly anxious about our nations democratic future. The songs are fun and catchy, the choreography is eye catching and the story brings history to life in an incredible way. Very glad to have seen it tonight.

It really is an absolutely incredible show and I’m just so glad they were able to not just record with the original cast, but do it at such high quality.

He's ironically the weakest performer and singer relative to everyone around him.

He would admit to this too. But there is still something very special about the raw imperfections of his performance that I think fit the character.

Javier Muñoz is imo the best to play Hamilton from what I’ve seen.

 

[Tbad556]

Having just watched the film, I’m willing to say Nik Walker > Leslie Odom Jr

As wild as that statement is with Leslie being one of my favorite members of the OBC, my girlfriend & I both felt that way too after walking away from the Dr. Phillips Center that night. There's just something immensely special about his performance.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

Austin Scott > LMM

Ain’t sorry bout it!

Loved this though, I am literally about to grab a glass of wine and watch it again lol

 

[Nick]

Austin Scott > LMM

Ain’t sorry bout it!

Loved this though, I am literally about to grab a glass of wine and watch it again lol

I watched last night and just kinda took it in. I hummed along and sang under my breath at at some points, but otherwise, I wanted to watch it as I would if I was seeing it in a theater really.

I put it on again today meaning for it to be background as I did other things with a group of friends and it turned into a sing along #LivingRoomWhereWe’reClappin’

The Helpless/Satisfied sequence is so cool to just be able to turn on whenever I want as I think it’s one of the best parts of the show, along with “Burn”.

 

[Legacy]

Austin Scott > LMM

Ain’t sorry bout it!

That’s not exactly a hot take.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

I watched last night and just kinda took it in. I hummed along and sang under my breath at at some points, but otherwise, I wanted to watch it as I would if I was seeing it in a theater really.

I put it on again today meaning for it to be background as I did other things with a group of friends and it turned into a sing along #LivingRoomWhereWe’reClappin’

The Helpless/Satisfied sequence is so cool to just be able to turn on whenever I want as I think it’s one of the best parts of the show, along with “Burn”.

Agreed, I feel so beyond lucky we have something like this. Leslie Odom Jr was mesmerizing as well.

 

[Grabnar]

I saw this in San Antonio last May, so it was really interesting to see the original cast and compare them to what we saw. Apart from the obvious, the biggest change for me was that the Washington in our cast was portrayed by Marcus Choi and he was absolutely phenomenal.

This translated much better to the big screen than I thought that it would. If it gets a theatrical release post-covid I'll still go see it.

 

[Nick]

That’s not exactly a hot take.

Yeah, I mean, it’s well-noted that Lin isn’t actually a great singer/actor. What he is great at though is writing and creating shows, so he gets the benefit of the doubt of being on the OBC.

This is also part of the difference in why Moana is great and Mary Poppins Returns failed. Lin wrote the music for Moana, which is his specialty. In MPR, he was performing music written by someone else and his acting/singing weaknesses were on display.

Lin recognizes the weaknesses in his voice, which is why when he writes songs, he does so with his voice in mind and cover up the weak spots in the case of Alexander Hamilton and Usnavi.

 

[Nick]

I saw this in San Antonio last May, so it was really interesting to see the original cast and compare them to what we saw. Apart from the obvious, the biggest change for me was that the Washington in our cast was portrayed by Marcus Choi and he was absolutely phenomenal.

This translated much better to the big screen than I thought that it would. If it gets a theatrical release post-covid I'll still go see it.

Tommy Kail (the director of both the Broadway show and the filmed version) has said he hopes that it can get a theatrical release eventually, so I guess we’ll see. I can see a one weekend special release happening in limited theaters.

 

[Jerroddragon]

First time watching it and I loved it.

Solid Play, with great music and really liked the Turning set. It's a story i didn't know too well and think it's worth people hearing. Also might become a new 4th of July Tradition.

Also man, I've got to say its sad that even back then people just loved talking trash over politics's, like this guy was so smart and did so much but does one bad thing in his personal life and its over even if many preisdents didn't worst things but people just didn't know about it

 

[Legacy]

First time watching it and I loved it.

Solid Play, with great music and really liked the Turning set. It's a story i didn't know too well and think it's worth people hearing. Also might become a new 4th of July Tradition.

Also man, I've got to say its sad that even back then people just loved talking trash over politics's, like this guy was so smart and did so much but does one bad thing in his personal life and its over even if many preisdents didn't worst things but people just didn't know about it

It’s a dramatization of his life. Hamilton, as a man and politician, was far from perfect. He was a plutocrat, and led the military in putting down an Appalachian revolt over whiskey taxes. Dude was, very much, after his and mostly his.

The dark side of Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton played a major part in making the United States that we know today and, largely thanks to Lin Manuel-Miranda's eponymous musical, the founding father is remembered as a scrappy revolutionary immigrant, a hero of the American dream. But is the musical a realistic portrayal of...

www.historyextra.com

 

[Jerroddragon]

It’s a dramatization of his life. Hamilton, as a man and politician, was far from perfect. He was a plutocrat, and led the military in putting down an Appalachian revolt over whiskey taxes. Dude was, very much, after his and mostly his.

The dark side of Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton played a major part in making the United States that we know today and, largely thanks to Lin Manuel-Miranda's eponymous musical, the founding father is remembered as a scrappy revolutionary immigrant, a hero of the American dream. But is the musical a realistic portrayal of...

www.historyextra.com

I mean even Hamilton did it, I just ment more like we have had people going at each other's throats wayyyyy before now. So seems weird many today say its worst then ever when we literally had duels in the streets...lol

 

[Mad Dog]

It’s a dramatization of his life. Hamilton, as a man and politician, was far from perfect. He was a plutocrat, and led the military in putting down an Appalachian revolt over whiskey taxes. Dude was, very much, after his and mostly his.

The dark side of Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton played a major part in making the United States that we know today and, largely thanks to Lin Manuel-Miranda's eponymous musical, the founding father is remembered as a scrappy revolutionary immigrant, a hero of the American dream. But is the musical a realistic portrayal of...

www.historyextra.com

and that was our local area. The first mass demonstration, marked by a small park in Monongahela, Pa., is a few blocks from our home soccer field. Washington, prodded on by Hamilton, massed nearly the entire available military , at that time, to put down an unfair tax revolt by some farmers. And the tax basically was established so that a few wealthy, well connected, individuals could control whiskey production at the expense of the farmers, who made a significant share of their income from distilling whiskey, and shipping it back east to the population centers, since it was too expensive to transport corn
across the mountains to the east....and the people in this area still have that rebellious attitude, even after a few centuries have passed. Like most, Hamilton had both positive & negative aspects to his positions and deeds.

 

[Nick]

First time watching it and I loved it.

Solid Play, with great music and really liked the Turning set. It's a story i didn't know too well and think it's worth people hearing. Also might become a new 4th of July Tradition.

Also man, I've got to say its sad that even back then people just loved talking trash over politics's, like this guy was so smart and did so much but does one bad thing in his personal life and its over even if many preisdents didn't worst things but people just didn't know about it

There really is no hero or villain in this story. Just through watching the musical, Hamilton is absolutely no saint and he and Burr were constantly at each other’s throats, until it literally killed one of them.

I don’t know if history will be kind for this show or not though. There’s the whole slavery issue, which barely gets addressed in the musical and with a bunch of black guys playing those characters, it’s been controversial from the start.