Hamilton

[Mephistopheles Janx]

Currently out on Disney+. The film is performed my the original cast and was recorded in 2016. Has anyone here watched it? Thoughts?

I think that this is going to open a door for Broadway to make itself more accessible to the masses. How they took a stage production, put it to film, and still having the end product feel like a stage performance was outstanding to me.

As for the musical itself... I thought LaFayette/Jefferson stole the show. The dude was phenomenal in both roles and I hope he gets more opportunities in he future. The guy, who as my wife pointed out is apparently from Glee, was AMAZING as King George.

I found that Miranda's rapping and singing was the least memorable of the main cast. His story telling abilities, though, outweigh his deficiencies as a performer and I found his use of rap, among several others styles, to tell the story of Alexander Hamilton to be inspired.

I watched an interview he did where he speaks to how Hamilton's writing prowess has lead there to be more documents written by him than any other founding father. Rap has more words per measure than any other genre of music and he chose it so he would be able to fit in so much more information to tell a more complete story.

It was excellent and not at all preachy as you might expect from a main cast that is 87% POC on the subject of the slave owning forefathers.

[displacedinMN]

It was ok. Not a fan of (c)rap

Having a good time listening to "the wokes" complaining about it not being "woke" enough

[Jenson71]

Watched it over the weekend. Miranda seems to have Hamilton be the straight man and let every other character outshine him in their turn. I think that’s his intention, but it also helps that he was probably a few years older than every other cast member too.

The policy-rap battles with Jefferson were a highlight.

It’s remarkable that something so popular in this era did not spend a significant portion of its story on slavery and the popular discussion of our time when it comes to the country’s founders. And it has gotten some flak for that, and I appreciated Miranda’s careful and classy response. I suspect it makes Hamilton more than a product of its time and will be enjoyed for generations.

Must watch again with subtitles.

[Cheater5]

I'm glad I read just these few posts if only to learn that there is rap in this production.

And to ponder if every period piece in the history of mankind should include a portion of their story on slavery and the popular discussion of our time...because, like, you know. Woke.

[Jenson71]

Originally Posted by Cheater5

]

I'm glad I read just these few posts if only to learn that there is rap in this production.

It’s entirely rap with varying degrees of speed.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by Jenson71

It’s entirely rap with varying degrees of speed.

Eh, I don't think that's accurate. There's plenty of rap, of course, but there are some pretty "normal" musical songs strewn throughout as well. I'd guess maybe 75% rap, 25% sung. Essentially no spoken dialog though.

[Jewish Rabbi]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Eh, I don't think that's accurate. There's plenty of rap, of course, but there are some pretty "normal" musical songs strewn throughout as well. I'd guess maybe 75% rap, 25% sung. Essentially no spoken dialog though.

I honestly felt it hard to follow because of the no spoken words part. As a guy who’s seen it in theatre, was it easier to follow there?

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by Jewish Rabbi

I honestly felt it hard to follow because of the no spoken words part. As a guy who’s seen it in theatre, was it easier to follow there?

I certainly wouldn't say I picked up every word or anything the first time through. The plot overall is easy enough to follow, but if you're not used to the pace of the wording, it can be overwhelming. That said, I don't think you really need to hear every word to get the point. That's true of most musical works (even songs on the radio). If you really enjoy it, re-watching can bring a whole different experience.

Even so, my middle-class, retired, white parents from rural Kansas came to Denver and enjoyed it, so it's not like you have to be a rap fan to like it.

[Valiant]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Eh, I don't think that's accurate. There's plenty of rap, of course, but there are some pretty "normal" musical songs strewn throughout as well. I'd guess maybe 75% rap, 25% sung. Essentially no spoken dialog though.

It is more spoken word.

[cosmo20002]

Originally Posted by Jenson71

It’s entirely rap with varying degrees of speed.

No it isn't.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Cheater5

I'm glad I read just these few posts if only to learn that there is rap in this production.

And to ponder if every period piece in the history of mankind should include a portion of their story on slavery and the popular discussion of our time...because, like, you know. Woke.

You really can't tell the story of Hamilton and his relationship with Washington without including John Laurens. Laurens was probably Hamilton's closest friend and confidant (and...maybe lover? Weird history there). Washington trusted him a great deal as well. Dude was a congressman in his mid-20s and had he not stupidly charged a foraging party after the war was over, Laurens could've ascended to the Presidency at some point. And if you're going to include John Laurens, you pretty much have to mention his abolitionist tilt. It was a damn big deal to him which was pretty incredible as the son of a wealthy slaveholder. There's no easy way to side-step that without botching that story.

There's really little 'woke' about Hamilton...I mean, apart from casting minorities in every major role and putting white dudes in the 3 'nerdy guy' spots like it's a Martin Lawrence movie.

But as far as the storytelling goes, it's not heavy-handed at all. There are a couple of moments where they speak to Laurens and his efforts and creating a black regiment and/or freeing slaves (I mean c'mon - the used 'manumission' in a wrap...and it worked) but that's really about it. There's a couple of 'woman power' moments with the Schuyler sisters but even those come and go in a hurry and the one little obvious 'applause moment' with Hamilton and Lafayette saying "immigrants, they get the job done..."

But shit, it's a 2 hour and 45 minute long performance with MAAAAYBE 2 minutes of wokeness in it. I'd probably let that slide, but your mileage may vary.

[cron912]

Jonathan Groff, who played King George, is also one of the primary cast members of the Netflix series Mindhunter.

[JD10367]

So, I've seen it live, and I've seen the recent taped production. I did enjoy it, even though there's a little too much rap for my liking, but I get it: it's kind of the point, so having a black cast sing opera would be a little bizarre. And some of the songs have a catchy little hook to them, even if it's simply them saying "Alex-ander Ham-il-ton!" or "the room where it happens".

But, ultimately, I think the thing gets an unfair boost simply because of what it is. I get it. It's black people playing historic white roles. But is that alone a reason for something to be popular? Miranda's previous big work was "In The Heights", which is a fairly mediocre and forgettably typical Broadway production. I'm all for being woke but I want a musical that actually lives up to the hype as well. If this was a white cast people would be like, "Eh." I don't care if I'm watching a bunch of Mexicans do "Phantom of the Opera". Or two lesbians doing "Romeo and Juliet". (Okay, well, maybe that one I do care.) If the production doesn't live up to the hype... I can name a bunch of musicals I've seen that deserve more praise for having music and a production that lives up to the story. Obvious choices from old like "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Fiddler On The Roof", more recent works like "Les Miserables" and "Phantom of the Opera", even more recent works like "Kinky Boots", "Avenue Q", "The Book of Mormon", "Something Rotten"... I just think there's a bit of 'Emperor's new clothes' going on with this thing.

[Discuss Thrower]

Originally Posted by JD10367

So, I've seen it live, and I've seen the recent taped production. I did enjoy it, even though there's a little too much rap for my liking, but I get it: it's kind of the point, so having a black cast sing opera would be a little bizarre. And some of the songs have a catchy little hook to them, even if it's simply them saying "Alex-ander Ham-il-ton!" or "the room where it happens".

But, ultimately, I think the thing gets an unfair boost simply because of what it is. I get it. It's black people playing historic white roles. But is that alone a reason for something to be popular? Miranda's previous big work was "In The Heights", which is a fairly mediocre and forgettably typical Broadway production. I'm all for being woke but I want a musical that actually lives up to the hype as well. If this was a white cast people would be like, "Eh." I don't care if I'm watching a bunch of Mexicans do "Phantom of the Opera". Or two lesbians doing "Romeo and Juliet". (Okay, well, maybe that one I do care.) If the production doesn't live up to the hype... I can name a bunch of musicals I've seen that deserve more praise for having music and a production that lives up to the story. Obvious choices from old like "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Fiddler On The Roof", more recent works like "Les Miserables" and "Phantom of the Opera", even more recent works like "Kinky Boots", "Avenue Q", "The Book of Mormon", "Something Rotten"... I just think there's a bit of 'Emperor's new clothes' going on with this thing.

[Gravedigger]

It's good regardless. If you don't like rap music, you can still have respect for the skill and fluidity of the lyrics, similar to Eminem, Dr. Dre, Jay-Z, etc. Is it going to be your favorite musical of all time if you don't have an affinity for rap music? Probably not, but you can still watch it, enjoy it, and at least say you've seen it. It uses more intelligent language in the lyrics than you'll find in 95% of rap music I feel. It starts off rap heavy but eventually settles into more of a musical style with strong female lead vocal performances. Lin Manuel-Miranda gets upstaged by his counterparts because out of the bunch he's probably amongst the worst actual singers of the cast, and he portrays Hamilton as a brilliant, but imperfect man. When you look at the best characters of the play I wouldn't put the Alexander Hamilton character in the top 5 of things I enjoyed about it all. By the time it's over, it's really more a story about his wife than anything and what she goes on to do. People need to let go of their anti-wokeness, or whatever term they're coining these days as a term of fear of trying something outside of their comfort zone, and just enjoy it for what it is, a well written musical with strong performances that tells a good story by non-traditional means.

King George
Aaron Burr
George Washington
The Schyuler Sisters
Hamilton's posse