Got to see the show today
Oct. 4th, 2015 10:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brainwane posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
hamiltunesI am astonished. I tried the lottery, for the first time, and won! All the other people in the front row with me were, of course, people who had won those tickets via the pre-show lottery, so we were all sort of hazy with surprised happiness!
I had listened to the music a few times before going, but was curious about how the visuals affected my viewing. I feel like I understand some of the plot twists and character choices better now that I've seen it. And I'm going to put under a cut a few things about staging and props and body language, etc. that were particularly cool to me:
Also I figure you all should know that there was spontaneous cheering and applause from the audience after
It's pretty fresh in my memory so I can probably answer questions in comments if you want!
I had listened to the music a few times before going, but was curious about how the visuals affected my viewing. I feel like I understand some of the plot twists and character choices better now that I've seen it. And I'm going to put under a cut a few things about staging and props and body language, etc. that were particularly cool to me:
- How much paper there is, constantly passing from person to person, being written on or read from or (in one instance) as handbills tossed in the air
- George Washington handing a quill to Hamilton when offering him the right-hand man position, and then a sword when giving him a military command, and then a quill when asking him to help write Washington's farewell address ... and then Hamilton during "Hurricane" taking a quill from Maria Reynolds
- The props and staging during "Hurricane" evoking the everything-jumbled mental state of Hamilton's situation by comparison with the effects of a hurricane
- The King stating that he felt blue, then stamping his foot, instantly commanding that the light on him turn to blue
- The King using finger quotes when saying "country" in one of his songs when referring to the US
- The King remaining onstage and dancing a bit during the first bit of "The Adams Administration"
- Our rewind-and-replay view of the moment when Hamilton met the Schuyler sisters
- Seeing a primarily Black and Latino & Latina cast playing these historic white folks -- amazing in a way I cannot articulate
- The costume changes, acting, choreography around the aftermath of death in the second half
- The use of the nested stage turntables to show different sides of a situation, or characters drifting towards or away from each other, or more
- The ensemble dancers - I don't go to many Broadway shows so I can't judge them by those standards, and they might be just standard Broadway-level good, but they seemed amazingly good to me!
Also I figure you all should know that there was spontaneous cheering and applause from the audience after
Immigrants: We get the job done.
It's pretty fresh in my memory so I can probably answer questions in comments if you want!
no subject
Date: 2015-10-05 02:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-27 02:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-05 07:25 pm (UTC)I LOVE that the audience cheered the line about immigrants!
I have ALL THE QUESTIONS! (Um, you probably have a life, don't feel like you need to answer all or even any of these :) Especially since they are kind of general!)
-When you say you understand some of the plot twists better, what do you mean by that?
-So -- can you elaborate a bit on the rewind and reply -- did they actually "rewind" in "Satisfied," like, did all the actors go backwards? Was it an exact replica of that earlier scene, only with different dialogue/lyrics?
-How is "Wait for it" staged?
-How do they do the war scenes? (Particularly the battle of Monmouth with Charles Lee?)
-How was the Maria Reynolds bit done?
-How do they stage "It's Quiet Uptown"? Is it just as incredibly heartbreaking as on the recording?
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Date: 2015-10-27 02:19 pm (UTC)Seriously! It was so galvanizing and fun.
I was waiting and thinking about how to answer -- I'll see what I can do!
When I saw the body language and the interpersonal physical interactions, I could see how Hamilton succumbed to his lust for Maria Reynolds, how Burr seethed with rage at his bets landing wrong, how Monroe and Jefferson schemed against Hamilton, stuff like that. When listening to the cast album, I also had assumed that Samuel Seabury was just, like, the King in disguise or something! (No.)
Not an exact replica, but yeah, there is a bit at the start of "Satisfied" where (if I recall correctly) the actors literally walk backwards, and a bunch of the blocking is similar for the "I'm going to change your life.... I'll leave you to it" dialogue.
My memory is that it's pretty much a Burr soliloquy but I could be wrong here.
The ensemble is in battle dress, they dance and have guns and there's smoke effects (I recall) as they dance out shooting-and-running actions.
Maybe you've seen the photos of the stage and you know there's a wooden balcony providing a second level of stage -- Lee is on the larger lower stage and saying "retreat" as Washington, from the balcony, calls "attack".
She lures him from his writing desk, and then (I think) there's a lantern or two hung from the balcony to indicate they're walking on an outdoor street at night (this is similar to the lantern usage during the bit of "Non-Stop" where Hamilton asks Burr to help with the Federalist Papers). I don't think there's a literal bed on stage, just Alexander and Maria pawing at each other front and center, as the ensemble at the edges yells "no!".
For the first time in the show, lots of folks wearing black, including of course Alexander and Eliza. The ensemble moves around on the stage in a way that reminds me of gliding ghosts. Angelica as the narrator does not do this, and sings to us, the audience. Eliza is on the stage mute as Alexander pleads with her. She does literally take his hand when the lyrics say so. It is super heartbreaking.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-01 03:49 am (UTC)When I saw the body language and the interpersonal physical interactions, I could see how Hamilton succumbed to his lust for Maria Reynolds, how Burr seethed with rage at his bets landing wrong, how Monroe and Jefferson schemed against Hamilton, stuff like that.
That makes so much sense, and now I really want to see it. I can totally see how it would make the choices in the recording make so much more sense.
I am embarrassed to say that it wasn't until this week that I realized that Angelica was the one who was narrating "It's Quiet Uptown."
This sounds so great. Thank you again!
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Date: 2015-10-06 08:30 pm (UTC)Ahaha, amazing.
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Date: 2015-10-27 02:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-09 05:02 pm (UTC)This is so integral to the show and yet it's such a colossal thing, and I don't even have a word for what it is: reappropriation? Decolonisation? It feels like the future, like a future I (an orphan immigrant) want to live in.
no subject
Date: 2015-10-27 02:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-11-05 07:26 am (UTC)Thank you for writing this up! I saw the show last month and did not do an immediate write up. I've already forgotten lots of things (like the blue light, and quills and swords).
I do remember Alexander's mother from the opener and Hurricane (her staging really stuck out for me).
Philip confronting Eacker at the theater performance sticks out.
The Matrix-y "moving bullets" were amazing!
The last thing I'll mention is how much I enjoyed the background actors as well. Sure the stars were front and center but I remeber pointing out specific characters as they traded off roles (Hamilton's mother, Seabury and the Doctor for example).