Profile for velevele

Yes, there is. As you face the theater's main entrance, go to the right and around the building, and it's near the back of the building. There's an obvious fenced-off area surrounding the door. While I was waiting for my ride after the performance, I heard various applauding from the people surrounding this area, so I assume some actors were coming out, but I don't know which ones.

The show. I don't watch TV or see movies, so I've never heard of a lot of the actors who made their names in either of those media. The one exception was that I flew to NYC for less than 48 hours specifically to see Lin-Manuel Miranda in "Hamilton", one of the best decisions I've ever made. (Of course, he wasn't a "name" for his TV or movie work.)

Oh, thanks so much for all this info, RussT2. I've been a fan since the late 1970s, back when I was a poor student and couldn't afford even the cheapest ticket to see Bruce live. I didn't get even a standby code the first time, but I got a code and then a ticket for the extended run. I love acoustic Bruce more than anything else (my favorite recording is "Nebraska", and I was in heaven at the thought of an entire evening of this, but was worried it would somehow just not work. I should have trusted in Bruce . This sounds like it will indeed be magical. Thanks so much for taking the time to post the photo and info.

- "One Last Time", Hamilton. I didn't cry at all when I heard it on the CD, but when I saw it, and Christopher Jackson got to the line, "They'll be safe in the nation we've made", I started to bawl, and now EVERY TIME I listen to the song, I cry. Especially now, when I think of all their sacrifices, and how I don't feel all that safe in the nation they made.

- I'm embarrassed to admit I cried, off and on, almost all the way through "Come From Away", but the first line that got me was in "Welcome to the Rock", when Bonnie, Annette, and Beulah say simultaneously, "And I turn on the radio." All of a sudden I was RIGHT BACK THERE in that day, and all the emotions started coming back. (It's even more powerful because they never actually really say what happened.)

- And I admit: In "Joseph and the Amazing..." etc., in "Jacob In Egypt", when the ensemble sings, "So Jacob came to Egypt, no longer feeling old - And Joseph came to meet him in his chariot of gold". This father-son moment hits me hard, especially since my dad isn't alive any more, and I would kill for just one more hug from him.

Great, now I'm starting to tear up, just writing this post.    I better leave it at these three!

NYfanfromCA, I too like being in center front orchestra, and for this show I sat in D108. I loved this seat. The stage wasn't so high that I was craning my neck upward, and I really like seeing every nuance of facial expressions. The tradeoff, of course, is that there's less of a panoramic view. But the sides are taken up with musicians and some pieces of the set, so I felt I was seeing most of the action happen pretty much in front of me.

As far as listening to the recording first - no, no, no.  This is one show that you need to experience fresh as it's happening. I bought the recording afterward (and have been listening to it a lot), and am SO glad that I hadn't heard the recording and knew no details about the show before I saw it. The emotional impact the first time needs to be experienced in the theater, IMO.  This is from someone who had the entire "Hamilton" score memorized before seeing that for the first time, and for that show, that was the right decision for me, but for this show - no. Don't do it. You'll thank everyone who said so. 

Thanks to everyone who took the time to post about this!  After carefully reading all the posts, I bought my ticket (about 2/3 of this thread was here when I bought it), and then I spent the next 1/3 of the thread second-guessing myself.   But I ended up being thrilled with my seat, which was BC23 (banquette). I felt I had a good view of everything. I only had to turn my head slightly to see what was happening at the rear entrance. As far as loot - I got a dumpling, a shaker, and a page of the book, which pretty much fell in my lap. I was also snowed on. I didn't realize letters were being handed out until the person next to me got one - I was looking somewhere totally different at the time - but I think if you wanted to get a letter, this seat has good potential for that, if you make eye contact when they're being passed out.

As far as interaction - a lot of action takes place in the BC23 area, and cast members would occasionally talk to me. I got lots of eye contact (especially with Denee Benton) and people singing directly to me. However, you're not dragged into the action, thank goodness. I don't have much to say about Groban interaction since I had no idea who he was before I started looking into attending this show, so I wasn't looking at him all that often and wasn't that clued in to where he was at any given moment. There was plenty of legroom (I'm really tall), and there was enough room for me to put my small bag next to me to my immediate right, without crowding the person to my right. However, you do have to keep your legs tucked in, since cast members occasionally use the vacant floor space in front of this seat, and I wouldn't recommend putting anything on the floor except your legs. Thanks again to everyone who posted - it was really helpful!

A few things to consider:

(1) How badly do you want to see "Hamilton"? I know that if I had had only one opportunity to see it at a price I could afford, I would have leapt at that opportunity, obstructed view or not, rather than not seeing at all, or having no idea when I might be able to see it in the future. I was that deeply in love with the recording and that desperate to see it live.

(2) The Chicago theater is awful. When I saw "Hamilton" there, I paid face value for a seat in the left orchestra (row G, about halfway between the aisle and the wall) that was not listed as obstructed view, but there were definitely things on both the left stage and the left balcony that I couldn't see. (I would have been a lot more annoyed if I hadn't already seen it in New York.) Although most of the main action does take place in the center, and not on the balcony, if it bothers you to have any obstructed view at all, understand that, as others have said, when this theater says "obstructed view", it definitely means it. If you're all the way against the wall, your view will definitely be obstructed. The people sitting to my immediate left, closer to the wall, complained loudly to each other about their view.

(3) Only you know what "worth it" means. Only you know how much it means to you to see "Hamilton", how much the $177 means to you (as in, what else you could do with the money other than buying this ticket), and how unhappy you'll be if your view is obstructed. I'm curious as to what you'll decide! Or may have already decided.

Luvcaroline, I didn't see Alexander as King George - the understudy, Jin Ha, went on. I was a little disappointed at first, since people have been raving about Alexander, but on the plus side, Jin Ha is a friend of a friend, so that was fun.  Ha played it very understated in his first two numbers - I think it was the first time he's gone on as KGIII and I was wondering if he was playing it a little cautious, but he loosened up considerably in his third number, and he was hilarious in "The Reynolds Pamphlet". (In NYC, I'd seen both Groff and O'Malley, whom I both loved, and Ha was considerably more subtle in his performance. But I don't think most people want "subtle"!)
 

In a way, I think KGIII is the least important role in terms of who's cast - the part is written so that pretty much "anybody" could do it, I think - it seems to sort of play itself. (Even I, who have never acted even one line onstage in my life, think I could play KGIII!)    Not to underestimate the work the KGIII actors have put into that part - I know it's not as easy as I'm making it sound - but it's pretty much a one-note character. Ha got nice rounds of applause every time, especially the last time, but he didn't get quite the ovations that either O'Malley or, especially, Groff did.  I think I'm gonna have to go back to Chicago just to see Gemignani! 

Thank you, Jennabee and Luvcaroline!  Jennabee, you are NOT getting a consolation prize in Chicago at all. Yes, Miranda won't be there, but I hope like mad that you won't be disappointed. Let us know! And Luvcaroline, thanks again for your brilliant review, which went a long way to reassuring me before I went. You were spot-on about Henry!

Warning, this post is only for “Hamilton” geeks, and it’s really long. If that doesn’t interest you, now’s the time to stop reading! Also if you don’t want spoilers for Chicago, don’t read this. Also it’s so long, I’m breaking it into parts. Cross-posted to my Facebook page, so if you're Facebook friends with me and read it there, there's nothing new here. Also, should be obvious, but everything that follows is my opinion, not The Gospel Truth That Applies To Everyone.   Part 1:

I’ve now been lucky enough to see “Hamilton” three times, twice in NYC and once in Chicago. Because of the amazing experience I had seeing it with the OBC in NYC, I was a little nervous about Chicago, but I needn’t have been. It’s become stereotyped to say “the show is the star” - I think, more accurately, everything about the show is the star, not just because of what Miranda did in creating it, but because of the great care taken, for the most part, in casting the various parts, and in the loving attention to detail involved in bringing the show to Chicago. The Chicago production held its own. So, by category, Chicago vs. NYC:

Venue. The PrivateBank Theatre (PBT) in Chicago is just awful, unfortunately. Many of the sightlines are poor - a large number of seats are sold as obstructed view - and even some of the seats not sold as obstructed view have some obstruction. The stage is much higher than in NYC’s Richard Rodgers Theatre (RR), which means that if you’re sitting in the orchestra and are closer than about 10 rows from the front, you won’t be able to see the stage floor (and will miss the lighting effects that take place there). The mezzanine seemed further back as well. In general, the stage seemed a little narrower and deeper than at RR, and I didn’t have the feeling of being close to the actors in the way I did at RR. (We were in left Orch Row G in PBT - my two RR tickets were in Orch Row D and Orch Row J, both of which were great.) I did a lot of agonizing before selecting our tickets for Chicago, because there’s no perfect solution at PBT - if you’re far enough back to see the floor, you’ll be too far back to see facial expressions. I went for facial expressions, but that meant loss of the lighting. I’d suggest being sure what your priorities are before selecting tickets at PBT. On the plus side, PBT has decent legroom, and a way larger lobby than RR. The merchandise stand wasn’t particularly mobbed, at least not early on.

Staging changes. This production, as I mentioned, has been carefully and lovingly transferred virtually intact. The stage/set is the same, and the sound system at PBT is (almost) as good as at RR. There have been a few minor changes in staging - for example, during “My Shot” at RR, Mulligan puts his leg on the bench to show off his pants during the “I think your pants look hot” line, but at PBT, he does a little shimmy dance instead. But by and large, it’s the same production as in NYC.

Audiences. All three of the audiences reacted about the same way, with applause/laughter in the same places, with one very notable exception, which I’ll say more about shortly.

Hamilton. We saw Miguel Cervantes, who was excellent. (In NYC, I’d seen Rua and Miranda.) In a way, I feel this is the one role for which it’s unfair to do comparisons. LMM’s performance will always be the definitive one, for obvious reasons - I don’t mean that everyone will find it to be the “best” one, depending on personal taste, but it will always be the “Shakespeare performing Shakespeare” one. I’ve read a lot of criticism about both LMM’s voice and his acting. I think the criticisms of his voice are justified - he’s not a strong singer - but I disagree about his acting. I thought he was incandescent the night I saw him, and his performance was by far my favorite of the three. Of the other two, I was least pleased with Rua, who wandered around the beat more than I would have liked (LMM is quite precise with the beat), and who occasionally had a half-smile on his face during quite serious parts of the show. Cervantes is a strong vocalist who was also precisely on the beat. He made some different choices than LMM - for example, he basically spoke all of the “I imagine death so much...” soliloquies, rather than singing them as LMM does, and that was quite effective. He’s well cast in the part.

Burr. Let’s get right to the controversial opinion.   I saw Odom twice in NYC, and Joshua Henry in Chicago. Odom, of course, is great, with the well-deserved Tony. But to my complete surprise, I thought Henry was better- a LOT better. Odom plays Burr in what I think of as kind of  one-note way - smooth, suave, never particularly unsure of himself, and it’s not that clear, really, how and why he and Hamilton come to the end they do. Henry portrays much more of a character arc - friendliness and warmth, caution, self-confidence, confusion, self-doubt, anger, and finally remorse. His “Room Where It Happens” strongly displayed the shift from longing to determination, and Henry knocked it out of the park. At the end, there was a huge, long ovation for this song, at least three times longer (if not even longer than that) than the ovations for Odom the two times I saw him. It would probably still be going on, if the conductor hadn’t finally struck up the orchestra and moved on to the next song. The one choice Henry made that I didn’t like as well as Odom’s was at the end of “The Election of 1800". Both times I saw Odom, he stuck his hand out as he approached Jefferson with the line “Congrats on a race well-run”, and then left his hand sticking out through all of the ensuing dialogue, till the end. (Jefferson, of course, never shook his hand.) Henry stuck his hand out at that line as well, but when Jefferson didn’t immediately shake it, he dropped it back down. I thought Odom’s choice was the more poignant.

Angelica. Let’s get to controversial opinion #2. I saw Goldsberry twice in NYC, also with the well-deserved Tony, and loved her performance. In Chicago, we saw Karen Olivo, and... I preferred her performance to Goldsberry’s as well. Goldsberry did a great job of showing the anguish and unrequited love during “Satisfied”, but Olivo brought that up a couple of notches more. Near the end, Olivo almost screams the last few lines, as she tries to cover anguish with congratulations, and it was just heartbreaking. I think we’ve all been there, where we had to watch someone we cared about walk away from us, one way or the other, and pretend it wasn’t causing us the pain that it was. Olivo did an incredible job of portraying this. I was also frustrated, both on the CD and onstage, of Goldsberry’s delivery, in “The Reynolds Pamphlet” of the line, “God, I hope you’re satisfied.” This is her climax line in the song, yet she delivers it in the same tone as the three lines right before it, barely even breathing - it’s not particularly intense, whereas I feel that line should be practically spit out with anger. Olivo gave it more of the anger I feel that the line deserves, and added some hand gestures as well.

End of Part 1!

Thanks so much for this awesome review, luvcaroline!  I've seen it twice in New York and will be seeing it in Chicago tomorrow for the first time, so this was very timely for me.   I especially appreciated your discussion of the seats - we'll be in orchestra row G also, but stage left instead of stage right (not quite as far right as you were to the left), and I was starting to get pretty concerned about the stage being too high from there. But I really, really, like seeing facial expressions up close, which is why I got the row G seats.

 

I have to admit to not only excitement about seeing it in Chicago, but some trepidation, as the NYC shows were so fantastic, and as the OBC recording is so engraved in my brain. Thanks for this very reassuring review!

Interesting! I was there the night Justin Trudeau was there, and the level of security was like at any other show, I thought - relatively fast bag and coat checking, but no metal detectors or anything like that. Normal theater opening time, too. Let us know the story!

Hard though it is for me to believe now, deep into my fandom, the first time I listened to the "Hamilton" score, I didn't get it. I was listening in my car, in segments during my commute (which is quite short, so I was only hearing the score in fragments of a few minutes at a time), and it was all just kind of overwhelming, to the point that nothing particularly stood out (other than "Wait For It", for some reason). I was wondering what all the fuss was about. Then I listened a second time under better circumstances, and suddenly it was like crack cocaine. I mean, seriously, like flipping a switch - from going from "meh" after one listen to "OMG this is the greatest thing ever" after the second listen. Bizarre! So, I guess I would say, give it at least two listens. Then if you don't like it, you don't like it, which is fine.
 

Outing myself as the complete cultural loser that I am , I saw a touring Broadway production of "Rent", and listened to the score a couple times, but despite these attempts to "get" that show,  I loathe everything about "Rent" - the characters, the plot, and, especially, the music, which is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. We all have different tastes.
 

But no - if you don't like the score, don't go see the show, or it'll be a long nearly three hours. I myself plan to never see a production of "Rent" again, ever.