Daveed Diggs Set to Depart HAMILTON on Friday- Page 9

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 1:13pm

Jmjazz said: "I doubt that anyone can bring the swagger to the role the way Daveed did. Said it before and will say it again. He slayed those roles"

 

You literally just joined the board today, I don't think you've earned a right to declare "Said it before and will say it again."

 

[aaaaaa15]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 1:16pm

Ridiculous statement. There are thousands of people who can do what Daveed did. That's not to discredit Daveed who is excellent but it isn't rocket science. 

[aaaaaa15]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 1:18pm

CercleRouge, it's not easier to replace a rapper than a singer when you're looking at people that have experience in musicals. Rapping is a skill like the rest of it.

[rcbell64]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 1:18pm

HogansHero said: "rcbell64 said: "Agree. I do feel like that exuberance and charisma will be very very difficult to replace."

An interesting comment considering the reports here to the contrary by, you know, people who have actually seen it performed by the understudy (who may or may not be the permanent replacement). 

 

"

Lol, you must really be bored if you are going to pick at such a totally innocuous comment. All I said was that (having seen and enjoyed a lot of the changes in the cast--two Hamiltons, two Washingtons, two King Georges, two Madisons/two Mulligans) "I feel like" he will be difficult to replace. Still seems legit to me. I actually heartily hope that I'm wrong.

That said, I think your response seems unnecessarily snarky. If you went to a restaurant, and said "I just had the best lobster dinner. I feel it would be hard to top that!" I wouldn't come back with "Hmmm, odd that you should say that, you know, without having tried  the lobster dinner at John's Lobster Emporium in order to state that opinion". 

[Kad]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 1:20pm

Yeah, no one is gonna do it the exact way that Diggs did it. Because every performer is unique. But that doesn't mean other performers are not going to be successful in the role.

People have been able to successfully perform roles that their originators put a stamp on.

[rcbell64]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 1:24pm

Liza's Headband said: "rcbell64 said: "Agree. I do feel like that exuberance and charisma will be very very difficult to replace."

 

The traits of exuberance and charisma are not exclusive to a handful of performers. There are millions of performers who can achieve it to the same degree, if not higher and better. I wouldn't be too concerned. 

 

"

I hope you're right. I'm definitely excited to see as many variations of the cast as possible to see how they play the parts. The most striking so far has been the difference between Lin and Javier, but I would love to see Miguel's take on it. 

[iamnoone]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 1:25pm

Money?  Apparently not enough to stay.  Other opportunities?  Plenty.  There you go.

[Eliza2]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 1:45pm

I've seen Daveed three times, and Andrew Chappelle once. I agree with the comments that he doesn't have the same type of swagger/charisma that Daveed has, but I was not at all disappointed with his performance. I thought he did a really great job.

The only other time I did not see one of the principals was when Phillipa Soo was out and I saw Alysha Deslorieux. That made a huge difference in the show to me, big difference in quality.

When I saw Daveed was going to be out I was disappointed at first because when I saw him before he was fantastic and I was worried it might be similar to when Phillipa was out, but that was not the case at all. Andrew Chappelle was great.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 1:55pm

I thought Alysha was BETTER than Phillipa, but considering your username is Eliza, it's not surprising you feel the opposite.

Updated On: 7/14/16 at 01:55 PM

[aaaaaa15]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 1:58pm

I've heard some people say Alysha was really bad and others say they preferred her too so it seems like she's divisive.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 2:00pm

It's interesting how much of a divide I find in people who prefer Alysha versus Phillipa's performances as Eliza. It's such a complex character. I found Phillipa played it more innocently than Alysha, who was more resentful (her "Burn" was far angrier than Phillipa's). I guess it's a matter of which direction you think Eliza's journey should go—no right or wrong (though I personally much preferred Phillipa).

Updated On: 7/14/16 at 02:00 PM

[HogansHero]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 2:23pm

rcbell64 said: "Lol, you must really be bored if you are going to pick at such a totally innocuous comment. All I said was that (having seen and enjoyed a lot of the changes in the cast--two Hamiltons, two Washingtons, two King Georges, two Madisons/two Mulligans) "I feel like" he will be difficult to replace. Still seems legit to me. I actually heartily hope that I'm wrong.

That said, I think your response seems unnecessarily snarky. If you went to a restaurant, and said "I just had the best lobster dinner. I feel it would be hard to top that!" I wouldn't come back with "Hmmm, odd that you should say that, you know, without having tried  the lobster dinner at John's Lobster Emporium in order to state that opinion". 

I recognize that your comment was not as out there as some of the others in this thread (e.g., speaking of Diggs' swagger as if he invented it) but I think my basic point (whether made out of boredom or not) holds. People have seen Chappelle so in essence you are saying that your speculation somehow trumps [I really need to come up with a different verb to use there] their observation. It's really a variant of people coming here and announcing that "x is the best show in the history of the theatre" when they have seen 20. (And that happens all the time.) I think your skepticism is perfectly fine (and legitimate) and had you said "I can't imagine..."I would not have said anything. But when you say "difficult" after reading that others are saying it has been done successfully, it struck me as warranting my reaction. For what it's worth, the only recent performance I recall thinking was irreplaceable was Steve Boyer in Hand to God and then lo and behold I saw someone else do it and they were great. We are blessed with a lot of VERY talented performers. I do think everyone is going to be different, and bring their own self to their performances but different is not a bad thing: the theatre is not about replication; even the same actor never gives precisely the same performance twice. The best ones (Mark Rylance comes to mind) subvert the track constantly. 

 

[rcbell64]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 2:50pm

HogansHero said: "rcbell64 said: "Lol, you must really be bored if you are going to pick at such a totally innocuous comment. All I said was that (having seen and enjoyed a lot of the changes in the cast--two Hamiltons, two Washingtons, two King Georges, two Madisons/two Mulligans) "I feel like" he will be difficult to replace. Still seems legit to me. I actually heartily hope that I'm wrong.

That said, I think your response seems unnecessarily snarky. If you went to a restaurant, and said "I just had the best lobster dinner. I feel it would be hard to top that!" I wouldn't come back with "Hmmm, odd that you should say that, you know, without having tried  the lobster dinner at John's Lobster Emporium in order to state that opinion". 

I recognize that your comment was not as out there as some of the others in this thread (e.g., speaking of Diggs' swagger as if he invented it) but I think my basic point (whether made out of boredom or not) holds. People have seen Chappelle so in essence you are saying that your speculation somehow trumps [I really need to come up with a different verb to use there] their observation. It's really a variant of people coming here and announcing that "x is the best show in the history of the theatre" when they have seen 20. (And that happens all the time.) I think your skepticism is perfectly fine (and legitimate) and had you said "I can't imagine..."I would not have said anything. But when you say "difficult" after reading that others are saying it has been done successfully, it struck me as warranting my reaction. For what it's worth, the only recent performance I recall thinking was irreplaceable was Steve Boyer in Hand to God and then lo and behold I saw someone else do it and they were great. We are blessed with a lot of VERY talented performers. I do think everyone is going to be different, and bring their own self to their performances but different is not a bad thing: the theatre is not about replication; even the same actor never gives precisely the same performance twice. The best ones (Mark Rylance comes to mind) subvert the track constantly. 

 

 

"

To be totally honest, (and without taking the time to go back through and re-read each comment) I only recalled seeing one person mention that they had seen Chappelle and enjoyed his performance prior to my commenting (and one since then who enjoyed his performance but did seem to indicate that Daveed brought a swagger to the role that was not replicated by Chappelle) and I didn't recall the first commenter saying they had seen both Daveed and Chappelle and found them to be equal or Chappelle to be better, so I truly wasn't trying to insinuate my opinion trumped anyone else's. I was just giving it. *shrug* And I still feel that way. Daveed lit up the room whenever he stepped on stage and the excitement I felt when I watched him on both occasions has been unmatched in my theater-going experience. So, I guess for me, it's not so much whether someone is just great in a role and can sing and act. There's also an intangible, subjective and highly personal facet to this. If I said it wrong the first time, I'll say it a different way.
For me, Daveed would be very hard to replace. And again, I would be thrilled if it happens. 

Updated On: 7/14/16 at 02:50 PM

[HogansHero]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 3:20pm

@rcbell64 It's all good. For what it's worth, there were more comments long before this thread was born, but I am not in the least suggesting you should seek them out (or should have) 

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 3:36pm

rcbell64 said: "Liza's Headband said: "rcbell64 said: "Agree. I do feel like that exuberance and charisma will be very very difficult to replace."

 

The traits of exuberance and charisma are not exclusive to a handful of performers. There are millions of performers who can achieve it to the same degree, if not higher and better. I wouldn't be too concerned. 

 

"

I hope you're right. I'm definitely excited to see as many variations of the cast as possible to see how they play the parts. The most striking so far has been the difference between Lin and Javier, but I would love to see Miguel's take on it. "

 

I am right. It's not an opinion. It's a fact: there are performers, dozens or hundreds or thousands or perhaps millions, who can match and possibly even exceed said characteristics. Whether you like them or prefer their performance to Daveed's is not something I can control, nor should I. Theatre, including the performances encompassing it, is a subjective art form. But these traits I keep seeing described.... "swagger," charisma, exuberance... they're not exclusive to one performer. They are not unique in that only one performer can possess them. So, back to my point: there are plenty of performers out there who can -- and will -- match or exceed the level/presence of said characteristics. Provided the casting team succeeds in finding one of those performers, the role will be in more than capable hands. 

[rjm516]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 4:31pm

Wow I was NOT expecting such news with only two days notice! Dammit! 

[belrowley]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 8:13pm

When I saw the show in January, both Phillipa and Anthony were out, and replaced by Alysha and Andrew. I went into the show blind and really enjoyed Alysha's performance, but my friend (who obsessively listened to the OBCR beforehand) was really disappointed and thought that Alysha had "phoned it in." Different strokes, I guess.

Andrew's energy was great, but it was kind of hilarious when he played Philip considering how much bigger he is than Lin. He's so versatile, though, they're really lucky to have him.

[suzycat]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 9:42pm

Is there anything to read into Lin's tweet that Daveed is "headed to every movie/show you love"?

https://twitter.com/lin_manuel/status/753236741499355136

[gypsy101]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 9:49pm

i doubt it, it seems like it's just Lin giving him words of encouragement.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 10:12pm

I truly believe that Daveed gave one of the best male supporting performances ever in a musical...the only things I can think of that compete are Joel Grey (which was never really a supporting role, but was smaller than Alan Cummings', with all the extra stage business he had) and Mandy Patinkin in Evita.  I also believe the show is so great, it'll never miss him, just as it won't miss any of the others in the original cast.  

The show is the star (it provided the material to allow his performance) and will be fine.  I have to admit that I think a lot of posters on this site get a little carried away with the comparisons.  The audiences will never know the difference with the replacements.  The ones announced so far have great credentials and there is no reason to believe they won't be great too. 

I may be less knowledgable than many on this site, but I never heard of Phillippa, Daveed, Leslie or Christopher before this show.  I have seem Karen give a great performance and Victor is great in Shuffle...  From postings, many of you think Javier is better than Lin.  The new cast is gonna be great.

Updated On: 7/15/16 at 10:12 PM

[Jmjazz]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 10:21pm

Well, take a look at his IMDB page. Obviously Lin knows more about it than any of us btw.

 

He also hid a few guest appearances on Law and Order.  I hate that he's leaving, but he will likely earn more from TV and film and his rap group than he would from Hamilton.

 

He made a lasting impression in his Broadway debut. Really will miss him, but probably makes better sense for him financially to leave.

[SingMeToSleep]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 11:52pm

Jarethan said: 
The show is the star (it provided the material to allow his performance) and will be fine.  I have to admit that I think a lot of posters on this site get a little carried away with the comparisons.  The audiences will never know the difference with the replacements.  The ones announced so far have great credentials and there is no reason to believe they won't be great too. 

I may be less knowledgable than many on this site, but I never heard of Phillippa, Daveed, Leslie or Christopher before this show.  I have seem Karen give a great performance and Victor is great in Shuffle...  From postings, many of you think Victor is better than Lin.  The new cast is gonna be great."

I agree with almost all of this. The show is the star, and the nature of theater--good theater, especially--is that a whole bunch of different actors will star in different roles across time and different productions. This keeps theater constantly alive and vibrant and interesting. 

I do think that audiences will "know the difference" if they have listened a lot to the cast album before watching the show at least to the extent of different voices than they "expect" to hear based on the recording. With the unusual popularity of this album, that may include sizeable portions of the audiences. Or, instead of generalizing, I'll offer that I expect to know the difference when I finally get a chance to see the show in the fall, particularly with the roles of Hamilton and Jefferson. I have no way to say if it will be better or worse since my experience of the show thus far consists of extensive listening to the cast album and the few broadcast performances of a few of the numbers, all with the original cast. I've had experiences when I've greatly preferred understudies and/or replacements to original cast performances and, in a very real way, each performance a person sees is an "original broadway cast" experience for that person at that time. 

The reason I feel that I will "know the difference" is due to the particular way Lin performs the role on the cast recording, with his specific phrasing and emphases and intonations as he speaks more than sings the role of Hamilton, and due to the distinctive tonal quality of Daveed's voice when playing Jefferson. Those two voices/vocal performances stand out to me on the cast album as the definitive voices of the characters, not necessarily because they are better than any other voices on the album or better than any other actors who might play the roles, but because they are, to me, the most distinctive; I never mistake their lyrics for those of any other character or their voices for those of any other actor. I've wondered if this is because most of their numbers tend to be less melodic--i.e. the music often doesn't undergird their songs to the extent that it does for many of the others, so I'm focusing more on listening to the sound of them speaking than I am to the song as a whole.

I anticipate some adjustment to hearing something different than my ear has been trained to expect when I am fortunate enough to hear (and finally see) others in the roles; this will, of course, be true of all the replacement cast members in the performance I see, but I expect to particularly note the difference with those two roles. I imagine other audience members who know the cast album well will also be noticing differences, at least to the extent of recognizing that Hamilton/Burr/Jefferson/Eliza/Angelica etc. sound different. For me, and for most, I doubt that will impinge on our appreciation of the show itself. 

 

 

[bear88]

Posted: 7/15/16 at 1:05am

A few thoughts:

I do think that audiences will "know the difference" if they have listened a lot to the cast album before watching the show at least to the extent of different voices than they "expect" to hear based on the recording. With the unusual popularity of this album, that may include sizeable portions of the audiences.

I think the popularity of the show itself, and in particular of the cast recording, has contributed to the preoccupation with seeing the OBC, in spite of the producers' efforts to keep the focus on the show. That certainly drove the craze in the runup to July 9. I may not have known who the actors were before Hamilton opened, but I knew them by the time I saw the show in April. I knew there were certain performers I definitely hoped to see (Odom, Diggs, Goldsberry, Miranda, Jackson). I was bummed when I saw on Lin-Manuel Miranda's Twitter account that he would miss the show I saw due to illness, but that disappointment didn't last long. I knew Javier Munoz was supposed to be excellent, and I wasn't distracted by the fact that a different guy was playing Hamilton. I have seen/heard Miranda as Hamilton on video and of course on the cast recording many times, but the wonder of the theater is that you don't think about that when you are there - watching someone else put their own spin on the role.

I think the same thing applies to Diggs' successor. If it's Andrew Chappelle, whom I saw as Mulligan/Madison in April, I have heard plenty of good things about his Lafayette/Jefferson. I have also heard that Diggs got better in the role as he the months passed. If it's another actor, I'm sure they will do fine if the right choice is made. It's a very well-written part. You have to have some solid rapping skills, but the rest of it is playing a flamboyant, charismatic, and funny guy - especially in Act 2 as Jefferson. That's not unique to Diggs.

But I must pause to say that Diggs stole the show whenever he was on stage, especially as Jefferson. He is not irreplaceable, but my God, he will be missed.

Updated On: 7/17/16 at 01:05 AM

[Wicked Fanatic]

Posted: 7/15/16 at 5:04pm

Looks like Daveed already has a new TV series lined up on HBO...

http://tvline.com/2016/07/15/tour-de-pharmacy-andy-samberg-hbo-daveed-diggs/#more-732194

[gypsy101]

Posted: 7/15/16 at 5:06pm

it's a miniseries, but good for him!