Evita vs Hamilton

Evita or Hamilton. Two biographical, sung through musicals. You decide

Based on ORIGINAL 1979 production of Evita, which is better? (Of course if you did not see original production of Evita, you can't really judge - especially if your opinion of Evita is based on the inferior revival a couple of years back.)

On to business:



Score? Hands down Sir ALW wins. No comparison. Probably his last great score before he became gooey.



Book? Close, but give it to Evita. Hamilton can be muddled at times and Lafayette is impossible to understand, so information is lost for the sake of rapping at breakneck speed. Meh. Also, Rice rhymes most of the time. Miranda goes in for assonance a lot of the time, which is not rhyme, but so "now."



Direction and choreography? Evita. Prince created visually stunning pictures that I still can see. Red banners unfurling at end of act one with the giant bed at center stage; the striking choreography for the soldiers in Dangerous Jade; the brilliant staging of Art of the Possible, the iconic balcony scene (anyone doing Evita pays homage to that moment); the floating money in The Money Keeps Rolling In; the final funeral procession, the revolving door of lovers. All ingrained in my memory since 1979.

I saw Hamilton seven months ago and cannot recall a single visual scene of interest. Other than several times having the chorus rush upstage, turn , and then rush downstage, I can remember nothing about the staging.



Performances? Title character performers. Again, give it to Evita. LuPone was mesmerizing; Miranda is adequate. He won't be missed; she was.



In Evita white people played Hispanics. In Hamilton, Hispanics and blacks play white people. Lots of points scored there for Hamilton these days, but really, it's a wash.



So why is Hamilton the greatest musical since the dawn of time... well, it's not. It's just that if you have only been seeing musicals for twenty five years, you are judging Hamilton against piles and piles of dumbed down, campy tripe. Hamilton is good, yes, but it looks a lot better than it actually is.



I liked Hamilton just fine, but Evita was better, and I don't remember anyone calling to canonize Tim Rice and ALW

I agree but I fail to see the point in comparing the two. If we are going to compare, honestly, I fee like Hamilton is most like Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson in concept and I think Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson did it better but I still enjoy Hamilton.

JayG 2 said: "Score? Hands down Sir ALW wins. No comparison."

...and ya lost me.

Yes, Evita is one of ALW's best scores, but to say it prevails over Hamilton? Are you kidding?

Why do people insist on phrasing their opinions as if they were facts? As a user of an internet message board, I suppose I should really get used it, but it's still such a pet-peeve...

Why pose it as if you're starting a discussion as to which is better if you're just voicing your opinion that one is leagues better than the other...

EVITA is just as flawed as HAMILTON as far as writing is concerned. I would argue HAMILTON is a little less sensationalist than EVITA. I'd also say there are just as many songs in each score that I don't care for, but that is my personal opinion.

I'll still always prefer JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR and IN THE HEIGHTS over both of them.

"Yes, Evita is one of ALW's best scores, but to say it prevails over Hamilton? Are you kidding?"



Uh, no.

I enjoy Evita more than Hamilton, but I find it strange you picked those two musicals to compare. I think on a performance level it will be very difficult to find someone who tops Patti LuPone's performance in Evita; she was incredible.

JayG 2 said: In Evita white people played Hispanics.



Those aren't mutually exclusive. The Perons were white Hispanics.



Other than that, I'm mostly in agreement. Evita has one of the most beautiful scores ever written, but the book is flawed. I don't feel like it ever really comes together or makes any cogent point. But neither does Hamilton. They both suffer from encyclopeditis.

I don't really see the need to compare both shows. I mean, they're both historical in content, and both have an outside narrator character, though arguably Che is much more a narrator than Burr, but they're different musicals in terms of tone and style. Obviously the style of the music is different, of course, but Hamilton is much more earnest in its storytelling, whereas Evita has a much more cynical bent to it.

That said, while I didn't see the original production of Evita since it was before my time, I disagree that Hamilton's staging is not memorable. In particular, the rewind section of Satisfied, the Yorktown battle choreography, and pretty much all of The Room Where it Happens and the Finale have some incredible and highly detailed stagecraft. Under less skilled hands, Hamilton could have been an unwieldy mess, but Kail and Blankenbuehler make a long show feel fluid and sleek, and that's no easy task.

I can't judge the productions, but in terms of the score I'd have to give it to Hamilton. I've always wanted to like Evita because there is a perception that it's ALW's best score, and while it has its moments, to me I just can't get into the melodies (except the obvious songs like Don't Cry for Me and Rainbow High). I don't know why, but it often feels jarring to me and I find Eva's part in particular to be very screechy/unpleasant. To me, it sounds like a score that was not really written with the capabilities of the human voice (and what sounds pleasant/unpleasant) in mind.

In terms of the content of the show, I found Eva to be a very unlikeable character and the show was rather cold to me. Maybe that's the point, but Hamilton has many likeable characters, humour, emotion, and can be inspiring.

BroadwayConcierge said: "JayG 2 said: "Score? Hands down Sir ALW wins. No comparison."

...and ya lost me.

Yes, Evita is one of ALW's best scores, but to say it prevails over Hamilton? Are you kidding?



Right? It's almost like people have different tastes and opinions about things!

The original poster doesn't give two craps about our thoughts about EVITA v HAMILTON. This is just his way of getting his jabs in on HAMILTON and relieving himself of all the hate and animosity he's built up against it ever since it's become one of the most lauded musicals in recent theater history and some folks here who can't clearly see that are playing into his little trap.



I am in agreement with dramamama, I like both shows and I personally feel no need of playing this pointless little game of pitting one against the other.



<Insert huge eye roll here >