HAMILTON Previews

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 1/20/15 at 12:19am

The show is starting off-Broadway previews. Very interested in hearing how it goes.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 1/20/15 at 9:43am

Holding out hope for the TodayTix lotto tonight! If I don't win today. I swear I'm gonna enter that lotto several times a week until I win.

[brdway411]

Posted: 1/20/15 at 11:56am

Seeing it next Wednesday. Looking forward to it.

[ads08]

Posted: 1/21/15 at 6:48am

Did anyone see this last night? I'm curious to hear how it was

[billyelliotfan123]

Posted: 1/21/15 at 1:24pm

No one?

[brdway411]

Posted: 1/21/15 at 3:27pm

Where is Wizzer?

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 1/21/15 at 3:48pm

If you check the #HamiltonPublic hashtag on twitter, obviously some people saw it. I'll be there Friday if no one goes between now and then.

[vitamins]

Posted: 1/22/15 at 10:44am

I was there last night. Yes, it was 3 hours (including a 15 minute intermission) and yes there is some trimming to be done, but it was spectacular. This is really something special.

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 1/22/15 at 11:51am

More please, vitamins! How was the staging? What was the music like? Book?

[vitamins]

Posted: 1/22/15 at 12:19pm

It's completely sung-through (er, rapped-through) very little spoken dialgue with no scoring. The set is fantastic, making heavy use of a turntable and furniture carried by the cast. The costumes are stunning. I especially like the female ensemble, who wear corsets and pants which resemble football pants in fit, but are made of period-appropriate material, all in cream.
For me, the stand outs of the cast were Renee Elise Goldsberry, who I wish had more, but her amazing song in act 1 will blow you away. Leslie Odom Jr. is polished and touching, and Daveed Diggs is really funny (although not laugh-out-loud funny, amusing?) as Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson.

[BwayFan832]

Posted: 1/22/15 at 8:03pm

I agree with Vitamins. I found the show to be extraordinary.

Like In the Heights, the music is a seamless mix of rapping and singing. I was surprised to realize that it's almost completely sung/rapped-through, and it really works. There were many musical highlights for me, without a doubt including Renee Elise Goldsberry's stunning song in act one ("Satisfied").

The cast is uniformly great. I loved Lin's portrayal of Hamilton. I would add Brian d'Arcy James to the list of standouts--it's a shame he's in the show for such a short time! His part is small but memorable and he absolutely kills it when he's on stage.

Does it need a little bit of cutting here and there? Sure, and I can't wait to go back and see it once it's frozen. But even now, it's a must-see.

Updated On: 1/22/15 at 08:03 PM

[CoreyRyan3]

Posted: 1/22/15 at 9:27pm

This is my most anticipated show of the season and the fact that it's completely sold out the entire week I'm in the city in March is highly upsetting. I'm sure it will have life after The Public, though.

[CukorLover]

Posted: 1/22/15 at 11:39pm

I'll second that. Where is Whizzer? We need a comprehensive review.

[JaglinSays]

Posted: 1/23/15 at 12:46am

Christ, that went on for an eternity; almost 3 hours.

[After Eight]

Posted: 1/23/15 at 12:59am

"Does it need a little bit of cutting here and there? Sure"

It needs a lot of cutting. The book drags on with too much narrative, and too much of little interest. It's heartfelt, polished, and has some effective moments . The rapping offers some clever bits, but it's more often than not fatiguing. The music is listenable but unmemorable. Lots of movement and dance try to inject some liveliness into the proceedings, but can't prevent interest from flagging over the course of a three hour historical biography that really doesn't cry out for musicalization.

Ben Franklin in Paris was far more enjoyable.

The cast was fine. Brian d'Arcy James scored many needed laughs in his brief moments on stage.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 1/23/15 at 5:18am

A8 -- that's the closest thing to a rave I've ever seen from you!

[After Eight]

Posted: 1/23/15 at 7:54am

"Where is Whizzer?"

"I'll second that. Where is Whizzer? We need a comprehensive review."

Please, let the man be. If you like all the information he has provided you in the past, then be grateful. And considerate. Don't burden him with your unremitting expectations, or your own sense of entitlement. You're like fledgling birds with their mouths ever open, demanding more and more food.

If he chooses to go or not to go to a show, that's his choice. And if he chooses to write or not to write about a show, that's equally his choice. He owes no one here anything.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 1/23/15 at 8:21am

I'm going to add this defense of Whizzer to my list of past After Eight assessments of him, such as the classics:

“Your know-it-all posturing is embarrassing.”

“You're like a child putting on mommy's or daddy's clothes and pretendng to be grown up. Except when children do it, they know they're just pretending.”

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 1/23/15 at 9:22am

JaglinSays, you went to an early preview of a new musical. They are usually long. You shouldn't be surprised.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 1/23/15 at 10:07am

From LMM's Twitter:

"I put down the pen and pick up the scalpel today.
(See how they glisten)
PREVIEWS!"

"Some of the things I cut in the next week will be album bonus cuts eventually."

Looks like this is probably for the best, based on what I've been hearing.

[holdyourbatboy]

Posted: 1/23/15 at 10:19am

Went last night. I'd call it a glorious mess. It's going to be an incredible show when they are through with it, but there is lots of work to be done. It's overblown and the excitement wears off midway through.

The work In The Heights did between Off-Bway to Bway was pretty astonishing, so I know they have that in them again. This is a special piece and I'm still rooting for it. Excited to see how it progresses.

Updated On: 1/23/15 at 10:19 AM

[vitamins]

Posted: 1/23/15 at 10:27am

After Eight, Ben Franklin is not a character in the show. Perhaps you're thinking of Thomas Jefferson.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 1/23/15 at 10:35am

vitamins, he's probably referring to Ben Franklin in Paris, the musical.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Franklin_in_Paris

[vitamins]

Posted: 1/23/15 at 11:00am

Ah, I see.

[brdway411]

Posted: 1/23/15 at 12:44pm

After 8, I am just surprised Whizzer has not seen and or written about it. He/she sees almost all the first previews. This being one of the most anticipated shows of the year and all. So calm down.