I agree that when the song to the infants was sung, was thinking "what the?" "Why is this important after we've just watched the revolution being won?" BUT everyone is correct... IT HAS A PAY OFF IN ACT 2...
A HUGE HUGE HUGE big pay-off!!!!
*****SPOILER***** Hamilton's son is shot to death defending his father's honor, and Hamilton is responsible for his death because he tells him not to shoot... which leads to Hamilton's going to duel with Aaron Burr so he can die in the same spot as his son... (maybe)... but the payoff is HUGE... PLUS it tells the audience that a certain amount of time has passed, and that everything from now on will be about the future of their children and the future of the nation...
Oh, and the standby is Javier Munoz who is ALWAYS Lin's standby. He was the original standby for IN THE HEIGHTS. I saw him in ITH a few times. He's great, but he's exactly like Lin Manuel, so if you didn't like Lin Manuel I don't think you'd like Javier any better.
Not everyone is going to like Hamilton. I have tried to get people to give Passing Strange a chance, or Bloody Bloody and some of these other post-modern shows but a lot of people like a very specific type of musical and nothing can change that. I once recommended SPRING AWAKENING to a middle aged woman who I thought would love it because she was such a theatre fan, and she walked out at intermission... not everyone can like everything... I've just accepted that.
Just skip stuff that you know you won't like. I skipped Motown, and million dollar quartet and Piece of My Heart because I already know I hate juke box musicals.... no biggie... I like the juicy ground-breaking genre-bending stuff... so of course I'm defending HAMILTON.
I actually agree with the poster who didn't enjoy it, and I too left at intermission a few nights ago.
As soon as Lin-Manuel Miranda walked out on stage, said, "I'm Hamilton!" and winked at the audience, my heart sunk and I just knew he would be mercilessly self-indulgent on stage. The way he carried himself and performed was - in my opinion, since everyone here is barking at those of us who don't agree it's the Second Coming - in such stark contrast to the other performers that he stood out in a bad way. It also seems clear that he wrote it to suit what he's good at, and to the detriment of the show. Other performers seemed much more at home in their roles than he did, honestly.
As far as that song to his newborn goes, if you consider it sufficient groundwork to have an out-of-left-field lullaby in Act 1 for something that comes later in Act 2, I'm glad it worked for you. Personally I found it shoehorned and awkward.
I actually enjoyed the 90s R&B/pop soundscape found the performers' abilities to swing from rap to theatrical tenor quite impressive, but absolutely nothing in the first act convinced me that Hamilton deserves to be the center of a musical (or at least, this musical), and I also didn't understand the necessity of the urban-contemporary-anachronistic choices L-MM made.
It just didn't work for this viewer. (And if Act 2 is a thing of beauty, I'm sorry I missed it, but it would just make Act 1, to my mind, feel even more cumbersome.)
I saw it Wednesday Night. I enjoyed most of it. There are some really good songs. It's a little long. Loved the costumes. I too thought the ending was a little flat. I am also wondering about how/if this will transfer to Broadway. Thinking Bloody, Bloody, did great at The Public, not sure the vast majority of theater goers will find an almost 3 hour history lesson rapped to them entertaining. Wanted to love it as much as ITH and it fell a little short. Let's see if some cuts and maybe some rewrites can help.
According to the Public website, the show has been cut down by 30 minutes. Probably good news, considering the main criticism of the show that I've heard is that it's too long.
Also looks like LMM will be out for this Sunday's evening show. If anyone is going on Sunday, I'd love to hear how Javier Muñoz does in the role.
Back again at the show, won the lottery. They sold many tickets and only had a few people there, so most (if not everyone) won! I will report back on Javi's performance! :)
Tonight I saw Javi take on Hamilton and was impressed. First of all, the website is wrong. I got out at 10:50, last week getting out at 10:56, so they trimmed something but not 30 minutes worth. I did not notice what they trimmed, so it must have been minimal. Javi had a great show, he didn't miss a beat. If I hadn't known it was his first show as the role, I never could have guessed. Compared to Lin, they were pretty similar. Javi's singing vocals were more appealing to my ears, though. Either Hamilton you see, the show will still be the amazing piece of work it is. Javi got emotional during his bow and that was nice to see, he was very happy.
Side Note: Won the lottery and sat right in front of Lin himself. It was so cool to see him finally see something he had worked so hard on come alive right before his very eyes. I heard him crying, laughing, and at intermission got to chat with him. What a nice guy.
Everybody won the lottery Sunday night. I figured it may be my only chance to see it at the Public, unless I try the lottery a dozen times, so I'll just see it with Lin on Broadway, but Javi was so perfect in the role you would think he is the principal.
Well, that ticket is gone now!! LOL. So, I'm still looking for tickets (preferably two, but could make one work) to either performance on 2/14/15. Willing to pay above face.
It's a great article, and I haven't finished reading it yet. But someone posted on Twitter that it contains spoilers, specifically jokes. So if you haven't seen Hamilton yet, you may want to hold off on it.
"According to the Public website, the show has been cut down by 30 minutes. Probably good news, considering the main criticism of the show that I've heard is that it's too long."
I don't think this was ever a valid criticism during previews, since that is kind of the point of having a preview... Updated On: 2/3/15 at 10:49 PM