Hamilton Previews — Page 15

I had my first Hamilton experience last night and it definitely did not disappoint! I never got to see it at The Public and I tried not to watch too many press clips because I wanted to experience it fully for the first time in the theater. And yes, I did see Vice President Biden and actually stood right by him in the lobby. He was very normal and friendly, shaking hands and talking to people. There was a real energy knowing he was in the audience and several cast members said it felt like a more electric performance as well. 

I was awestruck from the opening number. I knew right away I was about experience something profound. I was surprised by how much emotion the show evoked in me - I had tears in my eyes probably 10 times. At a time of such discord in our country, it moved me to see its birth, and our founding fathers, portrayed on stage, particularly with non-traditional casting. Thinking of our country in its infancy, and its leaders as young and frightened but also bold and determined was emotional for me.

I loved the use of the double turntables and found that the ensemble made the performance so much more layered and visually stimulating. Miranda's score is beautiful and transcends the "hip-hop" label. It was so unique to hear orchestrations under hip-hop beats with layered harmonies and verses. Wow. 

Leslie Odom Jr. stole the show for me. I hope he is put in the lead actor category for the Tony awards because while it's Hamilton's story, to me it kept coming back to Burr and he has some of the most compelling songs. Phillipa Soo and Renee Goldsberry are like magnets to the eye and deliver beautiful, heartbreaking performances. 

The only bad thing for me about seeing Hamilton, was knowing how long I might have to wait before seeing it again. 

"You don't miss anything at all. The only downside is being unable to view the show (especially the choreography)  as one piece. You have to pick and choose where to focus, and sometimes there is so much going on that it's hard to choose."

 That's fair for $10. Thank you!

The song list is now in the playbill. I can post it later.

40 DOLLARS FOR STANDING ROOM? whaaaaaaaat

"@getatme-
It does seem a little bit ridiculous to jump from $10 for a front row seat to $40 for an obstructed view standing room spot. Though, the people winning don't really seem to mind at all and most just appear excited to see the show."
If you believe it is ridiculous, then what you are saying is that they should charge more for the rush tickets, because most rush tickets are up in the range of the SR tickets for this show. What you are implicitly criticizing is the lowering of the rush tickets to $10, the only reason for which is Hamilton's image on it."

 Oh, is that what I was criticizing? Here I thought I was simply saying that the jump from $10 seats to $40 standing room that are also lottoed off seemed a little silly to me.

I think the $10 lottery is a cool idea and they've marketed it quite well and made lottery itself just as much an event as the show itself. But $40 for standing room for any show seems like a lot to me, especially when the whole conceit behind the lotto is you're paying $10 to see Hamilton. You can argue that the standing room isn't part of the traditional lottery tickets, but then why lotto them off at all? Why not have people form a line in the morning and sell them then? Regardless, I said that it didn't seem to be an issue for most people because they still excitedly claim the tickets if they haven't left after the drawing of the seats is finished. And personally I can see myself being excited to win standing room if I'm ever craving to see the show.

^ I'm with them!

yeah but there wasn't any rush for Elephant Man

I just think its weird that they sell 10 dollar lottery seats and then 40 dollar standing room. Shouldn't it be cheaper for standing room? lol

@mg2685a re "I’m sure the creative team has struggled trying to find a way to make the role more relevant but as it stands, something about it felt slightly off."

The whole point of the king is that he was not more relevant and was slightly off. 

re $40 vs $10:

If you go to Best Buy on Black Friday to get the $2000 60 inch TV for $100 "doorbuster" but you are too late, and they offer you a 30 inch TV for $400, do you think that's odd too?

Was at The View today. Whoopie saw the show last night and raved both on and off camera about the show.

As the Aug. 6 opening night of Hamilton draws closer, the list of song titles in the printed Playbill is becoming finalized. That's usual. What's unusual is the fact that the show has added a list of "references to...classics" of Broadway and hip-hop that are sampled or quoted in the show.

The referenced tunes include works by more than a dozen artists, from Gilbert & Sullivan to The Notorious B.I.G.

These will be able to be heard in the theatre and on the original cast album, which will be released this fall by Atlantic Records.

Hamilton Shout-Outs and References You Need to Know

Updated On: 7/30/15 at 02:40 PM

I just hope we have a season of good musicals rather than just one BIG one

Nina, on paper, I think it is shaping up to be the most promising season of the decade.

The song that reminds me of 96,000 is My Shot. In fact when I'm singing it (in my head) I sometimes accidentally sing bits of 96,000. 

Perhaps it was My Shot?  It introduces different melodies for different groups of characters and when they all combine, the sisters were center stage as the revolve started turning (which immediately reminded me of 96,000, both musically and visually).  As soon as the number was over, I wanted to watch it again and again.

If I had one nit to pick about the production, it would be that it is so dense with story and moves along so quickly, I feel I need to see it two or three times to catch everything.  Especially if you're not accustomed to following rap lyrics.  I don't actually find that a bad thing.  I just loved it so much, I want to go back and absorb more of it.  As much as I loved In the Heights, the book was admittedly light on plot and focused more on emotions, characters and setting.  With Hamilton, I feel like Miranda used In the Heights as a template and upped his game to a masterful level.