Hamilton Previews- Page 18

[cascade]

Posted: 8/5/15 at 10:29pm

Hm, well I'll say that personally I think Lin gives an amazing performance. I've seen Hamilton twice, once at the Public with Lin and a second time when Javier was in the role. I hadn't seen Lin perform before (aside from his very small role in the This American Life piece he did at BAM), and I'm unfamiliar with In the Heights, but I preferred him to Javier. Even though Javier is easily the superior singer and does a very good job in the role, Lin brings a real passion to it and I had no problems at all with his acting. I found him more convincing in the emotional parts especially. When I saw it the first time, his face ripped my heart out from the Stay Alive reprise through It's Quiet Uptown; the second time, I was still moved but more due to Phillipa's fantastic acting. And during scenes like the Cabinet Meeting, you really need to have presence to go up against the crazily charismatic Daveed Diggs, and Lin did a better job of holding his own than Javier did in my opinion. The flow he has as a rapper is also its own admirable skill and he was better at that than Javier was.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 8/5/15 at 11:22pm

"And Kad, I wish I had experienced your quiet walk in the gently falling snow after the show. All I did was walk up 46th street, crossed 7th Avenue and watched as Spiderman and Elmo cursed out the naked lady body painted in red, white and blue."

I find those naked ladies painted in red white and blue to be so offensive. Put some clothes on, there are children in Times Square!

[Glittergrrl]

Posted: 8/5/15 at 11:46pm

After much excitement and anticipation, I am at quite a loss.  

Perhaps most perplexing for me was the portrayal of the female characters as swooning, giggling nothing's.  I tried to justify this because that's the role women held back in the day, but I don't think that's fair.  They just weren't fleshed out at all.  The males got an update, but the women-nothing.

I found it very episodic.  It didn't really tell much of a cohesive story.  I felt the show was somewhat superficial.  For example: it is said that Hamilton wrote a large number of essays (I can't remember the exact number) but it was by far the greatest portion of these writing.  Ok, but what did they say?  How do we know what they were about.  I thought the show glossed over a lot.

I thought the jokes were few and far between.  The writing was somewhat clumsy.  I was surprised that some of the rhymes seemed so lazy.  The "shot" motif was introduced so early and they hammer it---don't miss your shot.  It was so on the nose.  I found the whole thing very tedious.  

I realize I'm in the mega-minority.  Im not looking to get flamed.  I spent a lot on those tix and have been looking forward to seeing it all summer.  I really like the concept, but I don't think it was well executed. It did not come close to my expectations.  I wasn't going to admit this, but we left at intermission.  I went with my ex husband-he's the smartest person I know... He didn't like it either.  He was ready to go at the break too.  

Updated On: 8/5/15 at 11:46 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/6/15 at 12:10am

You fool! You silly, silly foolish glittergrrl--you will regret leaving at intermission for the rest of your life 

By leaving at intermission you missed [SPOILER ALERT] the incredibly moving scenes where Hamilton regretfully betrays his wife, ruins her reputation, and fails to prevent the death of their son by duel, where she lashes out at him and burns his letters and is comforted by her sister--and where she then reluctantly forgives him--some of the best, most complex writing for women and two of the finest female performances (by Phillipa Soo and Renee Elise Goldenberry) that you MIGHT have seen on Broadway in your lifetime if you hadn't walked out like a spoiled stupid glittergrrl. You missed a dazzling portrayal of Thomas Jefferson by Daveed Diggs and one of the best Broadway songs ever written about politics called "The Room Where It Happens"--performed magnificently by Leslie Odom.

But...but...but...but...you didn't stay for the Hamilton/Burr duel?

Why the hell would you come to a show about Alexander Hamilton--and not stay for the duel? That's like going to the Wizard of Oz and leaving before Dorothy gets back to Kansas...or going to Hamlet and leaving while everyone is still alive!

What are you living under a rock or something? You didn't know that the female characters were going to blossom in the second act and become beacons of incipient feminism? Everything you said about the writing of the women is the opposite of what you would have said had you stayed. 

I cannot believe you actually did that. Your post is a put-on, isn't it?

 

Updated On: 8/6/15 at 12:10 AM

[NYadgal]

Posted: 8/6/15 at 12:16am

And in the end, it was Eliza's story.  

Her accomplishments were breathtaking.   

Updated On: 8/6/15 at 12:16 AM

[Glittergrrl]

Posted: 8/6/15 at 12:17am

Lol. Pal Joey...

I was so bored by that first half. I just couldn't sit there any longer. I'll admit, your post has me questioning myself, all except for the "spoiled" bit... I paid for the tix myself.. I'm not spoiled. All I remembered was hearing that the second half was worse... And I didn't think the first act was so great. I didn't think it had any place else to go but down.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/6/15 at 12:27am

I feel so, so sorry for you.

[Glittergrrl]

Posted: 8/6/15 at 12:33am

"I feel so, so sorry for you.

"

I'll be alright.

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/6/15 at 12:33am

I haven't seen the show and I'm a little exhausted from the hype, but it blows my mind when people leave a show at intermission and expect us to take their review seriously. 

Updated On: 8/6/15 at 12:33 AM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/6/15 at 12:36am

You certainly did yourself a disservice.  

Loved it to pieces.  My 14 year old just informed me, he'd be happy to go back any time.

I don't have many cohesive thoughts right now, and truth be told, letting it ruminate a bit sounds perfect.

 

 

Updated On: 8/6/15 at 12:36 AM

[decast]

Posted: 8/6/15 at 3:38am

I don't know how anyone who leaves a production at intermission can have a rounded opinion on it. It's a pet peeve of mine, people who say "oh it was awful, we left at intermission." How do you know, you didn't even stay to see the whole fking thing! 

I understand that no everyone is going to like this show, and that's fine, but at least see it out so you have seen all the material and can make a completely informed opinion on a piece.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 8/6/15 at 5:22am

LOL @ leaving the show of the century at intermission

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 8/6/15 at 6:14am

I'm certainly not going to begrudge someone for leaving at intermission.  I left Book of Mormon at intermission when the tour played DC two years ago. It's just one of those things. Even I was surprised I didn't like it.

[Kad]

Posted: 8/6/15 at 7:56am

Even in the first act, I would never call the depictions of Eliza and Angelica Schuyler swooning or giggling despite their poppy introduction. "Satisfied" is an amazing, heartbreaking number about sacrifice- probably the best character song of the first act as a whole. The show actually succeeds in giving its two central female characters focus and complexity, all the more remarkable considering the male-centric story and time period. 

[Anshel2]

Posted: 8/6/15 at 8:15am

Glittergirl probably would've left at intermission of A Chorus Line if there was one.

[asmith0307]

Posted: 8/6/15 at 8:26am

I was a little disappointed initially with the show. As one of my coworkers said, its maybe gotten a little overhyped at this point. It wasn't bad to me, just not "game changing". On Tuesday (I saw it on Monday), I said I probably wouldn't be rushing back to enter the lottery, but I would maybe see it again within the year (see second half of post). However, the show keeps creeping into my mind over the last few days. It's grown on me a bunch. 

 

A lot of people keep talking about Lin and his performance, but for me that was Leslie's show. Even though the ending is not quite true to life of how Burr handled the situation, I felt sorry for him in the end.  It's not easy going into a story already being the villian, and changing people's opinions. 

[Kad]

Posted: 8/6/15 at 8:31am

An epilogue about what happened to Burr after the duel would be very, very interesting. Bitter relations with Jefferson, a trial for treason presided over by Chief Justice John Marshall, with Jefferson doing all he could to ensure a guilty verdict, a life in exile, and a daughter lost at sea. 

[asmith0307]

Posted: 8/6/15 at 8:40am

I agree. It wasn't just Eliza that worked to set Hamilton's place in history, but even a few of Hamilton's adversaries. I also love the fact that Burr kept running into Hamilton's legacy throughout the years, such as that the (now) eldest, Alexander, represented Burr's wife in their divorce, or that when Burr was fleeing NY/NJ he stayed with the family of the future President of the Second Bank of the United States. 

Updated On: 8/6/15 at 08:40 AM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/6/15 at 9:04am

it blows my mind when people leave a show at intermission and expect us to take their review seriously. 

I don't know how anyone who leaves a production at intermission can have a rounded opinion on it.

They have an opinion of what they saw that affected their decision to leave.  I've left several shows at intermission (and a couple of shows before intermission) and I've stated my opinion on what I saw and what it was about the show that I hated so much that I didn't want to watch any more.  It has nothing to do with the expectations of other or forcing yourself to sit there and be miserable so unknowns on a message board can "take you seriously" for having a "rounded" opinion.  Regardless the show, nobody but a masochist or a martyr or an After Hate is going to force themselves to stay when they are miserable and unhappy just to satiate a couple of people here.  

Glitter - While I agree that you really missed so much by skipping the second half, I can still respect your decision to do so.  The fact is, there is no show that exists that everyone loves.  The only Broadway production I left at intermission was Priscilla.  I found it a trite eyesore.  It removed the most crucial element that made the film special and in fact, turned a 180 and hammered me so hard with the sound and visual, I literally got a horrific headache.  Staying in the theatre was actually causing me physical pain.  So even though I didn't see the second act, I can still say I hated it because I experienced it.  And if someone tries to invalidate my opinion for not being "rounded", then they can sit on the pointy end.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/6/15 at 9:19am

Someone could write a whole musical about Burr. 

 

 

What's been coming back to me about the brilliance of the conception of the character of Aaron Burr--and the performance by Leslie Odom Jr--is that it's part-Iago, part-Salieri from Amadeus. 

Abd "The Room Where It Happens" is the most exciting number about politics on Broadway since "A New Argentina."

 

 

(Too bad you missed it Glittergrrl. Sucks2BU, as they sing in Avenue Q!)

[Kad]

Posted: 8/6/15 at 9:26am

"The Room Where it Happens" is such a brilliantly done number. It takes a historical event (Hamilton and Jefferson's clandestine meeting)and accurately relates it, but makes the focus of the song Burr's personal desires.

[journeysend]

Posted: 8/6/15 at 9:27am

"Perhaps most perplexing for me was the portrayal of the female characters as swooning, giggling nothing's."

 

If you leave during the first half, you can't judge the portrayal of female characters because SPOILER - the show ends highlighting  the accomplishments and strengths of a female character. Wish someone else that would have appreciated the show or even just liked it but would sit through the whole show had your seat. What a waste. 

[madbrian]

Posted: 8/6/15 at 9:33am

Question: do you think any songs from Hamilton have the potential to become hits, either "as is" from the show, or recorded by a pop/hip-hop star?

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 8/6/15 at 9:44am

It's not even a question about having a rounded or valid opinion, it's the fact that Glitter's main criticism is about the female characters, who literally take over the second act of the show. (Spoiler) The point of the ending is that ELIZA tells the story. Hamilton's story is still told because of Eliza. You don't get stronger.

[MVintheheartland]

Posted: 8/6/15 at 9:50am

Well, I have to give glittergrrl a lot of credit for being honest and getting seriously flamed. Not everybody is going to like Hamilton. I saw it last weekend, I personally was blown away by the first act, but by the end, I was just exhausted-- too long, story dragged in comparison with Act One. However, I would love to see it again, and see if my opinion has changed. Unfortunately, for those of us who don't live in NYC or whereabouts, that seems unlikely. My friend had the same feeling that I did, that act 2 needed to be tightened up.

However, it's a gamechanger for sure, hope for the best in tonight's opening, hope Mr. Miranda's health is better.