It was a big deal before this pandemic started when Disney announced that it would be releasing Hamilton in theaters. And that it wasn’t just going to be a movie adaptation but an actual performance of the musical with the original cast. Movie adaptations are great but there is just something so special about sharing the actual performances and the full staging that comes with seeing a Broadway show. Then when the pandemic continued and kept theaters closed, Disney decided to put it on Disney+ in time for the 4th of July, giving everyone a chance to experience Broadway while the theaters stay dark.
So at 3 AM EDT on July 3rd, Hamilton went live on Disney+. And since I had the day off, I stayed up and watched it as soon as it was available.
While I do live in New York City and have access to see Broadway on a more regular basis than most people, Hamilton is still very hard to get tickets for and they are very expensive. So for now, this is the best way for me to see it. And I get to see the original cast too, which is always a plus!
While I’m not really going to do a recap and it’s seems strange to put this warning on a story that involves events from over 200 years ago, I’m still going to warn about SPOILERS!
Hamilton tells the story of founding father Alexander Hamilton (Lin-Manuel Miranda) and his rise from being an orphan on a Caribbean island to founding father, Revolutionary War hero and first Secretary of the Treasury. It also explores why Hamilton never rose to become president and what led to his death in a duel.
And a lot, lot more than that.
To get this out of the way – I am certain that as amazing it is on screen, it’s ten times more amazing on stage. I’ve gone to Broadway shows and know that there’s something special about seeing the performers with your own eyes and sitting in the theater with the rest of the audience. Especially if you go with an audience that’s into the show, it can elevate the material even more than any performer or lighting or sound cue. So I still do want to see Hamilton live and it’s why I’m excited to see Six the Musical live – I am one of many dedicated members of the Queendom and I hear the audiences are electrified.
(PS: I hope someone does a pro-shot of Six the Musical when Broadway returns and releases that a la Hamilton).
Anyway, I’m just going to discuss some of my thoughts on certain numbers and performances but I want to preface it with I thought the entire production was amazing and there is a reason this cast is held in such high esteem. While a lot of attention is often placed on the leads, the ensemble is just as talented and strong. Several, including Ariana Debose and Ephraim Sykes, have gone on to becoming leading players themselves since then.
I absolutely love Phillipa Soo as Eliza Schuyler Hamilton. Her voice is so beautiful and she conveys Eliza’s emotions so well and I love her solo pieces, but especially “Helpless” in Act I and “Burn” in Act II. She plays the bright-eyed young woman who is hopelessly in love with Hamilton well but there is really strength and emotion behind her wronged, heartbroken and angry wife in “Burn.” And her shriek of grief at the end of the “Stay Alive” reprise rends your heart. I was near tears at that point and I know if I had seen it live, I probably would’ve been in tears.
I’ve loved Renee Elise Goldsberry for a long time, since her days as Evangeline on One Life to Live, and I love her voice. But this material really let her shine and she absolutely commands the stage. “Satisfied” is her own major solo number but she absolutely kills it and makes it a stand out in the first act. I also love the way it is staged and it just highlights how talented not only this cast is but any cast member who is part of Hamilton.
(Did anyone else notice the disappearing flowers from Angelica’s dress during “Satisfied”? I think there must’ve been a malfunction somewhere when they were filming the close ups and blending the footage together has made it a goof).
For a while, I wondered why Jonathan Groff got a Tony nom over Anthony Ramos (and I do sometimes still wonder why Ramos never got a nom) because King George’s part is relatively small in comparison to the others. But after seeing this, I get it now. He may not be in the show as much as any other character but he absolutely steals it every time he’s in it. He’s able to be as campy as possible and Groff milks it for all its worth. And he’s just entertaining to watch. His reaction shots for “The Adams Administration” and “The Reynolds Pamphlet” are amazing.
Speaking of Ramos, he is absolutely brilliant as both Laurents and Phillip Hamilton. I can’t wait to see him as Usnavi in the movie version of In the Heights and suspect he’s going to have a long career ahead of him.
I already see some gifs of Jasmine Cephas Jones’ entrance as Peggy Schuyler in “The Schuyler Sisters” and I am happy. Her expression there just speaks to me and I know I’m going to use it a lot in the coming months. And while she captures Peggy’s youth and naivete well, Jones really shines in the second act as Maria Reynolds, the woman who Hamilton has an affair with and whose husband ultimately blackmails him. Some people were afraid “Say No to This” would have to be altered or cut but it was kept in its entirety, letting us enjoy how Jones can go from an upper register as Peggy to this deep, sultry one as Reynolds. You can certainly tell why Hamilton couldn’t “Say No” to her!
“One Last Time” always got to me when I would listen to it but to see Chris Jackson perform it as George Washington – it moved me even more.
And Leslie Odom, Jr.
Leslie. Freakin. Odom. Jr.
My. God.
I loved him as Sam in Smash and it’s great to see him as a leading man in Hamilton. This story is as much Burr’s as it is Hamilton’s or Eliza’s. As Burr notes toward the end, he’s usually just the villain in our textbooks but this humanizes him – and a lot of it is due to Odom’s portrayal. His performance of “Wait for It” really adds dimension to Burr and then all the emotion he puts into “The World Was Wide Enough” is heartbreaking.
And “The Room Where It Happens” is an absolutely show stopper. Burr just absolutely commands everything about it.
He definitely deserved that Tony Award and people should be talking about his Burr almost as much as they talk about Lin-Manuel as Hamilton!
(Don’t get me wrong. Lin-Manuel is brilliant as Hamilton and deserves praise since he also created the damn thing. But Odom just brings fire and depth to a character who could easily be one note or aloof and I feel gets overlooked more than he should).
Anyway, those were my thoughts on Hamilton. At least some of them – the ones I could make sense of and weren’t just this in my mind:
I do hope this leads to more companies deciding to film Broadway shows and making them more affordable. While all shows are filmed for preservation at the library located at Lincoln Center, they aren’t to this caliber. It’s usually someone filming from a backrow or something. This was a full on production and so costs more money, meaning film companies need to be willing to spend the money. It seems to be working for Disney. Hopefully it will start a trend.
Maybe Six will be next?
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