The first is the stage, and the second is from where we were sitting.Ā
I saw Hamilton in London on 16/12/17 with the original West End cast and god damn was it phenomenal. Obviously it was a dream come true to see something Iāve hardcore listened to since 2015 come to life in front of me, but the whole show is bloody fantastic as a production in itself. I can guarantee you that you could go to see it having never heard of it before and you would still have been blown away.
noteworthy stuff that lifted my soul:Ā
~ Hamilton was bLOODY tall. (Jamael Westman is 6ā²4ā³ damn) It actually suited him really well, especially during Aaron Burr, Sir/My Shot when he was jittery and slightly awkward and restrained but clearly excited. As the show went on there was this major contrast as his movements became more fluid and loose and extravagant as Alexander rose to prominence man even the body language was great
~ also: his voice was so smoooooth. Most of the cast had smoother voices/singing styles than the OBC - like, nearing Philippa Soo quality - and it made the listening experience so flipping pleasurable
~ another surprisingly smooth singing voice: Rachel John as Angelica!!! I love RenĆ©e but Rachel blew me away with how damn clear and incredible and almost polished her voice was. she could have been Eliza imoĀ (her acting and portrayal of her frustration and pain in Satisfied was STELLAR) but she was a fantastic Angelica and I am in awe of her talent
~ I was never super into Laurens from the soundtrack alone but my GOD he is MARVELLOUS live. singing? perfect. acting? amazing.Ā
~ Laurenās death was PHENOMENAL. Cleveās voice was beautifulĀ and he stood illuminatedĀ in the right hand corner of the stage as Eliza read the letter to him. Alexander looked broken. The pause between Eliza and Ham speaking stretched on for a little bit and in that silence you could hear a pin drop.Ā
~ Mulligan was perfect and everything you could possibly wantĀ
~ King George III was great. doing a smug lil dance with his cane / reading the pamphlet in the Reynolds Pamphlet. in What Comes Next? he sangĀ āiām so blueā and stamped his foot and the lighting went blue. everyone laughed like they were hearing the jokes for the first time
~ Yorktown was fucking cool
~ Burrās ACTING. EXPRESSION. MOVEMENT. AMAZING. His voice was higher pitched than Leslieās and it worked really well for the emotional/humorous scenes. His portrayal of Burr is certainly quite different to the OBC (Itās far more frantic and emotional if that makes sense?) but itās still fantastic and really interesting and refreshing to watchĀ
~ it took me a while to warm to Eliza but boy did I. I think Rachelle has a pretty tough job as peopleās expectations are v fixed around the earth-shattering job Phillippa Soo did (mine included tbh) but she was so good. Helpless was adorable and stylish and perfectly lighthearted and she carried that through the show UNTIL Burn (midnight blue lighting, her face angry and betrayed and so powerfully hurt being illuminated by the light of the burning letters was lovely) and Philipās death (see below).Ā
~ she was also very different to her OBC counterpart in her portrayal but it was cool tbh! the various interpretations of the characters weāre so familiar with actually work very well and they bring something new to the show and add different spins to something we know so well by now
~ Peggy and Maria were really good. Christine Allado is vv talentedĀ
~ the revolving platform thing is really well used. excellent in the Schuyler Sisters obviously (if youāve seen even the 10sec youtube clips you know what i mean) but even in Hurricane, where Ham is in the middle and the cast/ensemble are frozen in various positions around it as it rotates. maria rotates to the front at precisely the right times. burr is sent round as he starts singingĀ āwait for itā. fan bloody tastic
~ the choreography was fucking enthralling
~ on the soundtrack you can hear and appreciate the backing vocals but they are as loud and prominent as the main voice live and that adds a whole new dimension to the musical. it heightens the experience in ways that I canāt really describe. because of the acoustics and the sheer volume of incredible incredible sound it makes watching it almost an out-of-body experience. and no, iām not exaggerating. out. of. body. also theyāre obviously going to be talented to be in Hamilton but my godĀ they would all be spellbinding as individuals. they make a phenomenal ensemble.
~ theyāre all pretty damn attractive tbh
~ Washington was less Diplomatic Dad and more Super Grizzled War Veteran but his voice was just as bloody powerful and fantastic. god One Last Time was twice as good as I expected. Iād buy tickets again for One Last Time (iād buy tickets again for the whole thing who am I kidding)Ā
~ 9yo Philip was perfect. unbelievably cute w his lil outfit and bobbing body language and lil stammer and voice. i thought it might be a little weird/unconvincing seeing a man who was just playing a man play a child but it wasnāt at all
~ Lafayette was small and skinny and super athletic
~ Jefferson was rly flamboyant and funny and kept busting outĀ lil funky dance moves here and there. when he was introduced in Whatād I Miss? he came out and ofc everyone cheered and he waved his hand like omg no, stahp, guyssss okay keep going
~Ā Madison just sorta trailed behind him looking exhausted and it was great. after Itās Quiet Uptown and Jefferson was likeĀ ācan we get back to politicsā Madison came out behind him drying his hands on a big ol handkerchief like āpLEASEā
~ I was never particularly affected by Philipās death so I was NOT ready for it being as moving as it was. He was in a lot of pain - something that doesnāt come through on the soundtrack - plus him being even more lovely and likable live meant his death was a lot harder to swallow. Eliza and Ham are distraught in the reprise and the counting is really intense. it all climaxes when he dies and Eliza just screams, this long, single, agonised scream before breaking down into sobs. Alex tries to touch her but she shrugs him off so he just stands there looking absolutely heartbroken while she cries over Philip.
~ you hear theĀ āsomeday, somedayā part from Dear Theodosia here. this gets its own point because it was so unexpected and possibly the saddest part of the whole show.
~ they stay like that and the platform revolves so they rotate towards the back of the stage while Angelica starts singing Itās Quiet Uptown. Itās Quiet Uptown is so amazing that I havenāt listened to it on the soundtrack since (it is now May) as I donāt want to overwrite my memory of it in any way.Ā
~ the lighting deserves all of the awards it gets
~ in The World Was Wide Enough, ensemble members stand in a line between Burr and Hamilton and their movement represents the bullet travellingĀ
~ the victoria palace theatre is stunning
~ the acapella ending of Who Lives, Who Dies was made 50x better (already fantastic ik) by the vocal power/talent of the ensemble. the cast stand in their black outfits in a row and Elizaās come forward to the front of the stage. as the last note ended she gasped and reached out as though she could see himĀ
all in all, it was almost supernaturally good. iād barely seen any visual representation of it beforehand so i had no idea what to expect when seeing it unfold in front of me and when i say it was good enough to be an out-of-body experience for me i am 100% serious. even if you have seen it before, the nuances and the talent of this cast are phenomenal in themselves.
@linmanuel i hope youāre proud of what youāve created. i always knew it was an absolute gift but seeing it live has made me understand what a genuine masterpiece looks like.Ā
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