The film of the original cast is outstanding and a perfect way to spend 2 1/2 hours this holiday weekend. It’s streaming on Disney plus and it’s only $5.99 a month. I’ll watch it several times and then cancel.
If you haven’t seen Hamilton, or even if you have
- Thread starter zeke4ahs
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I just finished watching it. I did really like it. We watched with captions on which helped with the torrid pace. But that means it was easier t to miss choreography. I liked the music more than I thought I would. The historical liberties did not bother me.
My main critism was the time around intermission, the show really slowed down. It started to feel long.
Tomorrow brings my yearly 1776 viewing.
My main critism was the time around intermission, the show really slowed down. It started to feel long.
Tomorrow brings my yearly 1776 viewing.
We’re about to hit play now! Saw the original cast live in NYC in 2015, so looking forward to reliving some version of that. I was reluctant to go at the time having no idea, but we were all blown away. One of those moments where you knew you saw something special. We went to the bar and talked about how huge it was going to be... couldn’t have been more obvious. Interesting to see what the recorded version is like.
Saw it a couple years later again in Chicago, and it was still great, but not the same. Impossible to capture the energy of the original cast.
I’m far from a musical guy, but I share your enthusiasm on this!
Saw it a couple years later again in Chicago, and it was still great, but not the same. Impossible to capture the energy of the original cast.
I’m far from a musical guy, but I share your enthusiasm on this!
Be sure to watch The Mandalorian before canceling Disney plus. Nobody ever spontaneously breaks into song, but it's still really good.
I'll second this if your a fan of the original star wars.
Lotza callbacks and the series in itself is more about the story and dialogue VS CGI overload.
I started watching it. It was boring as hell and seemed pretty racist. I doubt I'll finish. Seems like something you need to see live.
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Been a fan since the original Broadway cast album came out. Saw it in Chicago which was excellent.
The filmed version is a pretty good capsule of the show even if I don't think the original cast will be seen as the best in their roles.
My only real nitpick of the show versus what I imagined in my head is the setpieces are pretty minimal. I think they basically kept what they had in the workshop run instead of scaling it up when they hit Broadway.
Choreography & lightning are both brilliant.
The filmed version is a pretty good capsule of the show even if I don't think the original cast will be seen as the best in their roles.
My only real nitpick of the show versus what I imagined in my head is the setpieces are pretty minimal. I think they basically kept what they had in the workshop run instead of scaling it up when they hit Broadway.
Choreography & lightning are both brilliant.
I’ve heard Len speak to this and he said they did that on purpose . He felt like Broadway had gone so much to special effects and fantastic sets. He wanted the focus on the story. The casting for it and of course the music is just genius. From everything I’ve heard they’ve done a good job casting the other productions too.
I second the mandalorian. Everything about it is extremely well done. And the shoot out scenes are amazing. All done with characters you already know- if you’ve watched the movies. Even if you haven’t, it’s still worth watching the series.
In all the talk about people trying to destroy our heritage, it is the youth that turned Hamilton from a somewhat lesser known figure into a real icon.
If there is an afterlife, will there be a lottery to tell Jefferson he is portrayed on stage by a Black?
Since Mandelorian was mentioned, it was the best thing out of the Star Wars universe since Empire Strikes Back,
If there is an afterlife, will there be a lottery to tell Jefferson he is portrayed on stage by a Black?
Since Mandelorian was mentioned, it was the best thing out of the Star Wars universe since Empire Strikes Back,
I don’t think he would mind. Jefferson was a progressive, especially for a man of his time and place, always open to new ideas and ways of thinking. He had a great interest in science but lived in a world not nearly as global as our own. The prevailing thought then was that blacks were intellectually unequal and Jefferson certainly parroted this. But he abhorred slavery despite being an active participant and I think he would be pleased by the abolition of slavery, civil rights movement and the progress we have made in race relations since his death.
EDIT: Why are people calling this show racist? Have they actually seen it? I’m guessing not.
I don't think you'd need to be a Star Wars fan to enjoy it. There's something universally appealing in how it starts with a thoroughly mysterious character and peels off the layers of the onion, gradually revealing his humanity.
It’s a show for intellectuals, that’s leaves me out!
I will take watching a tractor pull any day!
Not a big fan of tractor pulls but I do enjoy demo derbys, dirt track racing, monster trucks and pro wrestling so I see no reason why you couldn’t enjoy both!
Do you disagree with my statement? I suspect 20 years ago, if asked, most Americans would have said Hamilton had been president just because he's on the money. I think most could not have told how he died or what he did.
Have you ever seen the polling on who fought each other in the French and Indian Wars?
My experience as someone who loves history is that most people do not like history. They do not like math or science either. I spend a lot of time at Civil War battlefields, hiking them with maps and books (US Army War College has the best Gettysburg guide). The people that do go largely never get out of their cars except for a quick photo op. And those are the people who like history enough to go in the first place.
I don't care where people get their historical knowledge as long as they get it. A musical is perfectly fine. Heck, Nixon spent US tax dollars on making 1776 which I think was a great investment. If people learned about Joshua Chamberlain from Ted Turner's movie, great. If they learned about Bloody Omaha from Saving Private Ryan, wonderful. Heck, Ken Burns taught the civil war better than anyone.
The importance is the lessen is learned. Sure, there are some inaccuracies in Hamilton, but if it gets people to try Chernow's book it has done one he'll of a job.
1776 has a great scene where Adams says he will never be remembered. He says history will write that Franklin smite the ground with his lightening rod and brought forth George Washington, fully grown and on a horse. The three of them, Franklin, Washington, and the horse won independence. There is more truth to that than we would like to admit.
See, I can'tcan't help but think of the disconnect between finding slavery wrong and owning slaves and having children by a slave. My take is Jefferson was more desirous of wanting to be seen as progressive than being progressive. It is not someone who is going to find being portrayed by a Black as a compliment.
It has been interesting to me that TJ has been more revered than Adams, Hamilton, Franklin. And I suspect that the south was willing to accept him because of his slave owning, and the south has written more of our history than the North.
That disconnect is something I’ve always struggled with as well. He selfishly let his financial struggles at the end of his life outweigh his stated desire to free all his slaves upon his death (though I believe most of the Hemmings were freed). I may be biased as Jefferson is someone I’ve long held deep admiration for, and I certainly acknowledge he often failed to live up to his rhetoric. Still, as a man who was always in pursuit of knowledge, I think he would be thrilled to learn he was wrong about the mental inferiority of black people and happy to see himself portrayed by a talented black actor and musician.
Watched it last night and it was good, despite my dislike of rap generally. Great singing and performances. It was interesting that they played Jefferson as bit of a goof, which of course he wasn’t.
A meaningful part of Hamilton speaks to the point of who gets to write history. Lack of deep knowledge of Alexander Hamilton has far less to do with historical ignorance than the legacy campaigns of the historical figures who lived to influence the story. So it almost always goes, I’m sure. And books like Founding Brothers remind us that these were very definitely real people with very real shortcomings, maybe especially Jefferson.
"Liking" this post doesn't begin to convey my agreement:
It's interesting that you cite Joseph Ellis, because I'm also a big fan even though he's fibbed about his own history. But his narrative histories of the Framers illustrate what flawed fallible humans they were, as all we are, even though they were also brilliant at a pivotal moment. Maybe people who aren't morons can celebrate the good while reckoning with the bad.
If people really do want to celebrate our history on Independence Day, maybe we should sign up for Disney, watch Hamilton, and be dazzled by how thoroughly black and brown people have become infected by our national myths. People watch Hamilton and talk about how it's rap with non-white people, but if you actually listen it's a textbook celebration of American ideals by mostly black and brown people. Why would you possibly want to carve these people out?
Also, on the Coronavirus, we're getting our ass kicked because Trump is an incompetent cartoon sociopath who is mentally unfit and has no idea what he's doing.
this is the most fascinating time in (North) “American” history. I’ve always had an interest in the period and this war specifically. There was an incredibly complex cast of belligerents and events.
have you ever seen The Broken Chain (TNT original w Pierce Brosnan)?
What makes Hamilton a little different is Hamilton himself was an abolitionist. Most of our creation myths center around slavery being bad unless the slave supporters hold slavery as a deep principle than it is ok.
I moved Chernow's book from my giant pack of "someday" to next after I finish Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account.
It's silly, but the biggest question facing me right now is Hamilton or Grant?
The beautiful thing is that I have so much ignorance to fill in so many places that I will likely be able to keep reading until I die.
He opposed slavery but was hardly an abolitionist imo. His friend John Laurens, a South Carolinian no less, was much more active in fighting against slavery. He died in the American Revolution however.
I don’t recall his opposition to slavery being emphasized as much in Chernow’a book. It is a great read though.
What little I have read about him, he never had issues befriending slavevowners so his anti slavery views could not have been something he pushed. It seems that was true with many who opposed slavery in that era. Of course many that "opposed" slavery still provided the ships.
I have both. I am not a huge reader but Grant has me hooked. Have not opened Hamilton yet, but it’s taunting me from the bookshelf.
The greatest story never told just might be the role the Oneida Indians played as our "first ally" in the war for independence. The Oneidas took matters in to their own hands by donating $10 million to the Museum to the American Revolution so their story could be told to all of us. Just opened in 2017, this museum might be the one to visit if you could only visit one the rest of your life.
I don't understand the logic here. Befriending a slave owner in the 18th century doesn't suggest to me a softening of an anti-slavery stance. Nowadays, these attitudes are different. Much more strident views that frequently destroy friendships is of a pretty recent vintage.
If a friend was doing something you thought was to totally amoral, would you at least mention it to them? I am not a Hamilton scholar but from what I know there is no evidence he mentioned it to the slave holders.
It’s true. Len has talent and charisma like crazy, but he is probably the least talented in that cast.
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