I don't have much writing time this morning, in that typical Monday way not a crisis kind of way, but I did want to note that I watched Hamilton yesterday. I have wanted to see this show for years, but the timing was wrong or the money was wrong.
I watched the show on Disney Plus, which I realize is different than seeing it live. It does have the advantage of being able to see all the expressive faces of the performer, an aspect that I imagine is lost in a live theatre, at least for the tickets that I can afford.
I also imagine that the lyrics might have been difficult to decipher in a live theatre. One person nearby coughs, and everyone around that person has lost a chunk of lyrics. I thought I might have problems, but I didn't, except for one rapid fire sequence.
I don't always like musicals where everything is sung. I prefer the now old-fashioned kind of musical, where people burst into song periodically. I also worried about the rap aspect, since that's not a musical form that's as familiar to me as other types of music. I didn't have any problems.
It was a mesmerizing show, an interesting take on the U.S. Revolution, the fight for independence from England. I loved that King George III was a character, and so funny. There were so many moments of humor all along that I didn't expect. It was such rich content, and I expect I'll be thinking about it for days and weeks to come.
I'd still like to see it live. But it's wonderful to have this opportunity. It makes me wonder if there are other Broadway shows that got this kind of transition to film. I hope we get more, because not everyone lives in the path of those Broadway touring companies.
In the meantime, I may watch it again.
3 comments:
I can't believe it took me so long to see it. As a theater person, I felt like I was the last person to see "Hamilton" - now I can't stop listening to the sound track... and yes, when I was in California and my ex was saying he didn't "get" Hamilton it felt like he was tossing the gauntlet and we turned on Disney plus with the closed captions and it helped him to "get it" much better.
I enjoyed reading your blog post - I am grateful you mentioned it in the #5amwritersclub
BroadwayHD which you can get as an add on to Prime (I don't recall if you have prime) has a ton of filmed plays. Not all at the level of Hamilton, but it has them. (Though not A Chorus Line which makes me sad).
I do have Prime, and now I will hope to have BroadwayHD! Thank you both for commenting--it's so rare to get comments these days, which is fine, but then when I get a comment, I remember how wonderful it is to feel seen/heard/read.
Post a Comment