Review: Hamilton

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Not giving away my shot.


Captured live on Broadway in 2016, this play follows one of America's founding fathers Alexander Hamilton (Lin-Manuel Miranda) re-imagined with a blend of hip-hop, jazz and show tunes.

I feel like you'd have to be living under a rock to have never heard of Hamilton at this point. It premiered to what felt like unanimous acclaim, tickets were almost impossible to come by  (even when they started touring with a new cast) and it was nominated for 16 Tony's and won 11. Disney announced they would be bringing this to theaters in 2021, only to bless us with it early on Disney+ during the pandemic.

I really wanted to see Hamilton, but alas, no tickets. I avoided the soundtrack as best as I could because I wanted to see it *with* the show. I'm glad I did that. Hearing the majority of the songs for the first time while seeing the stage play was the right way to go, and I've had them stuck in my head since.

This show is so high energy and the cast is exceptional. I was already a huge fan of Daveed Diggs from his work in Blindspotting and he was outstanding here. Easily my favorite performance. Other actors I was familiar with like Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr, Anthony Ramos, Christopher Jackson and Jonathan Groff were wonderful too, as were all the new faces I was introduced to. 

The second act is a tad slower than the first, but it's final song is so beautiful that it brings the quality right back up to where it was in act one. This is something I can see myself watching over and over again. Even the fact that my dumb ass started watching it at 9:00 pm without thinking "Hey, this is three hours long" could dampen my excitement. 

Recommended: Yes

Grade: A

Memorable Quote: "Oh, can I show you what I'm proudest of?"  - Eliza (Phillipa Soo)

Comments

  1. Elina @ films and cokeJuly 7, 2020 at 8:39 AM

    Glad you enjoyed it! I love Hamilton so much - alsom I found Daveed Diggs through this and he's just. The best. I wanna rewatch this now.

    ReplyDelete
  2. keith71_98July 7, 2020 at 3:05 PM

    I really do need to finish it. I'm about half-way through and I'm having a hard time getting in sync with it. But I want to see it through simply because it is such a phenomena.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 7, 2020 at 8:14 PM

      I get it. Musicals, especially sung through ones just are such an acquired taste. My husband had to watch it in two sittings too.

      Delete
  3. thevoid99July 7, 2020 at 7:42 PM

    I've heard so many great things about it as my sister saw the play and my dad read the book. He would've probably enjoyed this. My sister I think had tickets for a showing of the play at the Fox Theatre here in Atlanta but then came COVID.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 7, 2020 at 8:13 PM

      That's awful! Seeing this live would be so cool. I would still try to get tickets even with a different cast.

      Delete
  4. Often Off TopicJuly 8, 2020 at 1:11 PM

    Yaaaaaaas! I loved every minute of this. I never thought I was a 'theatre' person but I'm a sucker for a musical and this knocked me off my feet by the end of the first song.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 9, 2020 at 12:12 PM

      Yes! It was wonderful. I'm glad so many people are loving it with us.

      Delete
  5. GetterJuly 10, 2020 at 4:25 PM

    I loved it! I saw it twice already and even though the second half was a bit slow, Daveed made it all that better with his What Did I Miss song.. that and Satisfied are my favourites for sure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 11, 2020 at 6:45 AM

      I love What Did I Miss! I think The Schulyer Sisters too, that song is just lovely.

      Delete
  6. KatyJuly 12, 2020 at 8:34 PM

    Nice review! I agree the second act feels a lot longer, and I feel like some of the songs could've been shortened. But other than that, it's about the only thing I'm obsessed with right now. I'm glad Lin, director, producers thought to record the original cast.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 12, 2020 at 10:14 PM

      SAME. I'm glad they did too, and I've been listening to the soundtrack nonstop.

      Delete

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