Hamilton the musical. Disappointing!

[Happybint]

Just watched it on Disney plus. Its soooo long and yes some of the songs are great but it just goes on and on and feels like a big vanity project for lin manuel-miranda. Very repetitive and boring in the second half. Anyone else agree? Its had so much hype. First 40 minutes I loved it then it just went downhill.

I’m certainly not too din for anything, far less to “get” a musical, but I go to the theatre//watch films and musicals for some light relief and entertainment.

I actually did read up on the musical and w bit about AH before I watched at and was still underwhelmed. I have to do enough heavy concentration on things in my work life having to “listen really hard to the lyrics” to “appreciate how clever it is” for something that’s meant to be fun leaves me cold.

I am not a fan of hip hop and have zero interest in American revolutionary history hence it’s not for me as well as finding the whole thing dull, It is actually OK not to like things even that most other people like and that not to be because one is dim, try hard, or anything else.

I’m sure LMM or anyone else involved isn’t bothered remotely whether I like it or not.

I agree @Oxyiz

And if I didn’t enjoy it first time why would I bother reading up on American history/the lyrics so I could watch it again?

I like the lyrics, word play because i'm fan of rap. It is clever like a lot of rap. I've not finished it yet so need to reserve judgement but I found Lins voice quite squeaky. The songs I have heard are quite samey in terms of rhythm & tempo & think they could have done more with the actual music the songs are set too if that makes sense.

I loved it , but I would imagine it sounds much better in the theatre , but I have the neighbours to concider

I fully understand about economics and the contribution of shows such as Hamilton. However once it goes out on Disney it changes. Its then not live theatre. It’s not comparable to opera or ballet but of course it has its place. Lots of theatre gets a huge amount of subsidy and needs it right now.

In America it’s all over the place. I like American Revolution history and have been to museums in Philadelphia, and battle sites and museums in Virginia, so I’m pretty well versed in it. I still found it less than engaging as a show. It’s good but not the best show ever.

Definitely one where you have to concentrate which is unusual for most musicals. Also not many big show tunes which is probably also an adjustment. I watched it in two halves over two days and I think it was more enjoyable that way. Really interesting though and brilliant performances I thought

We watched it on Disney+ and didn't particularly like it. We got through it, but it didn't have any catchy, stand out moments. DP wanted to watch it for the history, which kept him interested, but for me it was a bit dull. I like my musicals fun and catchy!

I genuinely don't understand your point. Disney+ costs £5.99 a month. Hamilton, like most privately run theatres, uses dynamic pricing, and in its first two years there were plenty of people willing to pay high prices. When (hopefully, rather than if) they re-open there will probably be a depression in ticket prices, partly due to the people who don't feel any desire to see it live having seen it on film.

All long-running shows end up in the discount ticket boots in Leicester Square eventually.

I find that musicals and operas don't transfer very well to the small screen. The story is never that brilliant because it's hard to be nuanced in song so what you really enjoy is atmosphere and being enveloped in sound and surrounded by people who are also enjoying it.

I've hugely enjoyed quite ropey musicals in the theatre but found it hard to concentrate on really excellent operas on the TV. The only exception to that is Jesus Christ Superstar which I've never seen on stage but absolutely loved when there was the lockdown showing on YouTube.

The high prices were £200 a seat for the vast majority of seats. It’s a bargain on Disney but you are not actually there. We wanted to see it, so we paid.

The theatre in London was the Victoria Palace as I recall. Yes it was full. When we get back to that I don’t know. But my point was that this is a successful American musical about a point in American history . The English were involved of course but we are not well versed in our American colonial history as recent events have shown. I really think original musicals should make money but how much then goes back into theatre? It was very popular but for me other musicals have been better with more memorable songs.

@bilbotoy Sorry but I have no interest in what someone like Biggie has to say. It's not my cup of tea. I don't want to hear his message. But I can appreciate Hamilton music because of the musicality and lyrics.

@twomanypillows no it would not be boring. It would be like real theatre where I can choose what to look at. - I prefer theatre to film for this reason. So when I see the recorded theatre I want as true an experience as possible. (But I usually sit in the cheap seats far away from the action so I don't feel like I am missing anything by not having close ups.) Good luck with your studies.

@My0My did you actually pay £200 per ticket to see it? I paid under £40 per ticket. You were robbed.

The cost of tickets in the UK will have gone back to recoup some money for the complete renovation of the theatre I would imagine.

Tickets in America are expensive BUT they do a lot of outreach, cheap school visits. When they went to Puerto Rico some of the tickets were extortionate on purpose to raise money for the country following the hurricane but very cheap for local residents.

I loved it. I haven't managed to see it in the theatre so this was the next best thing.

I hated Wicked. One of the worst things I've ever seen on stage.

£200 a ticket is a choice though. The tickets actually start at £20 and move up through several price levels. There are loads at £37.50 and £57.50. I don't think choosing the top tier ticket then moaning about the price makes any sense at all. You did not have to pay that!

Learn a bit of the history especially of Eliza.

www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=30703

Might help it come to life more. I loved it the first time, then read more about the people involved before watching again. It made more sense and was even better the 2nd time

@mumdiva99 you get that Biggie was a BIG influence on Hamilton though don't you?

Thank you for proving my point...

I watched this yesterday. I really don’t get it. There is minimal engagement with the historical themes, almost no character development and the music isn’t even that good. I enjoyed Angelica’s toast though. The performers were very talented though and the choreography wasn’t bad either.

I really think original musicals should make money but how much then goes back into theatre?

Loads, long term! The importance of Hamilton is that it has showed producers, the people who decide with their investments what makes it onto the stage, that audiences will pay for diverse casts, rap and hip hop, and history. Goodness knows what state theatre will be in for the next few years but Hamilton had already started to influence the types of shows which were securing serious investment - all of which is why it is so ludicrous to compare it to unfavourably to Six, which would have been a plucky little bit of new writing at the Fringe without the precedent of Hamilton.

I've seen it live and was just blown away so l can understand the disappointment of the Disney+ version.

I went to the West End thinking it can't be that good because it's so hyped up. I left the theatre absolutely wowed. The Disney+ version doesn't have the wow factor but it is still excellent and there was a lot of little bits I noticed in the Disney+ version that I'd missed in the live (we had the cheap seats )

The best songs for me are Burn and Satisfied - sung by Eliza and Angelica. The staging of Satisfied just blew me away, the way everything rewound to tell the same scene but from a different point of view. The raw pain of Burn hits you hard too. The three sisters are definitely the stand out characters. I also loved George III for the light comic relief.

The staging, lyrics, music are so clever but I honestly think it's hype lets it down because people expect it to be literally the most amazing thing they've ever seen

Just one more point on the economics - London theatre is rightly considered pretty elitist but compared to Broadway it is a socialist utopia, with plenty of subsidies from public and charitable money via institutions like the ROH and the National Theatre. Broadway tickets run into the thousands. I have family in the USA and it was cheaper for them to fly to London and see Hamilton in the West End than to pay the price for comparable seats on Broadway. Hamilton was genuinely revolutionary in introducing a daily $10 lottery and bringing in school groups, and it's hard for us to grasp the seismic impact from the UK because London theatre has done things like this for a while.

It’s fine to not be into rap. But the legacy of biggie smalls is more than what he had to say- it’s about his rhythms, his syncopation.

Ditto mob deep, Saul Williams or any other innovative American spoken word/rapper.

Hamilton works for musical geeks- because it’s crafted cleverly. There’s no cheap stage setups. It is Sondheim-ian in its musicality. It adheres to some of the most popular principles in musical theatre.

It works for music geeks- we haven’t seen this before. And technically- the music is clever and interesting.

It works for history geeks- because there’s nice wee nuggets here and there to pick up on- and of course holes to pick!

If you don’t like it- it’s not for you. But that doesn’t make it ‘lesser’.

From Lin's own mouth

"That's why it's such a love letter to hip hop," the Emmy, Grammy and Tony award-winning actor said. "I want the kids who just only know musical theater when they pick up their liner notes, they see, 'Contains a sample from Ten Crack Commandments by Notorious B.I.G.' If you like this musical, you owe it to yourself to listen to the hip hop that you maybe weren't listening to because that's the reason this exists, is my love for hip hop."