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Original poster

Hamilton the musical. Disappointing!

243 replies

Happybint · 07/07/2020 22:27

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.

OP posts:
bilbotoy · 08/07/2020 17:33

Eminem for example is an actual lyrical genius.

True dat! One shot is very lose yourself.

Villanemme · 08/07/2020 17:42

I watched it with dd1 who's seen it many times on stage, listens to the music constantly and couldn't wait for my 'blown away' reaction. I hated myself for not engaging and without subtitles I would have gone to sleep. Enjoyed Jefferson and King George for the comedy but my over all impression was a very grey, dull set and less than memorable music. I thought the lyrics were clever though. After it finished we had a long discussion about it and I read up on the period and also LMM. I'm ready to watch it again now with different eyes.

KilljoysDutch · 08/07/2020 18:43

would be too much for the Hamilton audience.

That's kind of insulting to be honest. I love Hamilton and I love rap, especially Eminem the Slim Shady LP was my most played album in my teenage years.

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Theatre
WheresMyMilk · 08/07/2020 18:54

I have seen it on the west end, and I enjoyed it. I can appreciate the ground breaking nature of it and the importance of the diverse casting. King George is hilarious. But...

It’s simply not as good a musical as others in my opinion. I wasn’t that impressed by the dancing and the meh costumes the dancers wore - compared to the all singing all dancing Mormons, it falls short as a spectacle. Compared to Phantom, the staging isn’t as clever. Compared to Les Mis or Miss Saigon, it’s less emotional. The music is also far less to my taste.

I take on board the comments about seeing it more than once and will watch the Disney plus version, though the guy who played Hamilton when I saw it was amazing so it’s a shame if LMM’s performance isn’t.

TL;DR, good but doesn’t live up to the hype

LemonDrizzles · 08/07/2020 19:00

As with most musicals, esp stage musicals, I suggest familiarizing with the songs first. I had to learn les mis for school choir and it made quite the difference later on. Also re Hamilton, crazy ex girlfriend did a take on one of the songs from the second half which added to my enjoyment. (Though I'm comparing to watching it in the West end....)

blobbyface · 08/07/2020 19:54

I loved it. Watched it last Friday with dd1. She had listened to it loads of times so was familiar with it. It was all new for me. Dh hated it, but I think it's partly because he's a classical musician and listens to the music rather than listens to the words!

Original poster
Happybint · 08/07/2020 20:16

Lemondrizzle when I saw wicked I didnt know any of the songs and still absolutely loved it. I knew some of the Hamilton songs and I do really like quite a few of the songs I just thought it was a dirge overall.

OP posts:
My0My · 08/07/2020 21:02

To answer posters: we saw it pretty early on the run and believe me tickets were £200 for the majority of seats. Obviously few people posting saw it early. I didn’t pay £200 - I paid £100 for side stall seats but still perfectly good. The pricing back then was not the prices posted here. Absolutely not. I go to the theatre and Royal Opera House regularly (or did) and I know theatre prices.

I enjoyed Six a great deal. Shorter. Succinct. Most of us Brits know the story! I didn’t see it at The Fringe but read about the performance there and booked it immediately in London. Small theatre of course and a very “up for it” audience made it a very fun night for around £30 for a great seat.

MrsGrindah · 08/07/2020 21:07

Saw the stage show. Reminded me a lot of Les Mis to be honest. And WTF was with all the chairs?!

ThanksItHasPockets · 08/07/2020 21:21

You must have gone after the first big price hike, @My0My. We paid £89.50 for front row of the royal circle for a show in Feb 2018 (although we booked over a year earlier). Prices shot up in the next release of tickets and our seats went up to £200.

My0My · 08/07/2020 21:36

That’s probably it. I booked way in advance though. I think I went June 18? £200 is outrageous and it was for the majority of seats.

Blackcurrant66 · 08/07/2020 21:38

I don’t think it’s fair to say it’s for people who don’t like real rap.

It’s taking some of the conventions of rap and hip hop and using them in a different sphere. To me it shows how mainstream and dominant this form of music has become. A genre that was once widely derided by the type of audience who would attend musical theatre is now understood and enjoyed by then.

bilbotoy · 08/07/2020 21:46

@Blackcurrant66 if your referring to my point that's not what I said.

DidoLamenting · 08/07/2020 21:51

I've only seen clips of it on YouTube and didn't like it. All musicals sound the same to me - there's a "song from a musical" format which they all use and it does nothing for me.

This next comment is just going to get me lambasted for pretentiousness but I find the suspension of belief in musicals where conversation suddenly turns into song impossible. On the other hand I love opera, most of which have the most ridiculous plots, but I have no problem with suspension of belief there. Possibly it's because the musical element is continuous.

gotothecooler · 08/07/2020 21:52

The Majority of seats have never been the top pricing tier. Yes there are a lot of expensive seats, but there are, and always have been, more cheaper seats. Always.

gotothecooler · 08/07/2020 21:54

I've only seen clips of it on YouTube and didn't like it. All musicals sound the same to me - there's a "song from a musical" format which they all use and it does nothing for me.

This next comment is just going to get me lambasted for pretentiousness but I find the suspension of belief in musicals where conversation suddenly turns into song impossible.

2 reasons why HAMILTON may actually be for you. It's not a standard 'musical format' and nobody bursts into song from conversation as there is no dialogue.

BackforGood · 08/07/2020 21:59

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

Iactually 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.

@FizzFan - this sounds like how I feel. Same with my choice of TV - I want to relax and enjoy a show, not have to do lots of homework beforehand, or intense concentration to understand what is going on. Bit like watching a film in another language and having to read all the subtitles - just too much hard work for me, when i'm taking an hour or three out to relax

YoureBreakingMyHeartCecilia · 08/07/2020 22:00

I adore Hamilton, I think it’s a work of genius overall and some of the songs are impossible to not sing (constantly) aloud when you’re driving/ironing/tidying (this may be just me)

On the Broadway Disney + version, Burr, King George, Jefferson/Lafayette and Angelica are, imho, astonishing. (I have a huge crush on Jonathan Groff; I think he’s phenomenal)

LMM is in my view a songwriter in a billion. I really think a good half dozen or more of Hamilton’s songs are works of utter genius.

BUT. He is NOT an actor. It comes across so powerfully in this show where he is literally inches from SERIOUSLY talented actor/singers. I love him but I find his performance quite painful at times; cringey and mostly just incredibly self-conscious. He is Lin Manuel Miranda PERFORMING THE PART OF HAMILTON and he can’t let you forget that. He’s just not a natural onstage. He raps well, obv, but he sings off key a lot and mainly he just can’t act.

Also I agree that the show is too long; the second half has moments of brilliance but it drags. Eliza banging on about being ‘part of the narrative‘ is mostly what I remember from the second half when I saw the london show; weird as I SHOULD have remembered the 2nd half for The Room Where It Happened. I think it gets syrupy and too self important in the second half. When I listen to the soundtrack (which I do VERY frequently) I only play TRWIH from the second half. All the other great songs are in the first half.

Still I adore it; I think it’s staggeringly good. It’s not perfect. But it’s fabulous. And LMM is no actor. He’s a phenomenal songwriter though.

My0My · 08/07/2020 22:15

I am not incorrect in my analysis of the pricing when I booked. I know what the pricing was. If you didn’t book when I did you cannot possibly know. The two seats in the extreme wings of the stalls were £100. They were sold as restricted view because you couldn’t see the whole stage. The vast majority of stalls seats and royal circle seats were £200. A few rows of seats in the back of these areas were less. This makes the majority of seats £200 for some evenings. Obviously not now. 2 years further on!

RightOnTheEdge · 08/07/2020 22:20

I started watching and I really wanted to like it, but I had to turn it off.
I like musicals but I don't like musicals where the whole thing is singing and no dialog. After a while all the singing really starts to get on my nerves.

I didn't like Evita or Les Mis for the same reason although there are some songs from Les Mis that I really love on their own.

I might try watching Hamilton in instalments.

DidoLamenting · 09/07/2020 00:24

reasons why HAMILTON may actually be for you. It's not a standard 'musical format' and nobody bursts into song from conversation as there is no dialogue

Oh I didn't know that. I've only listened to clips on YouTube. I don't however think it would help as I found the music trite and dull.

Sorry, I thought this was tedious. The singing isn't great and the word which popped into my head was "mediocre". I couldn't sit through hours of that.

SingingSands · 09/07/2020 01:49

Theatre - live theatre - is so personal isn't it? It's a connection between audience and cast, and on the best nights a little bit of magic happens.

I've only seen the Disney version of Hamilton. I enjoyed it immensely, but I know that I would benefit from seeing it live to really appreciate the staging and the energy of the soundtrack. I can't think of any filmed performance that lives up to a live.

I also didn't know the story beforehand and I purposefully didn't research it. I wanted to see what I would learn from the performance - I prefer watching performances where I don't know what will happen next. I like to do my research afterwards and then compare.

I understand that not everyone will love it, and that's fine. But I think Hamilton is really special, it is so complex, on so many levels that it has really given me something to chew on and the more I research I do, the more admiration I have for LMM and what he has achieved here.

Jullyria · 09/07/2020 03:16

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Haenow · 09/07/2020 09:11

I saw Hamilton and have loved the music ever since and I’m a big LMM fan but I have to say, I didn’t love the film version as much as I thought. There was something about it that didn’t capture me and hook me in.

anguauberwaldironfoundersson · 09/07/2020 11:20

I agree that LMM as Hamilton was a little "off" somehow when you saw him on screen with his exceptional co stars. The man can barely dance and isn't the most amazing singer. But by god can he write a song and a musical Grin

I was lucky enough to see Jamael Westman in the West End and he was just chefs kiss