Hamilton DC cast

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Going to KC to see it in 2 weeks. I've never listened to the soundtrack. Do you think I should just go in blind or get to know some of the music before I go?

I posted this on another thread recently. Here’s a synopsis we found very helpful:

http://www.themusicallyrics.com/h/351-hamilton-the-musical-lyrics/5418-hamilton-synopsis.html

[Anonymous]

I won the DC ticket lottery - i’m SO excited I get to see it tomorrow night for $20. This thread makes me happy!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I won the DC ticket lottery - i’m SO excited I get to see it tomorrow night for $20. This thread makes me happy!!

Wow! Congrats! You will love every moment- enjoy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is one better than the other?

DP. I haven't seen both to compare, but the Angelica tour company is fantastic, they definitely didn't feel like a tour company. I saw it with a friend who's a professional musician and who saw it on Broadway first, and his sacrilegious opinion was that Austin Scott is a better Alexander Hamilton than Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Sorry to ask the obvious given context, but...

Is Austin an immigrant?

We're all immigrants, except those of us who are descended from native Americans.

I think you must mean, "Is Austin Scott non-white?" Google is your friend.

No, sorry, you are very confused.

It's not the same to be an immigrant than to be a descendant of immigrants.

And Hamilton was an immigrant, which means he probably spoke with an accent, something like LMM does, and which Austin doesnt.

Are you xenophobic by any chance?

Everyone at that time spoke with what we would today consider an accent. And as an immigrant, Hamilton was by no means unusual- the majority of people living in the colonies were immigrants at that time.

See, what an example of cultural appropriation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I loved the DC cast. I agree with PP that LMM isn't the strongest singer, but he's a better rapper. I think the women of the case held up to the original broadway cast better than the men, but they men were still impressive. The DC cast Burr played the role with a weaseley tone of voice that bothered me at first (being used to the smoothness of Leslie Odom), but it grew on me and it still fit the character very well.

I thought the DC Burr was whiny. Austin Scott is a much better singer than LMM but LMM has emotional expression and nuance that Scott doesn’t even touch. Work!

Agree on Burr. The actor is very talented, obviously, but this particular interpretation to me cranked the drama of the whole production down like 10 notches. An impressive Burr gives the play a deeply tragic vibe. A weaselly and backbiting one makes it little more than two hours of “yay Hamilton” and “boo Burr” which to me is much less interesting. I also thought Washington was weak and this too had significant dramatic consequences. (I don’t recall if this was the principal or understudy.) Hamilton himself, however, greatly exceeded my expectations, and King George nearly stole the show, which is a feat considering how small the role is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is one better than the other?

DP. I haven't seen both to compare, but the Angelica tour company is fantastic, they definitely didn't feel like a tour company. I saw it with a friend who's a professional musician and who saw it on Broadway first, and his sacrilegious opinion was that Austin Scott is a better Alexander Hamilton than Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Sorry to ask the obvious given context, but...

Is Austin an immigrant?

We're all immigrants, except those of us who are descended from native Americans.

I think you must mean, "Is Austin Scott non-white?" Google is your friend.

No, sorry, you are very confused.

It's not the same to be an immigrant than to be a descendant of immigrants.

And Hamilton was an immigrant, which means he probably spoke with an accent, something like LMM does, and which Austin doesnt.

Are you xenophobic by any chance?

Everyone at that time spoke with what we would today consider an accent. And as an immigrant, Hamilton was by no means unusual- the majority of people living in the colonies were immigrants at that time.

See, what an example of cultural appropriation.

You keep using those words. I do not think they mean what you think they mean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The king was the best in show. Saw it last weekend, seem better shows. Guy behind me snoring half the show and two people checking phones. Seems to have peaked already

Yeah, it wasn't really my cup of tea. It moves too fast and I felt no emotional connection to the characters. The second act is much better than the first though.

[Anonymous]

Saw it last night. All good, but I wanted deeper, more resonant voices for at least some of the characters. I like the Washington actor, agree with PPs about Burr being a bit prissy, but it didn’t bother me — in some ways I think that’s consistent with who burr was, right? Self absorbed and not willing to take a stand.

We had the Hamilton understudy and I liked how clear he was, though he didn’t sing as much as I wanted.

the DC king George was much weaker than the one we saw in NY and the soundtrack (I admit to being a huge Jonathan Groff fan).

I harbor not so secret fantasies of Leslie Odom Jr returning to the role - I would pay a lot to see him!

The second act seemed rushed and too fast. Made it far less emotional than I was expecting.

[Anonymous]

I saw it last night so I can finally chime in as a huge musical theater nerd. I never saw the Broadway production, but listened to the soundtrack for a few years. It was really cool to see how it played out in person, with nuances you wouldn't catch just from listening. I thought the whole cast was really phenomenal, and overall it just had a slightly different vibe from the album. I don't think of that as good or bad, just a matter of artistic choice. The actors seemed to employ a lot of dry, deadpan humor in their delivery, which I appreciated; I can see it being much more serious and dramatic, as on the soundtrack. I love Burr's voice on the album, but "this" Burr was more tongue-in-cheek and almost camp, which was great fun to watch, although made some of his more serious moments a bit tougher to transition into. George Washington and Hamilton were nearly the same height, but Washington was more mesomorphic than Hamilton and everyone else, so it mostly worked. Also I'm not sure who said he sounded like the album's Jefferson, but that had to have been an understudy. "This" Washington had a pretty low, husky tone, vs. Jefferson's clear, lyrical vibe on both the soundtrack and this production. Eliza was fantastic. DH liked the Swing with the hair extensions. I agree that it was quick-moving, which had its pros and cons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just saw it and the DC cast was outstanding.

Me too, and agreed! It was SO GOOD. I can't stop thinking about it. I was really wondering if it was going to live up to the hype and I have to say... it absolutely does.

I thought the show was great but was not the outer body experience that everyone else seems to have. Overall, I think Les Miz was more of an “experience” for me.

Have you started listening to the soundtrack? I loved the show, but once I downloaded the music, I could understand the brilliance more. Now, I'm dying to see it again. Genius.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Saw it last night (also saw with original cast in NY). Loved Hamilton, hated the effeminate Burr, except for his solos when he stood/sat mid-stage (has a great voice!). Fantastic production, I laughed, I cried, BUT: my biggest challenge was the lack of height in many of the lead characters. Dumb, I know, and maybe it's because of having seen it in NY where Washington and Jefferson and Burr were so strong/present/commanding/TALL, but I struggled with their lack of height/strength last night. Maybe because DCs Hamilton is so tall compared to Lin Manuel Miranda? I don't know, but it definitely bothered me.

The ladies all wowed, especially Peggy/Reynolds. Had the understudy for Angelica, and while she could sing, she didn't articulate very well (and I know every word, every note, every character), and was difficult to understand.

What effeminate Burr? Nicholas Christopher? He reminded me of the rapper Common. I thought he was great.

Me too. I thought he was great!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is one better than the other?

DP. I haven't seen both to compare, but the Angelica tour company is fantastic, they definitely didn't feel like a tour company. I saw it with a friend who's a professional musician and who saw it on Broadway first, and his sacrilegious opinion was that Austin Scott is a better Alexander Hamilton than Lin-Manuel Miranda.

I have been wondering about this. Miranda just seems too nice to be the kind of desperate-to-prove-himself character that Hamilton is. Haven't seen him in the play but have been listening to the sound track and he just seems so much more like Usnavi in In the Heights (which I adore by the way) than Hamilton. Going to see the DC cast tomorrow so looking forward to seeing Austin Scott!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Saw it last night. All good, but I wanted deeper, more resonant voices for at least some of the characters. I like the Washington actor, agree with PPs about Burr being a bit prissy, but it didn’t bother me — in some ways I think that’s consistent with who burr was, right? Self absorbed and not willing to take a stand.

We had the Hamilton understudy and I liked how clear he was, though he didn’t sing as much as I wanted.

the DC king George was much weaker than the one we saw in NY and the soundtrack (I admit to being a huge Jonathan Groff fan).

I harbor not so secret fantasies of Leslie Odom Jr returning to the role - I would pay a lot to see him!

The second act seemed rushed and too fast. Made it far less emotional than I was expecting.

I LOVE Leslie Odom, but I might have liked the DC Burr better.

[Anonymous]

I loved Washington. I thought he was super commanding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I saw it last night so I can finally chime in as a huge musical theater nerd. I never saw the Broadway production, but listened to the soundtrack for a few years. It was really cool to see how it played out in person, with nuances you wouldn't catch just from listening. I thought the whole cast was really phenomenal, and overall it just had a slightly different vibe from the album. I don't think of that as good or bad, just a matter of artistic choice. The actors seemed to employ a lot of dry, deadpan humor in their delivery, which I appreciated; I can see it being much more serious and dramatic, as on the soundtrack. I love Burr's voice on the album, but "this" Burr was more tongue-in-cheek and almost camp, which was great fun to watch, although made some of his more serious moments a bit tougher to transition into. George Washington and Hamilton were nearly the same height, but Washington was more mesomorphic than Hamilton and everyone else, so it mostly worked. Also I'm not sure who said he sounded like the album's Jefferson, but that had to have been an understudy. "This" Washington had a pretty low, husky tone, vs. Jefferson's clear, lyrical vibe on both the soundtrack and this production. Eliza was fantastic. DH liked the Swing with the hair extensions. I agree that it was quick-moving, which had its pros and cons.

Also saw it last night and thought it was really great. The understudy for Anjelica was so good -- can't imagine the main performer being better. I don't know what PPs were talking about with Burr being effeminate or sniveling. He did seem to play it like he was coming apart at the seams after losing the presidency to Jefferson (which was probably accurate, right?). There were a couple points where I thought he was a little too restrained in his singinng (like Wait for It -- he seemed to start very restrained so that he could build up, but I think I'd rather he just really let the whole song ring out.)