{"id":122957,"date":"2015-12-14T17:19:09","date_gmt":"2015-12-14T17:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2015\/12\/14\/my-hamilton-experience\/"},"modified":"2015-12-14T17:19:09","modified_gmt":"2015-12-14T17:19:09","slug":"my-hamilton-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2015\/12\/14\/my-hamilton-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"My Hamilton experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

featherquillpen<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

So. I saw Hamilton<\/i> yesterday, in the \u201cpartial view\u201d seats in the back (the only ticket I could possibly afford) and featuring Alysha Deslorieux as an understudy for Eliza Hamilton. It was an amazing experience. My brain is still swirling with beautiful images and sounds.<\/p>\n

Here are my general impressions. I\u2019ll write another post with specific details I thought were great.<\/p>\n

The performers that impressed me the most in person were Ren\u00e9e Elise Goldsberry and Daveed Diggs. Ren\u00e9e is the best singer in the cast, without question. She filled every inch of the theater with her voice. During <\/i>\u201cSatisfied\u201d I swear I could feel my skin vibrating with it. Daveed Diggs impressed me because he can emote so well with his entire body. From my seat way in the back it was sometimes hard to catch the details of facial expressions, but it was always easy with Daveed. His body is constantly showing an emotion, even when he\u2019s not the one singing.<\/p>\n

The musical brought to life the Hamilton\/Burr relationship in a way the soundtrack never fully did. Leslie Odom Jr. was right when he said in that interview that Hamilton<\/i> is Aaron Burr\u2019s story of the most amazing man he ever met, who he also happened to murder. <\/p>\n

First of all, Aaron Burr is ubiquitous. He\u2019s dancing in many scenes where he doesn\u2019t sing anything, like all the Revolutionary War scenes (\u201dStay Alive,\u201d \u201cThe Battle of Yorktown\u201d) and the political scenes after he becomes senator (\u201dCabinet Battle #2\u2033). And because of the staging, with this balcony surrounding the main action, Burr often watches scenes that don\u2019t directly involve him. So he\u2019s a constant presence in the musical as its narrator. It\u2019s like he\u2019s trying to place himself inside every part of Hamilton\u2019s life, so he can try to understand it.<\/p>\n

Second, the Hamilton\/Burr friendship is much more physically affectionate than I ever would have guessed. Several times they take each other by the arm or shoulder in a familiar way. This made it more impactful for me when they fell out with each other, because then they stopped touching each other and kept their distance. <\/p>\n

Actually, the musical has a lot more physical affection all around than I would have thought. I loved this. The revolutionary boys in the first act are constantly hugging each other and each other\u2019s arms or shoulders, though Hamilton and Laurens do it most of all. The Schuyler sisters are also super affectionate with each other, and it\u2019s totally adorable! I lost count of the number of times they kissed each other on the nose, cheek, or jaw. Eliza has her hand on Hamilton\u2019s thigh during \u201cThat Would Be Enough\u201d and Angelica\u2019s conversation with Hamilton in\u00a0\u201cSatisfied\u201d is with their faces like an INCH APART. So yeah, things are very cuddly in the first act, less so in the second act, but still.<\/p>\n

And I said with Burr, the use of the balcony and the edges of the stage does a lot. There are often characters watching scenes from the edges or the balcony who aren\u2019t in them. Maria Reynolds is watching during \u201cWe Know\u201d and \u201cThe Reynolds Pamphlet.\u201d The Schuyler sisters watch Hamilton speak on a soapbox in \u201cMy Shot.\u201d Heartbreakingly, Phillip watches during \u201cThe Reynolds Pamphlet,\u201d looking despondent. All this watching from above contributes to the message of legacy, reputation, and how you\u2019ll be perceived. History has its eyes on everything that happens in the musical.<\/p>\n

The staging is just as good as everyone has said. The lights and turntable are used to convey motion, the frenetic action of war and the streets of New York in a relatively small space. Hamilton\u2019s scenes are well-lit (except \u201cHurricane\u201d) while Burr\u2019s scenes, like \u201cWait For It\u201d and the second half of \u201cThe Room Where it Happens\u201d are dark with a few splashes of light. The set is very changeable, and at many times the whirl of objects coming in and out and the fast motions of the dancers make the stage feel like the inside of Hamilton\u2019s brain.<\/p>\n

As a final thought, I would like to say that Alysha Deslorieux made a very good Eliza. She\u2019s a beautiful black woman with a mane of natural hair. Her voice is rougher and huskier than Phillippa\u2019s, and very tender. Another difference from Phillippa is that at the famous moment at the end of the musical when the spotlight shines on her and she looks out at the audience, instead of Phillippa\u2019s gasp, she clutches her hand to her chest and gives a delighted, awed smile. To me that even better supports the interpretation that Eliza is breaking the fourth wall and seeing the audience, amazed and so grateful that we were all there to see her story told.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

featherquillpen: So. I saw Hamilton yesterday, in the \u201cpartial view\u201d seats in the back (the only ticket I could possibly afford) and featuring Alysha Deslorieux as an understudy for Eliza Hamilton. It was an amazing experience. My brain is still swirling with beautiful images and sounds. Here are my general impressions. I\u2019ll write another post … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “My Hamilton experience”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[1364,4],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122957"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122957\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}