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Post by primitivewallflower on Mar 13, 2016 6:34:59 GMT
Having said that, if you are spent a fortune on tickets, why not take a bit to "prepare" yourself for what you are going to see? I agree this is ideal, but it's too much to expect a theatre audience to have read a full biography just to *follow* a show, though to emphasize: I'm not sure I agree that this is necessary with Hamilton even for a London audience. I followed the cast album just fine knowing next to nothing about the man. OTOH I'm literally on the last chapter of Chernow right now and I completely agree that it adds another layer of appreciation for the show (and the subject matter!).
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131 posts
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Post by primitivewallflower on Mar 13, 2016 4:56:21 GMT
We all know what happened to the last musical which had 6 weeks of previews I'll bite... which one?
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131 posts
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Post by primitivewallflower on Mar 13, 2016 4:52:28 GMT
I always liked The Rothschilds. They stripped it down off-Broadway in the 90s but still prefer the original 1970 version.
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131 posts
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Post by primitivewallflower on Mar 13, 2016 4:47:11 GMT
A few minutes in the show, I was completely lost and had no idea what was going on and who was who. Maybe it's not so much of an issue for Americans who are being taught this part of their history in school, but I had never heard of the persons (bar Washington and Jefferson) or their relationships and actions before. I didn't even care for anyone. It's a shame you didn't enjoy it. What's interesting is that I don't think Americans are terribly versed in any of the historical characters either until you get to George Washington (OK, and maybe George III). But maybe Washington and later Jefferson help Americans contextualize the story around figures they *are* familiar with. If so, the producers probably need to figure out a way to overcome this for London audiences. I heard that at The Public, the audience was given a printout of the Alexander Hamilton wikipedia page to read prior to the show, so maybe some variation of that would help. As for me, I just saw it in NY last week. I love the cast recording, but seeing it staged made me love it even more. One thing in particular that I didn't appreciate until I saw it live: This is truly a work of THEATER. As in, not some slick mega musical, but art conceived for the stage out of passion and talent. That, and the fact that it's so much FUNNIER staged, was refreshing, given the hype around it. It's an earnest musical but it never buckles under the weight of its own seriousness.
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131 posts
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Post by primitivewallflower on Mar 13, 2016 4:18:32 GMT
THE PRODUCERS: The movie is hilarious, but the stage version, while funny, is bland and utterly forgettable.
PHANTOM: I'm not an ALW-hater -- Evita and Joseph are two of my favorites and while Cats is not my cup of tea I respect the risk-taking -- but a giant chandelier can't cover up poor writing and power ballad overdose.
RENT: I loved it when I was teenager. Now I watch it and I cringe. To be fair, time has not been kind, and despite its flaws it is still clearly the product of a talented mind. BUT... 1) there is exactly one likable character (who dies); 2) everyone else is either selfish, spoiled, or both; 3) Act II, other than Seasons of Love, completely falls apart, especially 4) one of the worst musical endings ever; and 5) it's just too self-consciously cool.
The best thing to say about Rent is that it drew my generation into theater. But HAMILTON is doing that for young people now and it's a much better show.
WEST SIDE STORY: I'm not going to get a lot of huzzahs on this one but I'll just say it: West Side Story has one of the worst books of any major musical. Cringe-worthy. That's not enough to sink it -- the songs are truly excellent and the movie version even managed to make "America" profound -- but musicals have to deliver both the sung and spoken word.
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131 posts
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Post by primitivewallflower on Feb 17, 2016 18:31:38 GMT
Having listened to the cast recording umpteen-thousand times by now, it's jarring to see it actually staged. I'm going next week and absolutely can't wait.
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131 posts
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Post by primitivewallflower on Feb 8, 2016 6:50:43 GMT
I've been a musical lover for nearly 30 years now and so many new shows that open have become so utterly predictable with a a mix of chorus number, big ballad for female lead, big ballad for male lead, duet, and so on and usually in the same vaguely pop-musicalish style that started with ALW and Les Mis without even coming close to the quality of those songs. And suddenly here's Hamilton, something completely new and fresh, that blows everything else out of the water. Yes. To add to that, after the oversaturation of comedies in the 2000s, it's refreshing to see an earnest, dramatic show do so well. Of course, if that combination catches on with other shows (again) then it will probably become insufferable (again), but I'm enjoying the moment now. Finally, it's a bit silly to debate Hamilton's place in musical history when *it literally opened off-Broadway a year ago.* Nothing tests timelessness quite like time. I suspect that it won't age as well as the upper echelon classics of musical theatre. Then again, who knows; had I been around at the time it opened, I may have made the same argument about, say, the jazz in West Side Story. And I would have been very, very wrong.
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131 posts
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Post by primitivewallflower on Feb 8, 2016 5:12:44 GMT
I don't mind the popular obsession. There's plenty of other theatre out there to turn to when the Playbill coverage is excessive. But beyond that, it *is* a legitimately great show, it's not based on a movie or other franchise, it's pulling new people into musical theatre, and it's come about as close as breaking into the cultural zeitgeist as any Broadway show in decades. And I'm glad it was a show that stood out for its book, music, and cast diversity -- rather than, say, a big-name lead or dazzling special effects -- that did it.
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131 posts
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Post by primitivewallflower on Jan 29, 2016 1:26:12 GMT
I'm so ambivalent about this. On the one hand, just... no. Don't mess with Groundhog Day. On the other hand, I could see how in the right hands this plot would lend itself to some clever staging and music.
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