Hamilton - Victoria Palace Theatre

Watching this now. It’s a great recording, though I wish I could hear the audience a little more - we already have the OBC recording, some interesting camera angles (wide shots seem to be a mix of being lower and looking up, level and slightly higher looking down etc). The close ups take me out of it a little too as they’re obviously edited in, but this is all very minor nuances - it’s a fantastic recording that I’m very please to have, considering how relatively young the show still is and how we weren’t supposed to get it until October 2021.

However... having seen the London cast, it really exposes the weakness of this original broadway cast... and Lin-Manuel is absolutely the weakest link. Daveed Diggs is the strongest and seems to just steal every scene he’s in - and no, I don’t think it’s just the characters he plays.

I’m surprised at the one f-bomb they kept in, because it would have worked without it, whereas the other two are noticeable drops. Obviously we know why and not an issue at all, but interesting choice.

Jonathan Groff... must have been like sitting front row at Singing in The Rain!

Diggs was good in the 1st Act but weaker in the 2nd, he is certainly no Jason Pennycooke however who just NAILED the role.

I will say Groff was MUCH better than I thought he was going to be.

I saw the OBC twice and have seen the original London cast three times.

I'd take the OBC any day. There were some great performances in London but at best they matched their OBC counterparts, didn't beat them. And at worst, you get Rachelle Ann Go totally misunderstanding Eliza and Jason Pennycooke bringing none of Daveed Diggs' charisma. Seeing it in London a few times was what managed to eventually dim my hype for the show and allow me to move on to something else. Not sure if that would have happened if I'd have kept getting to see the OBC.

As for Lin, I agree he is weak in this recording but I didn't find that to be the case at all seeing him live (nor on the bootleg versions of the show I've seen). I have the same problems here I had with his performance at the Tonys, he seems on the verge of tears most of the time which makes his voice even weaker than it already is. With the Tonys, that was understandable as it was the day after the Pulse nightclub shooting and he had to sing lyrics like "take the bullets out your gun." Not sure what happened here however. I know he's a very earnest and emotional person and maybe he got overwhelmed knowing that it was going to be preserved forever. But I wish he'd been able to rein it in a bit because I don't think there are other Hamiltons out there that match his stage presence and rap flow.

Diggs and Goldsberry often get the most praise and they are fantastic but I think they are also given the best parts to impress with. Satisfied is considered by many to be the best song and Diggs' part is full of comedy that is missing for everyone else.

Really, the best performances here are Leslie Odom Jr and Phillipa Soo. Odom Jr's facial expressions are fascinating and the way his Burr simmers until he eventually cracks is played out flawlessly. As for Soo, if there is one aspect of Hamilton that can still be considered underrated it's her performance. Everytime I see someone else play Eliza I am deeply disappointed. Soo's performance is so layered and nuanced and moving. She is truly the heart of this show and I'm so grateful to have the definitive Eliza captured in high definition for the rest of time.

I was impressed overall with the direction and am really glad it captured that incredible lighting so well. And I'm always just amazed at the end of this show how one person wrote all of it. I know it took him a while but my word, it is an absolute feat of talent.

I think the thing with LMM is that his talent lies more in writing than performing, and the cast he surrounded himself with outshine him (and having seen him in both Mary Poppins Returns and His Dark Materials, I don’t think he’s the strongest actor).

There’s certainly more of a company feel about this version though, whereas when I’ve seen it in London, it felt like Jamael Westman was very much the lead and that his take on the character was very much about a man in control.

That’s not necessarily a negative - Hamilton lived life surrounded by a bunch of great men and LMM being overshadowed by them all as a performer ties in nicely with the idea that Hamilton himself was always destined to be overshadowed by them. To be fair the OBC seem to lean more into the comedy of the piece whereas in London it’s played a bit straighter - which makes a difference.

But I also think it’s a case of the material being so strong and rich that different performers are going to be able to put their own spin on Hamilton, sort of similar to Elphaba in Wicked - Idina Menzel was the original, but many others have given very different (and often better) takes on the role.

I wasn't really fussed with Jamal either tbh, the best Hamilton I've seen was one of the understudies who was amazing!

I've seen it 3 or 4 times and was lucky enough to do so at cast changer time so saw 2 somewhat different casts. I was also front row centre for all but one of the performances, so saw everything up close. I think because of this I saw casts either revelling in the end of something or filled with the excitement of being in the show for the first time. The US cast all seemed a bit lethargic and 'over it' whereas as the London casts were so energetic, enthusiastic and seemed genuinely excited to be on that stage. The US cast also have 'group of mates putting on a show' feel to them, whereas London feels like the cream of the crop of UK performers up there giving it their all.

I think Lin actually gave a great performance, he is just not the best singer and he doesn't have a lot of stage presence or the charisma to pull off the character convincing beyond being a good rapper.

Soo is definitely the best Eliza I've seen by far though. I'd have LOVED to have seen her play Natasha in Great Comet! Her voice is just beautiful and she has a fantastic presence.

Well there's these things called lyrics and when you listen to them they tell you a story...

Same. It's a very unpopular opinion in MT fan circles, but I have never 'got' it. I don't dislike it, it's just not something I had any urge to return to. The production of the piece in terms of direction, choreography, design and lighting was excellent no doubt. Buy the piece itself didn't really do it for me.

Certainly, if you go in with no knowledge of this period of American history, plot wise it's not easy. I had to look a lot of it up on Wikipedia afterwards.

I'll give the filmed version a go at some point though. Encouraged by the comment above that the audience are not intrusive. When I went at the VP, it was the complete opposite - really was full of people laughing overly loudly at lines that weren't even jokes. In a knowing exclusive in the club way not dissimilar to the Wicked fangirls but without the excuse of being teenagers. Felt very much like a club not everyone was part of. Not unlike the first few weeks of Company. And that was very off-putting. A lot of the audience were very much primed, rather than reacting naturally to the show. 

Edit - paying over 100 quid to sit in a hot very cramped theatre that had just been refurbished didn't help. Who cares about the ornate ceiling and gold plated taps when you're rapidly developing a DVT.

Edit 2 - despite not fully understanding it, I DID like that it was sung through. Rare these days!

I saw this live in the theatre but before I did I listened to the CD and followed the words. And I had to look up the history as I didn't know a thing about this guy. Very glad I did this. So if you haven't done this and don't know about the characters i suggest you familiarise yourself with the lyrics and the history. Then it is a very enjoyable show. I think the first ten minutes are groundbreaking then it becomes a regular American musical, none the worse for that. Gifted writer.

distantcousin that expresses how I feel more eloquently than I did I think!

Britain has a lot more history than America. They have to make the most of the little they have

So anyone who likes it is a cult member?

I'm a 50 year old white Aussie ghey, I am hardly it's target audience.

I have never listened to the CD or indeed had anything to do with it other than see it live 3 times. The first time I paid 50 quid for literally the worst seat in theatre. I was a part of the back wall in the circle and could only see the bottom 3rd of the stage. Despite this I still understood everything that was going on without ever reading a word about the show or the person it is based on. I will admit about a minute in I thought 'ok I am going to have to REALLY concentrate on what they are saying to understand this' but once I knew this, that is exactly what I did and didn't have a problem with it. 

This is probably because I am familiar with Dave Malloy's work and Hamilton is clearly very heavily influenced by The Great Comet in the style it's written. Comet's score is even more dense and includes stage direction, narration, character emotions and dialogue within the actual song lyrics.

Personally I find the style exciting and thrilling and love the fact I have to use my brain while watching such a traditional art form. It is very much like listening to a musical audiobook as it's performed on stage.

I guess some people like it and some people don't, but the fact you don't like something doesn't mean it isn't good or that people who do like it have something wrong with them...