Back in September, I first heard the soundtrack for Hamilton. I immediately became obsessed, listening to it 3 or 4 times a day. It wasn't long before I decided that I simply had to see it on Broadway with the original cast. Luckily, this was back when it was still possible to get tickets. And if they were for the worst seats in the house seven months in the future, well, at least I had them.
It wasn't long before it became impossible to get tickets at all, and I felt more and more justified in my impulsive purchase. Even with openings in new cities and a tour starting next year, it seems impossible to get tickets. The Kennedy Center wants people to buy season passes for this year and next year (roughly $650 per person, total) to get a shot at the tickets.
Some day, I'm sure, the excitement will die down and tickets will be available for reasonable prices. But it doesn't look like that will happen anytime soon.
It's a shame. This show is spectacular, and I'd like nothing more than to see it again. And again. And again. There's so much happening on stage that there was simply no way for me to absorb everything. Seeing it performed live adds so many layers to the show. The staging is fantastic, especially during the flashback song "Satisfied", and the Rashoman sequence in "The Room Where it Happens". I didn't even realize that was a Rashoman sequence, but it makes perfect sense to have the same few beats repeat several times with slight variations to illustrate the varied and incomplete accounts of that deal.
I also discovered new things that I hadn't found, even listening to the soundtrack countless times. Like the whoa-whoa-whoas coming back in "Right Hand Man". Or that fact that Washington definitely says Virginia, not Virginny (I was almost sure it was the latter).
And I was in no way prepared for the stunning presence that Okieriete Onaodowan (Mulligan/Madison) has. I knew that Daveed Diggs and Leslie Odom Jr were amazing, because everyone raves about them. And I was excited to see Javier Munoz play Hamilton. But Onaodowan absolutely blew me away. I had a hard time not looking at him every time he was on stage. Which is really saying a lot, given that cast and choreography of this show.
This show was absolutely incredible, even from the back (top?) of the theater. It helps that the theater is small enough that there aren't really any bad seats. And it was nice to get the bird's eye view of everything, even if the actors become a bit blurry from that distance.
I really hope I get a chance to see it again in the future. Hopefully not the distant future. Or that they decide to film it, so I can just watch it over and over until I know the choreography as well as the lyrics.
Showing posts with label musical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label musical. Show all posts
Friday, May 20, 2016
Friday, October 2, 2015
America, You Great Unfinished Symphony
How do I begin to write about Hamilton? The original cast album came out about a week ago. Before that, NPR was streaming it free for several days. From the very first listen, it took over my brain.I've been listening to it non-stop ever since, fighting with myself over the logisitics of going to see it on Broadway (next Spring/Summer depending on how long I continue to dither).
This is an incredibly dense musical, which accounts for most of my early listenings. While the story is straight-forward and easy to follow, there are so many layers that I'm still peeling them away, 20+ listens later.
Hamilton is a perfect melding of two American art forms: the Broadway Musical and Hip Hop, used to tell the early history of America while highlighting how relevant that history is to our country today. Of these things, I am most familiar with musicals and current events, so it was through these that Hamilton first got its hooks in me.
There are a wealth of references to other musicals scattered throughout the soundtrack. Everything seems to make an appearance. George Washington introduces himself "I am the very model of a modern major general." Lafayette boasts, "Who's the best? C'est Moi!" Hamilton falls into bed with his mistress claiming "nobody needs to know". The only missing reference is one to Miranda's earlier musical In the Heights, even though one would have been perfectly justified by the fact that Eliza Hamilton founded the first school in Washington Heights.
There are lists of references to musicals, which I had a lot of fun going through, but I almost had more fun learning about all of the hip hop references. Hip hop isn't a genre I'm all that familiar with, despite coming of age in the late 90s. Sure, I own both of Destiny's Child's albums, and I've heard all the music that made it onto TRL or the Now! CDs (basically the same set). I could give you a list of rappers like Biggie and Dr. Dre, Snoop Dog and Jay-Z. I could probably even identify some of their songs. But this was still something of a crash course in the history of hip hop. In between Hamilton songs, I listened to the songs in that article linked above. I've always loved books that encourage me to look things up and make new connections, and the fact that Hamilton encouraged me to do the same and made it so easy is a big part of the reason I've become so obsessed with it. It's a fantastic entry-point for a culture that I grew up adjacent to but never explored.
Other than the music, the big draw of Hamilton is the history. And this is what keeps me coming back for more. I'd hear a line and wonder, is that true? I spent a lot of time on Wikipedia and other sites, re-learning things I probably learned in high school. I spent time learning about the Compromise of 1790 and Hamilton's vision of Wall Street. I learned about the Federalist Papers and the Reynolds pamphlet. This musical highlights John Laurens, a strong anti-slavery voice. Who knows what would have happened if he'd survived the war?
And all of this history ties in effortlessly to the present day. Hamilton and Lafayette were both immigrants, and the show celebrates that status, even though Jefferson and Madison later use it against Hamilton. Hamilton and Jefferson fight about states rights, how much power to give the federal government, whether we should get involved in foreign wars. These are fights we're still having today. Moreover, the second half of "My Shot" is reminiscent of protests in Ferguson. It's a call to action that rings very true.
There are the more blatant jokes, too: a voter commenting that presidential candidate Aaron Burr seems like someone you could grab a beer with, Jefferson complaining that Hamilton's financial plan is too long to read. It all drives home the idea that we aren't so far removed from the founding fathers. They were human, too, trying their best to build a country.
This is the version of America that I love. The unfinished version. Things are better now than they were in the late 1700s. Things are always better now than they were yesterday, because that's the direction America moves in. There are people out there who like to talk about returning to when America was great, but the fact is that America is and always has been better in the future than in the past.. It probably always will be. And we'll claw our way towards that utopia, fight by fight, bill by bill, election by election.
More than anything else, this musical reminded me what I do love about America. It's so easy to get bitter during election season. To look at the mass shootings and sex scandals and endless debates that go nowhere and convince yourself that things are getting worse. But the truth is that it was always this messy. We have the tools to make it better, and while that doesn't make it easy, it does mean that we have to keep trying.
I've been talking about this non-stop since I first heard the album. Kevin commented the other day that he's never seen me this obsessed with something (to be fair, he didn't know me in high school). It's been a long time since I've been this obsessed with something. But I'm going to say it one more time. Go listen to this album. Open yourself up to a new art form. Learn something. Be inspired. Don't miss out on this masterpiece.
And once you've listened, come find me so we can dig into the details.
This is an incredibly dense musical, which accounts for most of my early listenings. While the story is straight-forward and easy to follow, there are so many layers that I'm still peeling them away, 20+ listens later.
Hamilton is a perfect melding of two American art forms: the Broadway Musical and Hip Hop, used to tell the early history of America while highlighting how relevant that history is to our country today. Of these things, I am most familiar with musicals and current events, so it was through these that Hamilton first got its hooks in me.
There are a wealth of references to other musicals scattered throughout the soundtrack. Everything seems to make an appearance. George Washington introduces himself "I am the very model of a modern major general." Lafayette boasts, "Who's the best? C'est Moi!" Hamilton falls into bed with his mistress claiming "nobody needs to know". The only missing reference is one to Miranda's earlier musical In the Heights, even though one would have been perfectly justified by the fact that Eliza Hamilton founded the first school in Washington Heights.
There are lists of references to musicals, which I had a lot of fun going through, but I almost had more fun learning about all of the hip hop references. Hip hop isn't a genre I'm all that familiar with, despite coming of age in the late 90s. Sure, I own both of Destiny's Child's albums, and I've heard all the music that made it onto TRL or the Now! CDs (basically the same set). I could give you a list of rappers like Biggie and Dr. Dre, Snoop Dog and Jay-Z. I could probably even identify some of their songs. But this was still something of a crash course in the history of hip hop. In between Hamilton songs, I listened to the songs in that article linked above. I've always loved books that encourage me to look things up and make new connections, and the fact that Hamilton encouraged me to do the same and made it so easy is a big part of the reason I've become so obsessed with it. It's a fantastic entry-point for a culture that I grew up adjacent to but never explored.
Other than the music, the big draw of Hamilton is the history. And this is what keeps me coming back for more. I'd hear a line and wonder, is that true? I spent a lot of time on Wikipedia and other sites, re-learning things I probably learned in high school. I spent time learning about the Compromise of 1790 and Hamilton's vision of Wall Street. I learned about the Federalist Papers and the Reynolds pamphlet. This musical highlights John Laurens, a strong anti-slavery voice. Who knows what would have happened if he'd survived the war?
And all of this history ties in effortlessly to the present day. Hamilton and Lafayette were both immigrants, and the show celebrates that status, even though Jefferson and Madison later use it against Hamilton. Hamilton and Jefferson fight about states rights, how much power to give the federal government, whether we should get involved in foreign wars. These are fights we're still having today. Moreover, the second half of "My Shot" is reminiscent of protests in Ferguson. It's a call to action that rings very true.
There are the more blatant jokes, too: a voter commenting that presidential candidate Aaron Burr seems like someone you could grab a beer with, Jefferson complaining that Hamilton's financial plan is too long to read. It all drives home the idea that we aren't so far removed from the founding fathers. They were human, too, trying their best to build a country.
This is the version of America that I love. The unfinished version. Things are better now than they were in the late 1700s. Things are always better now than they were yesterday, because that's the direction America moves in. There are people out there who like to talk about returning to when America was great, but the fact is that America is and always has been better in the future than in the past.. It probably always will be. And we'll claw our way towards that utopia, fight by fight, bill by bill, election by election.
More than anything else, this musical reminded me what I do love about America. It's so easy to get bitter during election season. To look at the mass shootings and sex scandals and endless debates that go nowhere and convince yourself that things are getting worse. But the truth is that it was always this messy. We have the tools to make it better, and while that doesn't make it easy, it does mean that we have to keep trying.
I've been talking about this non-stop since I first heard the album. Kevin commented the other day that he's never seen me this obsessed with something (to be fair, he didn't know me in high school). It's been a long time since I've been this obsessed with something. But I'm going to say it one more time. Go listen to this album. Open yourself up to a new art form. Learn something. Be inspired. Don't miss out on this masterpiece.
And once you've listened, come find me so we can dig into the details.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Tomorrow is a Latter Day
I've been wanting to see Book of Mormon practically since it debuted on Broadway. So when we found out that it was coming to the Kennedy Center this summer, we jumped at the chance to buy tickets. And on Sunday Kevin, Sarah, Zach, and I climbed to the very top of the Kennedy Center and sat in the second to last row to enjoy the show.
The plot is pretty basic. Two young, optimistic Mormon men take off on a mission trip to Uganda. There they find themselves in a situation they never expected and aren't entirely prepared to deal with. The village to which they're assigned is under the thumb of a ruthless warlord, their friends and family are dying from violence and disease, and they're in no mood to listen to some preachers tell them about a better life. One missionary despairs and tries to get transferred to a cushy posting in Orlando. The other lies his head off, mixing the biblical stories up with his favorite science fiction and fantasy to give them a little more flair. They learn lessons about friendship and perseverance and helping each other and everything ends happily because this is, after all, musical theater.
The songs were a lot of fun. There was a great representation of the horrors of dysentery and a surprisingly dirty song about baptism. The show had a very South Park sensibility, which should come as no surprise, but it wasn't always my favorite thing. Arnold messed up the lead lady's name so many times that I left the theater unsure of what her name actually was. I felt like that joke, which wasn't really funny to begin with, had some serious diminishing returns. The guy complaining about maggots in his scrotum also felt cheap and offensive. But there was some great stuff in the absurdity of Mormon belief and in the yawning chasm between what the Africans imagined America to be like (all the flour you can eat! Red Cross on every corner!) and the reality.
I also liked the ultimate message of the play, which is that the specifics of your scripture matter a lot less than the message. So the Latter-Day Saints Americanization of Christianity (The Garden of Eden is in Minnesota!) ultimately doesn't matter as much as their message to be courteous and helpful in all things. Although they should probably do something about the racism inherent in their creation myth.
Ultimately this isn't my favorite musical and I have no desire to run out and buy the soundtrack. Though I have since listened to the whole thing on YouTube. But it was a fun evening with more laughs than cringes.
The plot is pretty basic. Two young, optimistic Mormon men take off on a mission trip to Uganda. There they find themselves in a situation they never expected and aren't entirely prepared to deal with. The village to which they're assigned is under the thumb of a ruthless warlord, their friends and family are dying from violence and disease, and they're in no mood to listen to some preachers tell them about a better life. One missionary despairs and tries to get transferred to a cushy posting in Orlando. The other lies his head off, mixing the biblical stories up with his favorite science fiction and fantasy to give them a little more flair. They learn lessons about friendship and perseverance and helping each other and everything ends happily because this is, after all, musical theater.
The songs were a lot of fun. There was a great representation of the horrors of dysentery and a surprisingly dirty song about baptism. The show had a very South Park sensibility, which should come as no surprise, but it wasn't always my favorite thing. Arnold messed up the lead lady's name so many times that I left the theater unsure of what her name actually was. I felt like that joke, which wasn't really funny to begin with, had some serious diminishing returns. The guy complaining about maggots in his scrotum also felt cheap and offensive. But there was some great stuff in the absurdity of Mormon belief and in the yawning chasm between what the Africans imagined America to be like (all the flour you can eat! Red Cross on every corner!) and the reality.
I also liked the ultimate message of the play, which is that the specifics of your scripture matter a lot less than the message. So the Latter-Day Saints Americanization of Christianity (The Garden of Eden is in Minnesota!) ultimately doesn't matter as much as their message to be courteous and helpful in all things. Although they should probably do something about the racism inherent in their creation myth.
Ultimately this isn't my favorite musical and I have no desire to run out and buy the soundtrack. Though I have since listened to the whole thing on YouTube. But it was a fun evening with more laughs than cringes.
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