For me I had a narrator during the thing. My wife saw it on Broadway 7 times the only one to beat that was Waitress. Yes she loves Broadway and apparently the Broadway tour guide for all our friends. So even with that advantage and my knowledge of history I was still getting lost. When you can't follow along all the great dancing and songs just get lost. As you spend most of your time trying to figure out what the hell is going on.
OT: Hamilton
- Thread starter chickenpatty2
- Start date
beautiful place. thank youNo not directly - I was reading about the Ashokan reservoir when I needed a name lol. I've been there though, and its a really nice place. Jay Ungar, who wrote the Ashokan song, used to live in Ashokan/New Paltz area, and wrote the piece with the area in mind.
Daughter saw it live (won lottery for two $10 seats), loved it. Watched last night, hard to follow words especially at the beginning, but got most of it.
For those really interested in AH, Ron Chernow’s biography is an excellent read - about 700 pages.
For something easier check out Joann Freeman on YouTube - Yale prof who edited several volumes of Hamilton papers. I think she also did something on CSpan history
For those really interested in AH, Ron Chernow’s biography is an excellent read - about 700 pages.
For something easier check out Joann Freeman on YouTube - Yale prof who edited several volumes of Hamilton papers. I think she also did something on CSpan history
I totally agree. Not even one of my favorite musicals and I’m basically a sucker for anything that celebrates the founding fathers.
Jonathan Groff (King George) is also great as the lead in Mindhunters on Netflix.
Loved it. Excellent show in my opinion. My thoughts on the words of the show likely would have spoken differences as to when it first was written to today in only a short span of our current times. That really resonated to me. It also owned up more desire to read about our American founders that I didn't know/or was taught.
The dancing and choreography is the most overlooked part of the show. It just adds so much to it, and the show NEVER feels static. It is a show that has NO WEAKNESSES.
Couldn't understand some of the lyrics of the songs. I put subtitles on and it helped a lot.Just got done watching. For me it was very hard to follow along with the story. Luckily I'm a history buff so could infer kind of where they were at in the story. Otherwise trying to hear what they were saying while they were singing was impossible and most times I felt lost. My wife loves it, I watched for her, but glad I didn't go to Broadway to see it.
O and you have a depraved mind.
Used to be on the corner of the transfer station building, one with the mural on it, (demolished in late 80's/early 90's) on corner west side of Albany St. and what is now Johnson Dr. (I believe J. Dr. used to be called Water St.)
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For you history people. He founded Paterson NJ in 1791.
Watched Hamilton yesterday with the wife.
We were both absolutely blown away. It's awesome.
Lin Manual Miranda is clearly a genius. Amazing choreography. Amazing singing/rapping. Great acting. And "King George" had me laughing my *** off.
(P.S. Admittedly, it probably helps knowing a little about Hamilton's life in order to understand what's going on. Glance over his wiki page first, if nothing else. Also, it's probably best watched with good sound ... like a sound bar or something.)
We were both absolutely blown away. It's awesome.
Lin Manual Miranda is clearly a genius. Amazing choreography. Amazing singing/rapping. Great acting. And "King George" had me laughing my *** off.
(P.S. Admittedly, it probably helps knowing a little about Hamilton's life in order to understand what's going on. Glance over his wiki page first, if nothing else. Also, it's probably best watched with good sound ... like a sound bar or something.)
I enjoy musicals (was even in HS choir) and really wanted to like this.
Got bored 15 minutes in.
Tried to re-join the fam at random other points, but could not get around the noticeably weak bars the singers were rapping.
The lyrics could have been written by me. Not enough artistry, IMO.
This could have been amazing had they collaborated with a known lyricist (Eminem, Nas, Jay-Z) on the scores.
It’s like going to a football game and your team’s playbook consists of run-run-pass-punt. It’s football but it’s difficult to digest.
I will try to finish again later so I can at least say I gave it a fair shake.
Got bored 15 minutes in.
Tried to re-join the fam at random other points, but could not get around the noticeably weak bars the singers were rapping.
The lyrics could have been written by me. Not enough artistry, IMO.
This could have been amazing had they collaborated with a known lyricist (Eminem, Nas, Jay-Z) on the scores.
It’s like going to a football game and your team’s playbook consists of run-run-pass-punt. It’s football but it’s difficult to digest.
I will try to finish again later so I can at least say I gave it a fair shake.
You must be thinking of different plaque. Historical marker was there in Queens Campus in 60’s when I was in school.
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By class of 1899 (hmmm.. King's College is Columbia... since Columbus is on the outs.. will it change its name?) The transfer station building that had the huge trompe l'oeil on the side? As hoquat says.. the Hamilton plaque was near Kirkpatrick Chapel while that building was still up.
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There is an excellent "fan" book out on Hamilton that has all of the backstories to all of the songs and lyrics. In it, LMM talks about all of the musical influences that entered into his thinking when writing and re-writing the lyrics -- most of them being old-school rappers from the 80s/90s. His line, "only 19 but my mind is older" is a perfect example of that, taken from an old Mobb Deep song. There are a ton of similar examples. This is the guy that wrote "In the Heights," as well.
I respect your opinion, however I totally disagree with your assessment. The lyric-writing is breathtaking. There are many liberties taken in the storyline, however it's not meant to paint a 100% accurate picture of things, but rather present history in a way that you haven't experienced, before. I will also say that you can try to break this show down across so many levels, but at its most base level, it's art, and everything from the in your face numbers (Satisfied, Wait for It, Burn) to the huge ensemble pieces (Battle of Yorktown, Nonstop), to the tearjerkers (Dear Theodosia, It's Quiet Uptown), to the goofy bits with King George, to the freaking "RAP BATTLES!!" to the subtle choreography that was mentioned in an earlier post, and that is a constant throughout the entire show, to the music (which, if you find some video of the orchestra from underneath the stage, is awesome), to the fact that it's all done with people of color, is groundbreaking. I guess I was lucky to have listened to the soundtrack a number of times before seeing it, so I had a chance to work through everything ahead of time.
Sorry . . . I sound like a maniac on this. I've seen a lot of shows -- I'm all for Oklahoma, Hello Dolly, and the others -- it's all great -- Hamilton is truly unique.
+1 on the PS. I read the Chernow book the play was based on and know a lot about Hamilton. This definitely added to my enjoyment and connection with the show. Never thought Hamilton (and Adams) got their due as influential founding fathers. David McCullough's book and the HBO miniseries helped with Adams. This play certainly helped with Hamilton.
It's cool.
Like I mentioned in my post, I don't think I gave this a fair shake.
Wifey had been listening to the soundtrack for months (in anticipation of me eventually setting up date night in the city) said I'd love it so I think my expectations might have been unreasonable.
Watched it last night and it's just good entertainment. I wasn't so engrossed that I didn't pick up my phone a few times, but obviously watching it on TV isn't the same. Saying "it sucked" is ridiculous imho.
Seems to me musicals should have the same rules as jokes... if it has to be explained, it does not work.
Hmm... I tend to agree with a lot of your posts.
But when it comes to music lyrics (and rap in particular), there tends to be a ton of subtlety that requires unwrapping.
Heck, remember that Bruce Springsteen thread a while back where many a childhood were destroyed when we all parsed through the meaning of some of his songs? LOL!!!
This is so true. I had to pause a few times on the movie version. There is just so much energy from the whole cast/crew.
I used to hate them. Then after uni I got more into film. I realized the Hollywood musical was a uniquely American thing, with a fair amount of artistry involved. That's why you don't see good musicals anymore imo. I'm waiting to see how Spielberg's "West Side Story'"remake comes out. The NJ girl who plays Maria is pretty good (saw her in HS musicals).
Right, mentioned his battery and engaging the British across the river. Was about two or three feet square. I lived on River Rd. right of RT-27. Walked by the xfer station and plaque on my way to class. Dont know where it ended up after xfer station was torn down.
That plaque has been on the Old Queen's campus since at least 1982 my freshman year. As you can see from my name I'm somewhat interested in AH. In fact, I named my dog Hamilton in 1989 long before the current craze.lol
May not be the same but further into downtown, there is a marker about the third(?) ever public reading of the Declaration of Independence (after Phila & Trenton?) that was mounted on the exterior of one of the older NB churches.
no, it is in front of the Heldrich Hotel where George St. and Livingston St. split. It is a really good statue.
Well.. deeper meaning and subtext is a different story.. but a musical show... its a show.. it's not a concert. Some shows are really more like concerts.. and those shows are put into their own category.
If you try to tell a story.. the words (and the dance and staging and dialog and everything else too) should tell A story without explanation. There is room for deeper meanings and context.. but you have someone here saying he couldn't follow the story.
As for Springsteen.. became a fan when "Born to Run" was exploding. Being a shore guy I heard a lot of his stuff before that. But one early winter night a bunch of us guys drove to a car show in Asbury Park and the words of the song came to life. "Amusement park rising bold and stark", "rearview mirror" etc. There was a kind of circuit that the cars drove around. His story from that song was right there to plainly see.
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Rutgers MG alumna was the dance captain an assistant choreographer. https://www.masongross.rutgers.edu/...associate-choreographer-broadway-hit-hamilton
Interesting that you say this. I felt LMM was the weakest singer on the stage. But I'm not qualified to make those judgments, so I thought maybe I was crazy.
I read a review that LMM is a strong rapper, but not a Broadway lead singer. The play is known for the rapping, but seriously, there is a ton of singing in it.
The difference between LMM and Leslie Odom is clear (even to an amateur Broadway fan like me). And FYI, the King is freaking awesome.
I knew there would be work involved trying to follow along, so I popped up the wiki page for the play and there is a very helpful synopsis including the songs. Made it easy to follow. I guess if I saw it live, I'd focus more on the singing and stagecraft.