Hamilton on Disneyplus

[nelsonmuntz]

Of course it is excellent. I have not seen it live. It is worth having IMDB up on your phone when you watch it because it is hard to follow without a playbill since some of the actors play different main characters over the course of the play, which can be confusing.


The pros:

The music is very good for the most part. Good pacing, interesting story. Very good foreshadowing and build up to the end, which is important since everyone that is going to watch this already knows how it ends. This show has to be more than just a story. It has to be about the characters.

The First Act is a lot stronger than the Second.

The casting for Angelica and Eliza Schuyler was perfect. Eliza is smart and pretty enough, but not too alpha, and vulnerable. Angelica is beautiful and much more alpha.

Jonathan Groff is freaking awesome as King George. He does more acting with an arched eyebrow than 90% of actors can do in a whole movie. I almost feel like the Second Act could have used one more King George song, or at least a refrain. This actor has been around a long time.

I did not like Daveed Diggs as Lafayette. I thought the French accent was Inspector Cluseau silly, and distracting. I thought he was incredible as Thomas Jefferson in the Second Act though, practically carrying the show at times through some slow stretches.


The cons:

It was really good, and I will actually see it on Broadway if there ever is a Broadway again. My only complaint, and I am probably the only person that will ever say this, is that Lin-Manuel Miranda was wrong as Hamilton. I don't think he is charismatic enough and he is not a great lead actor. He should be a supporting character. He wasn't terrible, and the show was still great, but...he wasn't quite right for the role.

 

[SubbaBub]

If he didn't write it and produce it, he wouldn't have been in it. That said, he created the character.

I saw Javier Munoz on Broadway in the second season. He took over the role after serving as Lin's understudy. Much better singer and performer but everyone wanted to see Lin.

Also saw the touring show in Hartford. A noticeable step down but still a good show.

 

[Hoophound]

I saw it in Boston 2 years ago. I preferred some members of that cast to the original. While people love Groff as the king, the guy playing him in Boston was much funnier in every way, even just to look at. He played it much more effeminately and flamboyantly.

Burr is great in the original cast as are Jefferson and Lafayette. I think the over the top accent is just part of the character, because all of the Lafayette portrayals have sounded pretty much like that.

 

[Waquoit]

It's brilliant. Lives up to the hype.

 

[ZooCougar]

Some of the songs were good but it was underwhelming based on the hype.

It’s like The Princess Bride of hit musicals.

 

[navery12]

I watched it over the weekend and lived up to all the hype. Groff as King George was on screen for maybe 4 minutes total but stole the show. Burr and Jefferson were both fantastic as well

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I like the actor that plays Burr a lot more watching it a second time. It is tough to figure out that character the first time through. Burr is one of the more complex characters in American history, and portraying him in a musical is extra challenging. They do a great job with a talented man that keeps reaching for greatness and not getting it.

The show is a little more sympathetic of Burr than the real life Burr probably deserves, but it is a show and I like what they did.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

Of course it is excellent. I have not seen it live. It is worth having IMDB up on your phone when you watch it because it is hard to follow without a playbill since some of the actors play different main characters over the course of the play, which can be confusing.


The pros:

The music is very good for the most part. Good pacing, interesting story. Very good foreshadowing and build up to the end, which is important since everyone that is going to watch this already knows how it ends. This show has to be more than just a story. It has to be about the characters.

The First Act is a lot stronger than the Second.

The casting for Angelica and Eliza Schuyler was perfect. Eliza is smart and pretty enough, but not too alpha, and vulnerable. Angelica is beautiful and much more alpha.

Jonathan Groff is freaking awesome as King George. He does more acting with an arched eyebrow than 90% of actors can do in a whole movie. I almost feel like the Second Act could have used one more King George song, or at least a refrain. This actor has been around a long time.

I did not like Daveed Diggs as Lafayette. I thought the French accent was Inspector Cluseau silly, and distracting. I thought he was incredible as Thomas Jefferson in the Second Act though, practically carrying the show at times through some slow stretches.


The cons:

It was really good, and I will actually see it on Broadway if there ever is a Broadway again. My only complaint, and I am probably the only person that will ever say this, is that Lin-Manuel Miranda was wrong as Hamilton. I don't think he is charismatic enough and he is not a great lead actor. He should be a supporting character. He wasn't terrible, and the show was still great, but...he wasn't quite right for the role.

Re: Eliza not being an alpha. Absolutely true, yet the story is actually HER story. Not only is she retelling events, she is history personified. “But when you’re gone who remembers your name, who keeps your flame, who tells your story?”

It’s a clever way to explain that history is nothing more than perspective and ironically, Alexander Hamilton wouldn’t have the legacy he desired without his wife collecting his writing despite him treating her like trash from the beginning.

 

[M.S.G.]

I am fully aware that this will be an unpopular opinion, but this is the worst thing I've seen in my entire life.

My wife said, it can't be THAT obnoxious can it? I said, let's put on 10 minutes... She tapped out after 5. It is beyond me why this is so popular. I just don't get it.

 

[Waquoit]

I am fully aware that this will be an unpopular opinion, but this is the worst thing I've seen in my entire life.

Don't worry. We'll stay off your lawn.

 

[CL82]

I am fully aware that this will be an unpopular opinion, but this is the worst thing I've seen in my entire life.

My wife said, it can't be THAT obnoxious can it? I said, let's put on 10 minutes... She tapped out after 5. It is beyond me why this is so popular. I just don't get it.

My wife tapped out at the same point, after really looking forward to it. It gets better. I stayed with it and enjoyed it.

 

[Palatine]

I'm waiting for Hamilton on ice. Disney should eventuallly get there.

 

[AreBee1969]

I've watched it on Disney+ and I also saw it at the Bushnell in December 2018 with Austin Scott in the lead role. (I believe he's the current Broadway lead.) Scott was undoubtedly better. Alexander Ferguson who played King George was also phenomenal.