[manuelflara]

Hamilton. I'm not big into theater nor musicals, and I had heard so much about it by the time I watched it on Disney+, I wasn't expecting it to blow me away but it totally did. I'm a huge fan now, watched it several times, listened to the album hundreds of times, read the book, and recommend it every time I can :)

[GeneralMayhem]

I thought the same when I saw it in SF, with just one nagging annoyance - the mentions of racial justice felt a bit... token. Abolitionism is mentioned in passing a few times (e.g. Laurens "redefining bravery"), but never really got the spotlight.

I later discovered that there was a third cabinet battle, which was cut from the final script. You can hear a demo of it on the Hamilton Mixtape album. It features the main cast discussing a letter from Ben Franklin asking for slavery to be abolished. On the one hand, I can see why it was cut - 3 might be too many cabinet meetings - but it adds so much to the thematic tragedy to have Hamilton quietly give up his morals for practicality. He starts act 2 with his youth, his career, his family, and his idealism; by the end, he loses the first three, and the foreshadowing was there for him to lose the fourth, but it doesn't have the payoff.

[SamBam]

I feel like part of the issue was that the question of slavery just wasn't that important to Hamilton, was it? So tacking it in may have been too fake.

[fsloth]

I think it's so good because it's a distillation of a true life that affects the modern world still in complex ways, made by an artist who understands it's subject matter deeply and intimately.

It both treats it's subject matter incredibly intelligently, yet never tries to show off with braininess and focuses on memorable stage characters and top notch songs.

It's so good on so many layers.

[dnautics]

This is exactly the opposite of how I feel about hamilton. And lin-manuel miranda in general. As much as hip-hop is fundamentally a "telling" art form, I feel like Miranda's text is far far on the "show don't tell" spectrum in terms of it's emotional content, say, compared to 90s west coast hip hop. (See also moana, the lyrics in that are very tell-not-show). For a more intelligent fictionalisation of that era, I recommend Burr, by Gore Vidal.

[flanbiscuit]

I am a big fan of musicals and theater, been to a lot of shows living in NYC. I finally saw Hamilton on Disney+ because I could never get tickets for the show or didn't want to drop hundreds of dollars on it. I was worried before watching it that it was going to be over-hyped and I was going to be underwhelmed. I was wrong. It totally lived up to the hype and now i wish I had seen it live. Post-pandemic I might still go see it.

The show that WAS over-hyped and did NOT live up to it for me was Lion King. I saw it back in 2002-ish and was very disappointed. Sure the costumes were cool but the rest of the production was minimal and boring.

[dehrmann]

I've seen it in NYC and SF. One thing you won't get from Disney+, and I didn't get it in SF, was "the greatest city in the world" line from "The Schuyler Sisters" felt more magical, but maybe it was just fan service to the audience.

[fernandotakai]

i was never into musicals. but the wife and i were visiting new york and she's a huge hamilton fan -- so i said fuck it and paid more than i should on two good tickets to see it.

it was more than worth it -- it was absolutely beautiful (although tiresome -- it's three hours of music with just a small intermission).

i watched the disney+ version and it's great. but it's not the same due to the angles they chose -- it feels more like a movie, than a broadway play.

[luigibosco]

If you want to save some of the 3 hrs use the weird al version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNEdEDbhTQw

[meowzero]

I haven't seen Hamilton yet, but most "hyped" up musicals have lived up to the hype for me. Eg. The Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, Rent, etc.

[dehrmann]

Maybe Idina Menzel lives up to the hype.

Something about Rent aged poorly, especially if you saw it around 2009 during the recession. It was just hard to relate to characters who had no interest in work struggling to pay rent in a gentrifying slum while in the present day, people were struggling to pay rent and find a job.

I don't like the pacing of Wicked, but the staging and performance of Defying Gravity is amazing. I can't remember exactly what it was, but there was morality lesson that felt shoehorned in. Maybe Doctor Dillamond was an allegory on racism? I enjoy Wicked, but I felt like it need more work.

Phantom of the Opera is ok, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see it. I'm also not really an Andrew Lloyd Webber fan.

[kepler1]

Unfortunately, after listening to the soundtrack a bit, I find that I can only stand so much rap before my ears get tired.

[not2b]

Watch the Disney+ version with subtitles on, if you can. That deals effectively with the ear-tiredness problem.

[medlyyy]

With you on that. I think I only made it about 20 minutes in. Maybe it's better live.

[_theory_]

I can appreciate the amount of talent that went into making Hamilton, but I found the pace too manic to fully enjoy it. The thing never lets up.

[josalhor]

Oh man, I gifted the CDs this Christmas. I listened to the entire album dozens of times before watching it... It still blows my mind