Hey guys, it’s your resident amateur theatre nerd here. I watched Hamilton for the first time a few days ago after listening to the soundtrack once last summer, and I’m still reeling with the hype from it (akjkldjkjkskfjkghal).
I don’t actually know how to write formal reviews for anything, so I’m going to take something I tweeted after I finished my one-woman viewing party as my outline. Lol, whatever.
Stage environment? Gorgeous. The set design was simple, but it worked flawlessly to complement the more complex aspects of the show (which I will discuss later). The lighting helped create the atmosphere and accentuate certain characters or elements, and with that, you didn’t exactly feel like you were missing a complex backdrop. Plus, the spinning center part of the stage was very cool (and good for creating illusions of movement).
The camera work (referring largely to zooming in on important soloists or key smaller ensembles) gave a different experience than seeing it live would have (not that I’d know, rip). At times, I wondered what I was missing in the background, but if I remember correctly, a lot of these shots were when there weren’t many people on stage. So…they really just allowed you to better see the expressions of the principal characters.
Choreographing that many actors together in such a complex way is pretty impressive. Overall, I thought the choreo was really good. There were some awkward parts--as there are in almost any show--but in general, it was pretty cool.
Costumes, characters, and performers’ talent? Yes. The costume designs are beautiful! I kinda love colonial fashion anyway because it’s so frilly and interesting, so I really appreciate these. The use of different colors and textures to create variety and differentiate the characters (and just jazz up the stage picture) makes it fun. And the line delivery which creates so much of the show’s humor? Absolutely on point. These actors are so good at establishing their characters’ emotions and showing them with their beautiful singing voices…I’m envious. Several of them (Leslie Odom, Jr., Anthony Ramos, and Jasmine Cephas Jones, to my knowledge) have released other music, so I do need to listen to those at some point. Back to the point! There are too many talented people involved to list off. :( One that I would like to point out, though, is ensemble member Ariana DeBose. Her role goes deeper than simply ensemble--she also serves as an omen of death,, referred to as “the Bullet”. This is really cool because it’s so subtle, but if you pay attention, you can see the path she leaves. I can’t remember all the instances of this, but there are two that I can think of right now: Phillip flirts with her (literally “flirting with death”, hehe) right before his duel (in which he dies, spoiler alert). Later, in Alexander’s duel, which totally parallels his son’s (but I’m not gonna go into that), she earns her title of “Bullet” while Alexander reflects and soliloquizes, edging closer to him while literally holding Burr’s bullet.
My number one complaint: Jonathan Groff’s spit waterfall. Gross. Dunno what happened there. I mean, couldn’t they reshoot that one song? Did that really slip past a whole editing crew?
I’m sorry if this only contains a fragment of my mind (I’m listening to the soundtrack right now, lol oops), but I don’t know what y’all expected. I’m beyond satisfied, but I’m also left helpless by my love for this show and my inability to watch it again currently. This was kind of a revolutionary experience (in some weird way), and it’s a good thing I was all alone in the room where it happened, since it did actually make me cry. Now, what comes next (besides making more Hamilton puns like I just crammed into this paragraph)?
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