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re: Did I miss something at HAMILTON?

Posted by:	RonAnnArbor 09:02 pm EST 11/02/15
In reply to:	Did I miss something at HAMILTON? - Kerick 04:24 am EST 11/01/15

So glad you spoke up- as there are plenty of us who didn't get this show's raves either... I hated the hiphop, though I liked some of the "songs", in particular Jonathan Groff's "You'll be Back" which I found to be the single song in the show I could listen to over again. Quite frankly, while I downloaded the cast album from iTunes for my complete collection of all musicals, I am never going to listen to it again, and I certainly wouldn't see the show again... BUT I would certainly recommend it to friends as a good evening of theatre -- good energy, creative staging, and an interesting story most of us have never heard about. Duels -- really?...and something new and original. I sat halfway back in the orchestra and have to say that I didn't get 75% of the rap dialogue either -- especially in Act I, though Act II did seem to both slow down dialogue wise, as well as tell its story more linearly and clearly. I felt bad for the Israeli vacationing family sitting next to me who bought tickets at a very high resale cost because they "heard it was the best thing in years"...They left at intermission because they didn't understand it. I totally agree that I didn't get the rave reviews -- Ironically, I shared my views with a friend who loves the show, and she spent an hour trying to "teach me" about how I should love hiphop and rap...um, no way.

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re: Did I miss something at HAMILTON?

Posted by:	ryhog 12:54 am EST 11/03/15
In reply to:	re: Did I miss something at HAMILTON? - RonAnnArbor 09:02 pm EST 11/02/15

I can understand your reasoning. I hope you can understand that someone who loves rap (and that's a huge demographic, much larger than those who love musical theatre, no doubt) might have the same reaction in reverse when they are asked to sit through, say, Light in the Piazza. I think there has been the sense for a long time that musical theatre was hijacked by a small group of people with a particular affection for its traditional style of music, just is there has been a sense that American history was hijacked by the DAR set. I think a lot of people like the idea of musical theatre but couldn't abide its core. Hamilton, I think, attacks both of those things with gusto. There is another thread right now about people who hate musicals and make exceptions. I think what they hate (like what you hate in this instance, is the vehicle that has been driving it. Thanks for your POV.

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