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| re: But it's ultimately the right series of setups & payoffs for the protagonist | |
| Last Edit: mikem 07:13 pm EDT 07/05/20 | |
| Posted by: mikem 07:05 pm EDT 07/05/20 | |
| In reply to: re: But it's ultimately the right series of setups & payoffs for the protagonist - Delvino 04:35 pm EDT 07/05/20 | |
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| GMB, I've never pondered Angelica's arc before, and I find your argument very compelling. I would add that it's probably not coincidental that "Helpless" is a teenpop, fluffy kind of song, while "Satisfied" is much more complex. And we hear about Hamilton's correspondence with "my dearest Angelica" in detail, while we don't hear much from Eliza at all except that she wishes Hamilton was more present for her. For much of the first half of the show, LMM seems to be setting up the idea that, as you say, maybe Hamilton married the wrong sister, and maybe Hamilton subconsciously thinks so, too. He certainly doesn't seem to appreciate her. So when Angelica arrives after the Reynolds Pamphlet comes out, it's not strange that Hamilton thinks she's come to comfort him. And I think Angelica's "I'm here for my sister, you dumbass!" response, and Hamilton and Eliza's shared grief after Philip's death, make Hamilton realize what a treasure he has in Eliza. And LMM allows Eliza to come into her own, and it makes sense that she is the one who gets the show's final moments. |
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| re: But it's ultimately the right series of setups & payoffs for the protagonist | |
| Last Edit: GrumpyMorningBoy 08:27 pm EDT 07/05/20 | |
| Posted by: GrumpyMorningBoy 08:25 pm EDT 07/05/20 | |
| In reply to: re: But it's ultimately the right series of setups & payoffs for the protagonist - mikem 07:05 pm EDT 07/05/20 | |
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| I've enjoyed this thread a lot too, and it's given me a lot to chew on. Thanks for starting it, Delvino! Singapore, you do make great points that I'll have in mind as I rewatch it. I've always questioned if my own 'loyalty' to Angelica over Eliza was formed more by the performances of the original cast, but I felt the same way with the other casts that I saw. As others have pointed out, I do think that Eliza grows in prominence and, and I really like the center stage treatment she gets in the finale. Her final solo feels like much more than a mere denouement or an epilogue -- it feels like the natural conclusion of the themes that LMM has set up from early on. To explain -- I often feel like "... and this is why we tell the story" full company finales have become an overdone cliche (which is why the end of CAROLINE, OR CHANGE thrilled me so). But HAMILTON earns its final message, if only because it confronts head on the persistent questions about whose stories are told, how they're told, and why. In this sense, I think the idea that Eliza put herself "back in the narrative" is very satisfying. I would argue that her seeming vacancy from the events and focus of Act 1 makes that re-insertion that much more meaningful. - GMB |
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| re: But it's ultimately the right series of setups & payoffs for the protagonist | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 11:22 pm EDT 07/06/20 | |
| In reply to: re: But it's ultimately the right series of setups & payoffs for the protagonist - GrumpyMorningBoy 08:25 pm EDT 07/05/20 | |
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| This thread has been a blast! What a joy to talk about real, living theater again, even if it's a five-year old production that some of us are just now getting to see (I've mentioned on here before that I finally was going to see the show on Broadway a few weeks after quarantine hit, which I still find a bit painful). And "Hamilton" is truly one of the great commercial works of art we're ever going to see on Broadway. I did want to say that I've never missed "Congratulations", and if it hadn't been written for the show, I wouldn't be complaining that the show has a big hole in it. But, since it was written, and since it's so great and it only adds like 4 minutes to the show, I'd still rather they left it in. |
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