I showed this to a bunch of people tonight who never saw it or heard the cast recording. Sadly, most of them hated it or thought it was merely "pretty good" but far below the level of hype associated with the production.
Heard all manner of complaints. LMM sucking compared to the others, uneven quality of songs, many of them aren't great, not emotional at all. 3 people said they just couldn't follow the lyrics so they didn't know what was going on.
Pretty let down by all this. After everyone loved Chunking, can't win 'em all I guess.
I am so familiar with the lyrics going into this version I had no issues making them out, so I might not be the best judge for how easy to follow they are. I also have a pretty great 5.1 sound setup here and I know most don't.
I got to be honest, I was super excited for this. Had been looking forward to it for a while. Well, finally found some time to sit down and check it out and....I don't know if maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it or what, but I couldn't make it through 30 mins before I had to turn it off.
I'll give it another shot, but expectations have dropped big time.
I have yet to see this but I came across this piece about the actual Hamilton as compared to the one from the musical and now I'm wondering whether or not I should even bother: https://thebaffler.com/salvos/hamilton-hustle-stoller
I have yet to see this but I came across this piece about the actual Hamilton as compared to the one from the musical and now I'm wondering whether or not I should even bother: https://thebaffler.com/salvos/hamilton-hustle-stoller
art can be many things. one thing art is not? a pure history lesson. hamilton is not schoolhouse rock.
It's historical fiction that wrangles with the way we have mythologized our history and founding fathers through a white lens.
I have yet to see this but I came across this piece about the actual Hamilton as compared to the one from the musical and now I'm wondering whether or not I should even bother: https://thebaffler.com/salvos/hamilton-hustle-stoller
art can be many things. one thing art is not? a pure history lesson. hamilton is not schoolhouse rock.
It's historical fiction that wrangles with the way we have mythologized our history and founding fathers through a white lens.
-Vader
Art can absolutely be a history lesson and there are plenty of examples throughout history. I’m not gonna comment on my opinion on making a ‘rap opera’ out of a historical figure but the converse is absolutely doable, even commercially.