Hamilton review at Disney Plus: a touching hybrid of game and movie

Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Broadway musical hit you’ve been obsessed with for years, but couldn’t get tickets for, starts broadcast on Disney Plus on July 3.

Watching the story of founding father Alexander Hamilton from home doesn’t make you want to see the play live with an audience. You can’t fully replicate the spell of a live performance or the thrill of reacting in real time with other viewers in a crowded house.

But you can still really enjoy it. This filmed version of Hamilton was captured at the Richard Rodgers Theater on Broadway in June 2016 with the original cast. Stage director Thomas Kail does the double job as the film’s director.

Kail makes sure to comply Miranda’s promise to get you the “best seat in the house”. The play has been filmed from different angles in the audience. But it also uses frequent close-ups, offers panoramic views of the entire stage, and occasionally frames the scene from the backstage. The first time King George (Jonathan Groff) appears on stage, the camera follows him from behind, presenting a behind-the-scenes view that a normal audience member would never see. You can even see the tears on the face of Phillipa Soo (Eliza Hamilton) after a devastating event.

This filmed version of Hamilton democratizes the viewer’s experience, but it’s also hard to forget that what was captured here was a play and not a movie. Lighting, costumes, hairstyles, and makeup are designed for a theater. The close-ups allow the viewer to see the microphone hidden in Miranda’s hair, but also her sweat. A regular viewer would not have seen Groff spit from such a short distance while singing “You’ll Come Back.” And a blue glow illuminates the faces of the actors due to the spotlights that illuminate the play. All the welcome artifice of the theater cannot find its medium on a television screen.

What I’m trying to say is that this is not the equivalent of Tom Hooper’s Les Misérables. Fortunately it’s not his Cats either.

But once you’ve gotten used to the idea of ​​this hybrid between a play and a TV movie, you can start savoring Hamilton. And savor I did.

In January, I saw a live version of the show in San Francisco with an entirely different cast. I loved. This second vision of Hamilton allowed me to relive the experience and appreciate it more. It allowed me to enjoy the catchiness and sharpness of the songs on the show more than the first time I saw it.

Due to the coronavirus pandemicRecorded theatrical performances are the only way to enjoy this art form at this time. I still prefer the thrill of seeing a play live, but I can definitely settle for Hamilton on Disney Plus in the meantime.

Hamilton is the origin story of the United States told with a diverse cast of black, Asian, and brown artists. There are thanks for the role immigrants played in founding this country. “Immigrants, we get the job done,” the famous Marquis de Lafayette (Daveed Diggs) tells Hamilton in a hilarious scene that this American immigrant inexplicably lost the first time I saw Hamilton. There are references to the division between North and South and the need to end slavery. There are political schemes, family drama, and romantic plots. Best of all, the program honors writing as a way of life. You know, all the writing like it’s running out of time than Hamilton.

This show, which lasts two hours and 40 minutes with an interval of one minute, is one of those musical experiences that benefits from the second and third vision. At times, I preferred aspects of the Disney Plus Hamilton experience, as it’s much cheaper than theater tickets to start with. But I also enjoyed being able to ask my husband history questions while watching (he has watched the HBO miniseries John Adams at least twice). I captured parts of the plot that had escaped me the first time. I was reunited with the history of the American presidents George Washington, Adams and Thomas Jefferson. I have to reevaluate the value of good advice like “Talk less, smile more.” And I listened again to the charming soundtrack the way it should be heard: with accompanying images, choreography and performers.

When it was over, the infectious hip-hop and rap songs infused by Hamilton got caught up in my mind again and I’ll probably be humming them for days. The first time I saw the show I was caught in a continuous cycle of “The Room Where It Happens”. Now I’m going through a phase of “My Shot”.

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News to broadcast in July 2020

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