“Rewind, rewind, rewind,” interrupts the set. The lights warp, the tables turn, the dancers seem to back away. Didn’t we just see these moves in the previous song “Helpless” about how Eliza Schuyler fell in love with Alexander Hamilton?
Yes, you did it. And now you’re looking at it again, this time, from the perspective of her older sister, Angelica Schuyler.
“Satisfied” is an extraordinary moment of “Hamilton”, cinematic in its conceit and execution. With a series of short but powerful scenes, the flashback reveals that Angelica also fell in love with Hamilton.
But cameras that focused on his palpable chemistry have also captured Eliza’s infatuated face. And after an internal confusion about family duty and social expectations, Angelica decides to break her own heart and introduce Hamilton (Lin-Manuel Miranda) to her sister (Phillipa Soo).
The 5 1/2 minute song is visual, lyrical, and technically complex, with Renée Elise Goldsberry at its literal center. The actress, who won the Tony Award for this performance, was among the original casts off Broadway and Broadway, who can now see her preserved work on screen in a film version that is now airing on Disney +.
“There was always so much pressure and anxiety about it until it ended,” Goldsberry recalls of his showtime. “Nothing more powerful than live theater, but the beauty of being in a movie is that you can take the time to really see how many levels of storytelling are taking place.”
Before the release of the movie “Hamilton”, Goldsberry became granular about nailing the number, unpacking its layers, and seeing herself perform it for the first time.
“Satisfied” is complex in the techniques it requires from its interpreter. How did you do to learn it?
It was part of the audition, which I wasn’t even going, actually. The line they put in for people to enter was the Nicki Minaj type, and I didn’t think someone would hire me to be so fabulous. I was about to basically say no and not go, but the night before the audition, I listened to the demo of the song and thought, “Oh my gosh, I have to know what it says so fast. I have to go home and have this song on my lips. “
So the way I learn lines is an understanding of the thought process; that’s why I’m good at playing a lawyer who makes rational arguments and bad at playing a doctor who says all this medical jargon I don’t understand. I did what I used to do when I was a kid, where I kept rewinding again and again to learn a lick. And then, by the grace of God, I suddenly understood.
I went to that audition and I did it once. After a couple of questions, [director] Tommy [Kail] He slipped me a glass of water before doing it again. Then they gave me that amazing song beast, and I had the incredible but daunting responsibility to be worth it. I still struggle with it. Lin told me on the phone the other day that they protected that song more than anything else. Even looking at it in a movie, I still say, “Am I worthy of this great and wonderful moment?”
What is the most difficult component to interpret this song?
There are things that are technically challenging about that number: in addition to the words, there is the movement and the fact that we are doing the previous number in reverse all the time. It was a lot of juggling stuff, but that was never difficult, it was all intellectual. Even rap was relatively easy. The most challenging part to sing is that final toast.
That is surprising. Why?
This is an extremely well written song. Each word is designed to analytically take this woman into a life-altering emotional decision for these three lives. That decision was something so monumentally painful and beautiful that, when I got to the point where I made that decision, I was so devastated that it was difficult to sing that toast. She is in conflict because, clearly, she wants to stay with this guy, she recognizes his brilliance, but understands that Eliza is the one. So I imagine this woman having to toast this community, despite the pain she felt.
It always worried me that one way or another, I wouldn’t be able to live up to the brilliance at the end of that song because emotionally, I was just trying to make it. Maybe it took me to Broadway to feel good about it.
Renée Elise Goldsberry, center, portrays Angélica Schuyler alongside Phillipa Soo, left, and Jasmine Cephas Jones.
(Joan Marcus)
How did you finally do that?
I came to understand the love triangle, whose focus is not Alexander Hamilton, it is Eliza. The song values brotherhood over romantic love. That beauty would influence me at the end of the song to make that decision every night, not because this character was so great and wonderful that I could choose him, but because I knew that was what Eliza would do, which is kindness and strength. this situation.
I once heard someone say that the first act is the act that young people understand, because it is the courage of the revolution and, you know, all the infatuation! And the second act is the act that older people understand, with all the loss and battles that are not in the field but in the mind and in these political games.
I totally agree with that, except for this “Satisfied” moment. It is in the first act, but it is this woman who, within a song, has to fall madly in love and give up another more important love. She makes this wise and mature choice without the benefit of a lifetime. I hope that people who watch this movie will recognize that generosity by letting go, and how much there is to gain by loving in the most difficult way.
What occurred to you while watching “Satisfied” in the movie?
Looking at it from the audience’s point of view for the first time, I realized that there was another level of storytelling besides me. I mean, Howell Binkley’s lighting design!
And Andy Blankenbuehler’s brilliant choreography, which I could always see only in my peripheral vision. It’s a huge number with the entire company on stage just killing him and basically going back in time with their bodies, and I’m standing in the middle, talking like a deer in the headlight light to the public about an explosion of stuff that I have to deal with immediately. I am so grateful that you made my job so much easier.
Renée Elise Goldsberry won a Tony Award for her performance in “Hamilton”.
(Theo Wargo / Getty Images)
Was there any movement that was difficult to master?
Chris Jackson [who plays George Washington] and I have a little [dance move] what we do, but I’m not looking at him. It happens first during “Helpless”, and then when we do it again, I’m rapping and looking at the audience. So I had to trust that I wasn’t going to step on my dress!
The whole company is trying to take care of me because of that really fast rap. Someone has to convert me, someone has to take the glass away from me, all this has to happen, but at the same time, it’s like, “Leave Renée alone because she has to do rap!” It was always fun when something went wrong at the time because people felt so bad.
This song is long and lyrically dense. Any advice for those who are at home trying to conquer it?
The trick to any quick rap is to mark when to breathe, and then as you do so, reminding yourself: “I have to stop and breathe here, and then I’m fine.” This is the time I have left before I breathe again, so if I don’t stop here and breathe, I won’t make it. ”
Because sometimes you don’t breathe just because of what happened before; sometimes you need to breathe to continue while you continue, sometimes you breathe for how far you have to go, how far there is still. I think that is also the most important lesson in life: recognize when you should stop and breathe.
