observations on certain scenes in hamilton (SPOILERS)
in the schuyler sisters, fandom assumes that peggy says “and peggy” in exasperation because she’s being ignored. in actuality, she says it–while eliza and angelica pull her in front of them so she can introduce herself–because her older sisters dragged her downtown against her will where she encounters people yelling and shoving pamphlets in her face. that’s why her next lines are, “daddy said to be home by sundown, daddy said not to go downtown”; she’s protesting because she doesn’t want to be there and she’s afraid they’ll get themselves into trouble. after angelica has that exchange with burr and then drops some sick rhymes about equality, peggy’s totally swept up in the fervour of the revolution. by the end of the song when she says “and peggy,” she’s all gung ho because her sisters have convinced her that she’s so lucky to be alive to witness the world changing forever right in front of their eyes.
in a winter’s ball, the “hey hey hey”s are directed toward the audience/the ladies in the audience… or at least in my showing they were. alexander also meets and flirts with angelica first before eliza calls dibs.
in satisfied, you can see angelica’s heart shattering into pieces toward the end of the song (THERE ARE TEARS FALLING DOWN HER CHEEKS GUYS AND I’M INTERNALLY SOBBING).
in the story of tonight (reprise) the hip thrusts are more pronounced and basically, the squad is teasing alexander about the upcoming “consummation after the fall to albany.”
there’s more (unexpected) touching and closeness between laurens and hamilton than in stay alive/ten duel commandments when alexander tells laurens not to throw away his shot. i can’t remember every exact instance because i was too busy…you guessed it, sobbing. (friendly reminder that in real life, laurens actually had a bad temper and was more rash than alexander, who actually tried to talk him out of dueling).
at the beginning of that would be enough, alexander’s crying about not being able to provide for his family (especially because he realises that washington intends to keep him at his side instead of giving him a prestigious position that would place him on the battlefield).
the transition aka news of laurens’ death, between dear theodosia and non-stop is even more heartbreaking than i ever imagined. i was like “why would lin manual even right here why.”
in non-stop, i thought that angelica’s goodbye was in a letter, but it’s happening as they’re taking a stroll together. she tells alexander that she’s leaving and you can see his face fall when she says that she’s found a wealthy husband etc.
if you get way into cabinet battle #1 and say “ouuu” when hamilton takes jefferson to task over slavery, daveed diggs will probably look at you, nod and say “it’s true.”
in take a break, anthony ramos plays 9-year-old philip. it’s funny, but he manages to convey philip’s age through changing his voice and demeanor by slumping his shoulders, fidgeting and looking down shyly as kids are known to do.
i pictured alexander’s “hi” to angelica in take a break being said while he stands back shyly. however, on stage, they’re actually hugging, their faces are touching, and he says it as he’s pulling away from her. they have a moment (and i have a moment while internally sobbing). then alexander manouvers over to eliza (who is watching her two favourite people in the world share a moment), and she pulls him close and says “angelica tell this man that john adams spends the summer with his family” etc. the emotional threesome tension sends me to another plane.
say no to this is really sexy on stage and i’m going to hell.
eliza screams in anguish at the end of stay alive (reprise) and also lets out a sob while facing the audience at the end of who lives, who dies, who tells your story.
for me, for this play, the front row isn’t the best seat in the house. i’m short and the seats are below the stage so i had to strain to see the moving platform, staging, and choreography (not that i’m complaining because hello).
