natasha, pierre, and the great comet of 1812 - 8/12/17, 2pm
MY LAST TRIP TO GREAT COMET :( :( :( :( :( :( :(
I wish I was going to be in town for the last show :\ It’s the day before I get back from Atlanta, but if I was going to be in town, I would 100% have moved heaven and earth to get there.
We bought these tickets awhile back, after seeing Dave in June. We had already been planning to see Oak but hadn’t settled on a date or a seat type, so we used that performance to gauge where we wanted to sit, and literally minutes after I thought, “Oh, we need to buy those tickets today now that we know where to sit” the day after, they announced Ingrid was going the cast during the time period we were looking at so...yes.
(After our third time seeing the show, I was reaching the point where I was like, “I LOVE the entire cast but I’d LOVE to see some of the understudies live!” but I honestly couldn’t imagine anyone but Brittain playing Sonya, but I love Ingrid Michaelson, so that was a nice way to ease into the idea.)
Anyway, some time later we convinced two of our other friends, @charmingpplincardigans and @chiasticbees, to join us. This was a boon for me because August is CRAZY so we were doing this trip in one day and Naomi doesn’t drive, so that would have been...a lot of driving for me. But yeah, this was all long before the drama and the show posting its closing notice, so the trip went from “Yay, we’re going to see Oak and Ingrid and maybe we’ll go again in September or October to see the OBC one last time before contracts are up” to our last time seeing the show on Broadway.
I have a lot of feelings about that, which I’ll vomit at the end.
I weighed like, five different travel options and we ended up leaving Boston around eight, driving to White Plains, parking at the train station, and taking the MetroNorth into Manhattan. I went to school outside of White Plains and the exit for the train station is not long after 15 in CT ends, so it was also just good timing/placement in the length of our trip. We made okay time despite needing to stop to pee fifty times and had enough time to grab lunch at GCT before the show.
Naomi and I sat on the Banquettes on stage right in the second row, right on the end. We’ve sat on stage with a view from basically every angle, now, which was cool, but I do wish we’d had a chance to see see it from front mezz or the orchestra, too. But, that aside, they were excellent seats which we chose in advance because Pierre stands there to sing part of “Dust and Ashes.” Unfortunately, we had THE WORLD’S WORST SEATMATES, a bunch of middle-aged and older women who were just flat out rude. There were seven of them with three seats in one row and four seats in another row and they weren’t sure which seats they had. The first two of them showed up at, like, fucking 1:55 and gave the usher a hard time, and each time a few more of them trickled in, they gave the usher an even harder time. They kept insisting she was putting them in the wrong seat and no matter how many times she told them “you do not have a ticket for the seat you’re sitting in,” they would not listen and got pissy with her. They were also pissy that they were being rushed, even though by this point the cast had come out to give out pierogis and do the pre-show “don’t put your feet in the aisles, turn off your cellphones” talk. They also talked CONSTANTLY during the show, a running commentary on their thoughts which would have been bad enough in a traditional seating arrangement, but when you’re three feet from the actors whispering “That performance didn’t do anything for me” loud enough for the whole stage to hear is just rude.
ANYWAY, enough vitriol about them. Before the show we did a lot of soaking in of the stage and set with the knowledge that this was our last time :( And then the show started!
Denée: So good, as usual. I’ve seen Denée every time I’ve see the show and even though I really wish I could have seen Shoba’s Natasha, I can’t say I’m disappointed because she’s SO good. She’s so funny and sweet and naive and a beautiful perfect angel. I love the way she performs her narration to the audience, like we’re her confidante. “No One Else” is extra breath-taking when it’s happening a foot away from you, for sure, and “Pierre and Natasha” was just....ugh, I want to start ugly crying just thinking about it. What a star. What a presence. I hope she has a million wonderful things waiting for her in the future.
Grace: God, I’m gonna miss Grace McLean raining hellfire down on the stage. What a voice! What an attitude! Especially compared to her as...her. Like, meeting her at the stage door a bunch of times, she seems so tiny and quiet and it’s hard to reconcile her with Marya, who fills the entire room.
Lucas: Lucas gets more over the top each time I see him and I love it. We saw Blaine as Anatole in June, and I LOVED Blaine’s Anatole, but I’m glad I got to see Lucas one last time. He’s just so MUCH and he does every part of it so well. He and Oak had AMAZING chemistry.
Amber: I stg she turned up the energy on “Charming” times a zillion. She was also hanging out in front of our section a lot and I don’t think I’ve ever noticed Helene and Dolokhov mocking the rest of the opera goers in the background, especially Marya once she starts talking to them. That way she flips back and forth between bitchy & holier-than-thou and honestly invested in her friends and family is amazing. She also is just so broken in the last few numbers, it’s heartbreaking. She collapsed basically on top of our feet. (Also, she and Grace made out like, six feet away from me and I was QUITE PLEASED.)
Nick: We saw Azudi as Dolokhov last time and he was great but, as with Lucas, I’m glad I got to see him one last time :\ Nick is like, our secret favorite because we saw him at a talkback at ART back in the day and were instantly charmed. He’s really excellent and balances being an almost maliciously amused asshole with genuine anger and regret super well. I also just love his voice and wish he had just a little more to do.
Courtney: Gelsey’s on vacation, so we saw Courtney as Princess Mary. This seems like a ridiculously hard role to understudy given all the weird vocal things that Gelsey does as Mary, but Courtney did a great job. Her Mary was a little more innocent than Gelsey’s and a little more frazzled. Gelsey plays her as already having given herself over to the knowledge that this is her sad life now, whereas it felt like Courtney’s Mary was still clinging to hope and those hopes just got dashed over and over again.
Nicholas: His Andrey is SO cold. I’ve only ever seen him as Andrey, but compared to some of Blake DeLong’s choices on the original cast album, his Andrey comes off as icy and angry, which I like a lot, but is just so sad. I was right around Bolkonsky for parts of “The Private and Intimate Lives of the House” and he was such an awful, creepy asshole. (Which is obvs a compliment XD)
Paul: A delight! He and Ingrid were right next to us during “The Duel” and it was great.
Ingrid: I was SO pleasantly surprised! I mean, I knew that Ingrid had a theatre background, but I think I wasn’t expecting to love her Sonya so much, both because Brittain is one of my favorite parts of Great Comet and because I don’t really think of her as an actress, but she was phenomenal! Her Sonya was more frustrated and betrayed and jealous in Act 2 than Brittain’s, and very visibly put out in Act 1, whereas I feel like Brittain’s Sonya just sort of lets herself get pushed around by Marya and is miffed, but goes with it. Also, her Sonya was possibly even gayer than Brittain’s? It’s hard to tell, but WOW. Her voice was beautiful, of course, but god, I’m still stuck on thinking what a fantastic actress she was. That confrontation in “Sonya and Natasha” especially. Amazing. I’m so glad I got to see her.
Oak: I am SO glad I got to see Oak as Pierre, seriously. He was fucking incredible. I mean, hashtag I love all Pierres, so I was predisposed to loving him anyway, but he really blew me away. Being two feet away from him while he did “Dust and Ashes” was like a fucking spiritual experience, for sure. His Pierre was different from all the other Pierres I’ve seen--there were parts that I liked more than some of the other guys and vice-versa. I would say that his Pierre was more...sad and longing. Groban’s Pierre is angry and Scott’s is frustrated and Dave’s is given up and despairing, but Oak’s is on his way to that Malloy-esque despair but hasn’t hit rock bottom yet. It’s such an interesting choice and I LOVED it. It added a sort of poignancy to “Dust and Ashes” in the opposite way of Malloy’s--Malloy’s “Dust and Ashes” has that poignancy because his Pierre has hit rock bottom and is seeing the light for the first time and just awed by it. Oak’s Pierre is saved from hitting rock bottom by that moment in “Dust and Ashes.” A different interpretation, but just as meaningful. He was also SO funny in “The Duel” and “The Opera.” His little thumbs-up to the audience on “No, I am enjoying myself at home this evening” was hilarious and his parts in “The Duel” were so mellow and goofy--way goofier than any other Pierre I’ve seen. I totally dug it. I will say that his “Whaaaat?”s were not QUITE up to Malloy’s and Groban’s, but they were passable. And, fucking, “Pierre and Natasha” was SO beautiful. He had such amazing chemistry with Denée in that moment and he was so obviously in over his head and reeling. I think this was the first time that “Pierre grew confused” clicked as a picture perfect reflection of the performance being given. He had such a desperate, human emotion on his face--he really wanted to connect with Natasha and was honestly upset that he couldn’t seem to do it. And his spoken lines were SO beautiful. They’re up there with Dave’s as forever favorites. “The Great Comet of 1812″ was just wonderful beyond words. The slow revelation that his Pierre is settling into was a perfect reflection of that moment in “Dust and Ashes” that he decides to live, so soft and deep in counterpoint to the frenzy of before. Those last two verses were SO beautiful, and the look on his face as he slowly lowered himself to the ground...my heart.
ENSEMBLE:
During “The Ball” I couldn’t pay attention to Natasha and Anatole because the lady couple was dancing right next to our seats and their chemistry was crackling enough to be totally distracting to me, a person easily distracted by queer ladies.
Nick Gaswirth was over by us at the start to do some of the pre-show talk and I noticed for the first time that he has glitter in his mustache and I love him a lot.
I got a letter from Cathryn Wake who is cute as a button, tho I always feel like a creepy old lady when I say that because I think she’s like, twelve.
Kennedy Caughell was also right up in our business a lot and she’s also the cutest.
So was/is Lauren Zarkin. And Ashley Perez Flanagan and just everyone, okay? I love everyone in this 19th century Russian supper club.
GENERAL THOUGHTS:
God, I’m sure there are a million things I’m forgetting. “The Duel” is still one of my favorite things to ever happen on stage. Everything about that song makes me so happy. And I can’t believe there are people who can keep themselves from bouncing along to “Preparations”/”Balaga”/”The Abduction” because it’s all so frantic and great.
As I mentioned before, all of that careful planning to get good Pierre seats meant that we were inadvertently in the seats that Anatole sits in during “The Abduction” and I spent a looooooooong awkward moment with Lucas Steele’s arm around me as we stared unnervingly at each other and I tried not to burst into hysterical laughter.
I had like, this awful deep lovely moment at the end of the show, just staring at the comet as the discordant music swells, thinking about how this was my last time seeing the show, how there were a finite number of shows left, how so many people aren’t going to have a chance to witness this wonderful thing live. I’m still so deeply saddened by this. I know I should feel lucky that I got to see it as many times as I managed and I know I will feel lucky later, but for now I’m still stuck in feeling sad.
This show has really been the thing that’s helped me limp through this year. The first time I saw it on Broadway was right before opening, less than a week after the election. I needed this show at that moment. I was already annoyingly crazy about it and had been evangelizing since seeing it at ART, but this was a thing that I held onto in the months to come. I wanted to have it for so much longer and I’m just so mad that the rest of the world didn’t give it a chance. It’s so weird and wonderful and strange and beautiful and there’s really nothing else like it. There’s no experience on Broadway that’s as fun as this show is, and I wish I could have escorted everyone I know into the theatre to push them down and make them listen and watch. So much of it is lost in translation from stage to audio and it’s so, so much more than what you hear on the cast recording.
I don’t know. I cried at the end, like I always do, and I cried during “Sonya Alone” and “Dust and Ashes” and then, as we were walking out, I started crying again realizing that I was leaving the Imperial as it currently stands for the last time. Something about that set, that theatre, is comforting and has been since last November. All wrapped up in red velvet and beautiful lights, it feels small and cozy and comfortable. It feels, I think, the way Mimi wanted it to feel--like an escape from the world outside, a pocket of music and life and exuberance and peace hidden away from everything going on in the larger world. Show aside, just being in that theatre felt safe, in a weird way, and even when the show tours I doubt they’ll be able to replicate that feeling.
I’m making myself sad thinking about this again. I know I’ll always have those memories to fall back on (more or less, depression has largely ruined my memory and regularly punches holes even in experiences that are dear to me), but I’m selfishly depressed that I’ll never be able to run away to 19th century Russia again.
Anyway, thanks to the cast, to Dave and Rachel, to Mimi and Bradley and Paloma and Sam, to ART, to everyone who brought this thing to life and gave it to me. I won’t forget it.
H’OKAY. SO. Last night we saw Dave Malloy as Pierre!! :D
We’d been planning this trip since they announced he was doing a series of shows--we knew we had to see him but we needed to make it work with timing and vacation days and stuff like that, so we ended up tagging this trip onto the front of my trip to Charlotte later this week, which inadvertently made it the first show after the Tonys, which we won’t talk about because I think I’ve made my saltiness on that front PRETTY CLEAR so far. With things working out the way they did, we decided that we should get a gift for Malloy to acknowledge how much this show has meant to us and that he won all the Tonys in our hearts. Initially I thought a plant was a good idea because flowers die and are also awkward to carry around. From there, my brain thought: well, we should put it in a box so he can just throw it in his bag. We should decorate the box. We should decorate the box to look like the theatre.
(At queer speed dating the other night, someone asked me which Parks and Rec character I most identify with. I said, “I feel like Ben Wyatt, but if you ask any of my friends, they’d say I’m Leslie Knope.”)
So, we decided all this on Monday night? So Tuesday was spent running around getting fabric and glue guns and putting all of this together. All of the little frames have pictures of members of the creative team. It’s PRETTY DARN CUTE, I’ve gotta say.
The entire day was a wild ride--we got the thing done just in time, then realized that my dad had taken my car keys with him so we were gonna miss the bus. Then he managed to get them to us in time for us to make the bus. Then the bus was stuck in traffic TWICE AS LONG AS USUAL. The florist was out of succulents and I had to run all over to find one. Literally run. I ran. With my legs and my lungs and stuff. It was the worst. But I managed to get to the theatre at 6:55 and use the rest room and get into my seat and chug a smoothie.
AND THEN THE SHOW STARTED!
First off, as you can see from the top picture that I wasn’t supposed to take, we were sitting in the rear mezz. We’ve only ever sat on stage before, so it was fascinating to watch the show from this angle. It made the lighting and set and choreography really come alive. I love sitting on stage--I love being at the center of the action and watching the show unfold around you--but I felt like I got a clearer picture of how the whole thing works as a cohesive unit from sitting in the mezz.
Still, the Imperial isn’t that big! Even sitting like, four rows from the back, I felt like we were right in the middle of things. And, bless that ensemble, the hardest working folks on Broadway, they were up and down the aisles even as far back as we were, dancing and singing and handing out shakers and playing instruments and who knows what else. At one point, Erica Dorfler was right in my face and she’s so pretty that I literally forgot how to shake my shaker, jesus christ. We had a great view of “Coachella Sonya” in the “Balaga”/”The Abduction” dance break, which I was into XD Also, Nick Gaswirth’s excellent dancing was only a few rows away from us.
There were a lot of tiny things I noticed from up high, too--Or and Nick Belton buddying around during “The Duel” and “Balaga”/”The Abduction,” the way Pierre reacts to things happening in the show as he sits in his little hole during the numbers he isn’t in, Anatole admiring himself in L I T E R A L L Y every mirror he walks by, though that might just be a Blaine Krauss thing XD “The Duel” in general was a really fun experience from up high--it was neat to see EVERYTHING instead of just being overwhelmed and in the middle of things. I was removed enough from the action that my brain had time to remember the first time we saw the show at ART when “The Duel” started and I was just like, “.....what the hell IS this show?”
I know I already talked about how good the lighting is, but the lighting is just so fucking good, you guys. The tiniest, most subtle little changes, the way that all the lights slowly go out during “Sonya Alone” until it’s just the spot on her, the lights coming down from the ceiling one by one in “No One Else” like snow falling, the use of the bright lights behind the doors, THE COMET, all of these wonderful, tiny little touches. It was beautiful.
In addition to Malloy, we had two other understudies! Blaine Krauss as Anatole was A M A Z I N G. Some understudies have a problem with trying to emulate the performance of the person they’re subbing for, but that was NOT THE CASE here. Blaine totally made the role his own--his Anatole was delightful and outrageous and over the top and full of himself and vain and hilarious. He definitely had a funnier spin on it than Lucas does, and almost more immature? Like, Lucas’ Anatole isn’t exactly a paragon of maturity, but he wants to THINK he’s mature. Blaine’s Anatole is just a brat and knows it and owns it. His comic timing was AMAZING and he hit the high C sharp and he was overdramatic and fun.
We saw Azudi Onyejekwe as Dolokhov, too! I’ve been wanting to see him as Anatole, but his Dolokhov was great. Much like Blaine, he didn’t try to emulate Nick, just went his own way with it. His Dolokhov was cocky, but not as mean as Nick’s (not a complaint--both are great interpretations) and more laid back and fun-loving. Dolokhov is a character without too much to do (as mentioned directly in the Prologue XD) and it would be easy for him to fade into the background, but much like Choksi, Azudi really kept him front and center in the scenes he was in.
The rest of the cast was phenomenal as usual--Grace had her everything dialed up to eleven, Amber got some of the loudest cheers of the night, Denee is a literal angel upon this earth and “No One Else” was more heartbreakingly beautiful than I’ve ever seen it, Gelsey was amazing, Paul Pinto is insane, Nick’s Andrey continues to be SO angry, and I would TAKE A BULLET for Brittain I love her so fucking much. The ensemble killed it, I do not understand how a person can run up the stairs while playing the clarinet, but there’s Cathryn Wake doing it like it’s no big thing.
And Malloy. MALLOY.
I feel so blessed to have seen him do this on Broadway. He was incredible. I mean, obviously he was going to be incredible, but his Pierre is SO different from Scott’s and Groban’s. He’s just tired and hunched and distant and awkward and it works so, so well. He pours so much of himself into this character and it’s so obvious, even from all the way in the mezzanine. His “Dust and Ashes” made me cry and feel a hundred feelings--the resounding applause and cheers he got afterwards was so heartening. It kept going on and on and on and that made me get all teary too. He was hilarious in “The Duel,” both in the actual dueling and the lead-up song. Watching him watch the other characters was like getting a whole additional show for the price of my ticket--his emotional journey makes even more sense if you factor in what he’s seeing from the people around him as the story plays out. He and Denee and Gelsey doing “I see nothing but the candle in the mirror” gave me chills and I loved the way he did “Nothing matters--or everything matters, it’s all the same.” It was a really cool take on the line. He was great during the toast part of “The Abduction,” with a funny little pause before he started that was either because he was genuinely out of breath or entirely for comedic effect. Either way, it worked XD
And, of course, the end of the show was beautiful. From his “whaaaat”s to Marya and his angry threatening of Anatole and desperate need to understand first Andrey and then Natasha...my heart. His spoken lines were so perfect and I started bawling in “The Great Comet of 1812″ and basically didn’t stop until the show was over.
God, the end of this show WRECKS ME in a totally different way than something like Hamilton wrecks me. My feelings in Hamilton are all about the story, about Eliza and AHam’s legacy and all of that. My feelings at the end of this show are all internal--it’s how this moment is making me feel and the connection I’m having with Pierre and with the ensemble and the music at this particular point in time. It’s so hard to explain, but it’s like...cleansing. That sounds ridiculous, BUT THERE YOU HAVE IT.
ANYWAY, after the show we went out to the stage door. It was about nine hundred degrees outside STILL and it took me about two minutes to turn into a gross sweat monster. We were surrounded by all these sweet teen girls who looked perfect and refreshed and it was mildly hilarious. We chatted with people as they came out, including Scott who was smiling vaguely as he walked by until we said, “We saw you at ART and you were great!” and he did a double take and ran back over to talk to us.
Malloy finally came out and got down to us around 10:30 and we talked to him and told him how much we adore this show and how great he was and gave him his dumb gift and I made him sign my Great Comet book and take a selfie. I do not remember most of this conversation, but I am pretty sure I didn’t entirely embarrass myself.
And then we left and got frappachinos because I was dying for a milkshake and technically can’t have them. And we went back to Port Authority and took the bus home and went to bed and THAT WAS THE END OF THE NIGHT. Whew.
Heh, when I was doing my last write-up I was like, “How should I title this?” as if I didn’t spend six years writing 80+ Rent reviews.
So, @ginthusiastic and I saw Hamilton! Again, for me! A month ago! I’m bad at typing things up in a timely manner. My parents got us these tickets for Christmas, so they were much better seats than I probably would have bought myself. (That being said, because she bought them in like, September, she paid face value for them. I swear that is the number one thing people have said to me re: me seeing Hamilton. “OH MY GOD HOW MUCH WERE THE TICKETS?” “Uh, normal price, we just literally bought them when they went on sale and then waited a year?”) Front mezz, very nice, and the Rogers is on the smaller side, so.
Coincidentally, we were there the day of Lin’s last Ham4Ham, which I went to. Becca did not, because it was 90º+ with, like, 80% humidity and she is smart. I talked a little bit about it here. After watching that and dealing with the poor passed out kid, I went back to Port Authority to drink more water and chance out of my t-shirt + shorts and into a dress because I’m like that and going to the theatre in gross sweaty hanging around the house clothes is sacrilege to me personally. (You can dress however the hell you want at the theatre, I don’t care.)
Lotta understudies, which was interesting to me for comparison purposes, but I was a little sad for Becca who really wanted to see Daveed and Chris Jackson. (We’re going again in October, so hopefully she’ll at least get to see the latter. Fingers crossed.)
Cast changes:
Andrew Chappelle for Lafayette/Jefferson
Thayne Jasperson, my dog son, for Laurens/Philip
Nicholas Christopher for Washington
Sasha Hutchings for Peggy/Maria
My girlfriend Morgan Marcell for the Bullet
Generally, my staging/etc thoughts and my thoughts on the actors’ performances remained the same, so if you’re curious about that, check out my last write-up. Below are thoughts on these particular understudies.
Chappelle for Lafayette/Jefferson: CHAPPELLE WAS SO GOOD?? I mean, OBVIOUSLY swings are all immensely talented and obviously they only hire good actors, but I guess protracted exposure to his social media presence has him as such a character in my mind that it was hard to picture him actually acting. SPOILER ALERT, BOY CAN ACT. I was super impressed. His fast rapping wasn’t as crisp as Daveed’s and his French accent occasionally took a turn to Irish-y? But overall, he was great as Lafayette. He really managed to embody that change from “My Shot” to “Guns and Ships.” He was AMAZING in Act 2 as TJ. He was more flamboyant, I guess? than Daveed and less ruthless. He was still conniving, but in a much slyer way. He didn’t have Daveed’s TJ’s hard edges. He had AMAZING line readings, I cried laughing at everything that came out of his mouth. We UGLY LAUGHED so loud at his “Because I’m the President,” which was delivered hard and humorlessly to AMAZING effect. So good!!
Thayne, my dog son, for Laurens/Philip: Okay, so, because it came up in my group chat, aka the people I talk to most, that I hadn’t explained this to them, it’s entirely possible most people don’t know this story? When Finding Neverland was doing it’s out of town preview at ART in Cambridge, my bros and I had the unfortunate experience of seeing it. And. God. It was a garbage fire. As I’m sure you know if you’ve seen it. But one of the things that changed from ART to Broadway was that at ART, the dog was played by a person, I guess in a nod to the original Peter Pan, but like most things in that show, it just came out looking like a pointless, confusing mess. That dog was played by Thayne Jasperson. @anachronistique are low-key obsessed with pointing it out as much as humanly possible.
Anyway, so, moving on, uh. Thayne is really white. Like, Becca said at intermission, “It’s like their tiny white friend is just following them around” and she wasn’t wrong. I’m sure there are white dudes who could KILL the Laurens/Philip role, but Thayne is super traditional musical theatre and had the constant traditional musical theatre stage smile and stage voice and it was really out of place on scrappy asshole John Laurens? Oh well. He was much more believable as Philip, but the performance still wasn’t as heartbreaking and nuanced as Anthony’s. Also, unrelated, he has the same thing going for him that Anthony does where, since he’s so comparably short, he looks TINY next to all those dudes, despite the fact that I know that he’s ripped.
Nick Christopher for GWash: Pretty good! He didn’t have the commanding presence of Chris Jackson, that sort of unwavering gravitas that he has. It has me wondering if future casts should cast this role older? Because he definitely felt young for GWash. He’s a great singer, tho, and he killed “One Last Time” and was quite funny in the few moments of humor that GWash gets. Great singer, great actor, I think it’s just a hard part to nail if you’re not of a certain age or Chris Jackson.
Sasha as Peggy/Maria: Sasha was technically fine, but she lacked the immense presence of Jasmine. If you look back on my previous write-up, I came away blown away by Jasmine. Whereas she makes the unremarkable parts of Peggy/Maria into something worth watching closely, with Sasha they just...faded into the background a little. I suspect without JCJ to compare her to, most people just assumed that’s how those parts were written. She was fine, but lacked that umph. Peggy sort of never establishes herself and Maria was sort of pathetic instead of sultry. It made A.Ham seems like 10x more of a creep.
Morgan as the Bullet: 😍😍😍
General Notes:
Oak was especially on fire. Leslie KILLED it, but then, he killed it the last time I saw him, too. Rory made him break before “The Adams Administration,” which pleased Becca immensely.
I enjoyed Rory/the King’s songs overall much more this time around, mostly because I was sitting next to Becca and I was getting a kick out of how much she was getting a kick out of him. (She’s a fan.)
During “Dear Theodosia,” Becca leaned over and whispered, “It’s phone time!” because that’s the point where the entire cast is backstage on their phones, posting videos of each other to SnapChat basically every night, and I cracked up.
I randomly sobbed during “The Schuyler Sisters,” but did not low-key cry non-stop for three hours like I did last time, thank god. I also cried less at Laurens’ death and I’m kind of pissed about it? While simultaneously feeling LIKE SHIT considering how much time I spend talking about not dissing understudies and swings because they’re all awesome. Like, people who know me from Rent know this about me! I love understudies! I love swings! I’m goddamn snobby about it sometimes! But yeah. Sigh.
ANYWAY, also we had the weirdest bathroom experience ever. The ladies’ restroom line at the Rogers goes up this flight of stairs, down this hall, into the orchestra section of the theatre, and then back out the hall against the other wall? It was lunacy. But we managed to get back to our seats before Act 2 started so...yeah.
Also, jesus, the gasp at the end of the show still fucks me up and gives me chills and makes me sob. Fuck.
Annnnd that was the end of that! We didn’t stage door because it was a goddamn madhouse, what with it being Lin/Pippa/Leslie’s last week and also a mat. We went home and went swimming. Thursday we saw Fun Home and my tiny queer heart had a lot of feelings.
THIS POST IS DETAILED HAMILTON THOUGHTS/FEELINGS/OBSERVATIONS. It’s p long.
BACK IN THE DAY, when you saw Rent, you would come home and post the cast list and a song-by-song review of the show on the message boards. Most people reading the boards were familiar with the choreography/staging/etc, so it was mostly any interesting notes/thoughts/performance quirks. This is a little more in depth than that because I don’t want to forget anything! And also, most people haven’t actually seen it yet, so I’m trying to be ~*~informational~*~ as well as making a record for myself.
Some preshow notes: The girls behind us in line were surprised by their parents and it was ADORABLE. The four of them were walking down the street and they got on the line and the parents were like, "WELL, WE'RE HERE!" and the older girl flipped. her. shit. "REALLY??? REALLY???? OH MY GOD REALLY????" she was like, jumping up and down and hugging her parents and it was so sweet :')
Also, I was LITERALLY shaking the entire lead up to the start of the show and it just got worse when I was stuck in the merch line until about 7:59. BUT THEN I SAT DOWN AND THE SHOW STARTED OH GOD.
We're going old school here--song by song, then actor by actor. It'll be just like 2004 all over again! A few general notes to start: Because I knew the story so well, the staging was overwhelming for me at times in that I would get distracted by watching all the little things the ensemble was doing instead of the main action. So.....there are definitely times where there's probably a lot I'm forgetting? Also, I was incredibly overwhelmed by the entire experience. It took me all the way until Monday to start to fully process it, so other things will probably come to me.
Alexander Hamilton: Okay, obvs we've already seen this on on the Grammys, and the staging was basically the same. It was cool to see it all at once and I predictably died again at the end when he gets the coat from Eliza, the books from Angelica, and the bag from Laurens.
Aaron Burr, Sir: A.Ham was much more nervous/timid than I expected from the OBCR. Also, the adorable drunkies were adorable. A.Ham visibly steels himself before calling out Burr at the end and it was so sweet.
My Shot: CRAZY AND OFF THE HOOK. You can see the guys slowly being pulled into his thrall, starting with Laurens. Parts of the song are A.Ham's inner monologue--everyone else on stage freezes. The bridge-y part that Laurens leads is the guys hyping up the ensemble and aaahhhhhhhhh it was so great, so high energy.
Story of Tonight: WOW THIS WAS P QUEER, AS IT TURNS OUT? Someone described this song to me as "The shitheads go out for a drink and A.Ham and Laurens fall in love" and they.......were not at all wrong. I can't imagine that we weren't supposed to infer a very deep intimacy between them forming over the course of this song. All four of them are p drunk and touchy, but A.Ham and Laurens definitely take it to another level. There are bits of it between those two that are really wistful and it HURT knowing what was coming.
Schuyler Sisters: FUCKING PEGGY. JESUS. JASMINE IS AMAZING. The whole thing was more and different than the OBCR. The use of the turntable was amazing, but mostly I was struck by how seeing their expressions and the staging really drove home how much these sisters adore each other. Really, tho, for a character who gets zero spotlight on the OBCR, Jasmine steals so much of the scene as Peggy. Wow.
Farmer Refuted: OH MY GOD THIS IS HILARIOUS? Bless Thayne and Oak in particular, but the back and forth between A.Ham and Seabury gets progressively funnier and ends with A.Ham literally climbing onto Seabury's box to get in his face. SO FUNNY.
You'll Be Back: Rory was great. More than the song, though, the transition was AMAZING and awful--as the stage clears, a redcoat kills an ensemble member and just....wow.
Right Hand Man: Chris FUCKING Jackson. The intro Burr gives at the beginning of the song is great and the song is intense--more intense than it even seems from the OBCR. Chris Jackson KILLS it. I particularly got more out of his dismissal of Burr--it's definitely a dismissal on stage and not polite at all. Burr's face is great. Also, the line "we keep meeting" got a laugh, which was interesting to me because it always read as more eerie/foreshadow-y than funny.
Winter's Ball: Those goddamn shitheads, I love them. Also, the appearance of skirts on the ensemble is great.
Helpless: WOW PIPPA. This song was amazing and SO MUCH is happening in it, I kept getting distracted by it all. LOVED the character interactions--Eliza freaking out with her sisters over Alex, A.Ham doing a nerdy excited dance when he gets Eliza's dad's blessing. Eliza is so energetic and I love it, especially compared to the gravity of her later numbers. She's so young and excited!
Satisfied: Okay, fucking Anthony at the top of this number, bless that child. But, besides that, WOW WOW WOW WOW. Everyone talks about the rewind at the start, but I don't think I realized that it rewinds a) all the way back PAST the start and b) the scenes then all replay! From Angelica's PoV! We go all the way back through the past few minutes at a faster pace, blocking and all, until we circle back around to the toast. The lighting in all of this is AMAZING and it's an AMAZING use of the turntable. Also, we get an explanation for the question I've always had of "Why is Angelica flirting with the dude her sister called dibs on?" We see in the rewind that Angelica talked to A.Ham BEFORE Eliza saw him and then Eliza called dibs a little later.
(Tangentially related: I hope I get to see Javi do this some day because, and I'll get to this later, A.Ham definitely has a different, sexier chemistry with Angelica than he does with Eliza [I don't mean that as a slight to Eliza--I'm coming back to this at the end], and since Javi is the "sexy" Hamilton, I imagine it's times like, TEN when he does it.)
Story of Tonight (Reprise): Adorable drunkies ♥ John egging on Burr and purposely needling him is great. Also, A.Ham's shock + amazed respect at Burr sleeping with Theodosia.
Wait For It: I literally teared up just thinking about it again. It's so comparably chill, staging wise, which is perfect for that number. It just...resonates throughout the theatre. God. What an amazing, moving song/performance.
Stay Alive: God bless Jon Rua. Laurens' true reckless shitheadness shines through in these three songs. Also, there's a lot more lingering touching in these three songs. [I will return to this when I return to the above bits about A.Ham's chemistry with Angelica + Eliza.]
Ten Duel Commandments: Great use of the turntable again. Ramos and Rua really kill this one (no pun intended).
Meet Me Inside: Laurens literally tries to throw himself at GWash in anger at being told off and that made me SO happy because I was kind of afraid going in that none of his real shitheadness came through in the show. SO PLEASED TO BE WRONG. A.Ham is much more reserved and decorous in the beginning, murmuring almost politely "don't call me son," which makes the way he LOSES HIS SHIT on the last "son" so much more intense. He also immediately regrets it.
That Would Be Enough: Pippa is great, but it's so hard to tell that she's supposed to be pregnant?
Guns and Ships: BURY ME HERE. JUST. KILL ME AND BURY ME HERE. I'm SO fascinated by Lafayette's transitions, both from slow to fast and from goofy soldier to general. I want THAT fic. I also love the staging and particularly love the staging of the letter traveling from Washington to Hamilton--you can tell it was good because I felt actual anxiety that it wouldn't get to him in time.
History Has Its Eyes On You: I don't actually remember the details of this besides it being great because Chris Jackson.
Yorktown: OH MY GOD SEEING OAK DO MULLIGAN HERE. HEART EYES FOREVER. #OAKWASROBBED Also Laurens punching a dude to death? Bless that asshole.
What Comes Next: Uh, I imagine this was funny? Nothing in particular stuck out. I liked the light going blue when he petulantly stomped his foot on the word "blue."
Dear Theodosia: This was so beautiful and simple, just the two of them sitting there, beaming and singing.
Tomorrow There'll Be More of Us: NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE. Laurens looking sadly out at Alexander and Eliza as Eliza reads the letter, jesus CHRIST. I sobbed through the whole dumb thing. Also, jesus, the ending--Alex's "I have so much work to do." WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME, LIN?
Non-Stop: All of the staging for this is PERFECT. I can't even pick favorites. It's even more high-energy than you imagine. A.Ham's voice/face on "I was chosen for the Constitutional Convention!" was AMAZING. And going from Angelica's departure to Eliza's "look at where you are / look at where you started" is a great use of the turntable. Oh man, and A.Ham stands on the ground, with GWash on one side and Eliza on the other during the whole "treasury or state" bit and it's just...so great. GWASH'S FACE WHEN ALEX ASKS "do you want me to run the treasury or state department" was GREAT and A.Ham ascending the stairs as the ending ramps up and IT'S JUST AWESOME.
What'd I Miss: HOLY. SHIT. I JUST. WOW. SWAGGER. WHAT. So much interesting stuff going on here w/r/t slavery and TJeffs and the new promise of America versus what's surrounding Jefferson. LOVED TJ and JMads together. A lot of the JMads stuff is more full on stage. And, omg, AHam SHOVING GWASH OUT OF THE WAY TO SHAKE TJ'S HAND OMG. JFC, give Daveed that Tony.
Cabinet Battle #1: I didn't realize GW was addressing the audience as opposed to like, the other people on stage. That was a neat dimension! Great in person--JMads and TJ were great together, and the conference between GW and AHam afterwards conveys much more gravity than the OBCR. You understand just how scared AHam is of losing his job.
Take a Break: SO MUCH GOES ON HERE. The letter to Angelica and that whole thing is GREAT. I'm not sure how I feel about Philip's bit? I get that it's weird seeing a 24yo kid playing a 9yo, but the way they hang the lampshade on it is really incongruous vs. the rest of the show? But it's also p cute. Idk. Anyway, the point is THIS SONG IS SO MUCH MORE THREESOMEY THAN I IMAGINED. AND I IMAGINED IT PRETTY THREESOMEY. Like, we're talking subtext-all-but-becoming-text levels of threesomey. Jfc.
Say No To This: Jasmine KILLED this number. It's much more explicit in the show that Maria isn't culpable in all of this--it's painful to watch at times. Jasmine, though. Jesus. She's just amazing--vulnerable and confused about how she feels about AHam--she conveys SO MUCH in such a short space of time.
Room Where It Happens: SO MUCH BIGGER AND BETTER IN PERSON. LITERAL SHOWSTOPPER. The applause was so intense and went on for so long, you don’t even know. I’m surprised it didn’t get a mid-show standing o, to be honest, the energy felt that electric. GDI, LESLIE, JFC. Someone build this man a house out of Tonys already.
Cabinet Battle #2: TJ holds the mic out of JMads for the "France" bit. He is adorably confuddled. Daveed kills. Lin kills. Someone shouted out in support of AHam right before he started--Ariana maybe? LOVED his delivery of "super dead," which was slightly different than the OBCR. Definitely got strong "he's your friend but he's my BEST FRIEND" vibes from the conversation with TJ afterwards. Also loved his sort of "well, DUH" tone of voice on "alas, I admit it." Also, "daddy's calling" was WOW.
Washington on Your Side: TJ spends the whole show barely tolerating Burr and it's GREAT. He's like, one spot ahead of AHam at times. This number is spare, but awesome. The HARMONIES. JMads only comes in halfway through. You can SEE the realization that he needs to resign slowly dawn on Daveed as he sings.
One Last Time: Washington is so chill. He hands AHam TJ's resignation letter and AHam is just gleefully reading it for the whole start. The staging transitions from AHam writing the speech to GW delivering it. Chris FUCKING Jackson, tho. CHRIS JACKSON. JESUS. He brought the house down.
I Know Him: This one ends with King George taking a seat on stage, and he reacts to the next few songs.
Adams Administration: At the top of this number, Rory broke Leslie and it was great. The lighting on this one is GREAT.
We Know: AHam is concerned/flustered when the Democratic-Republicans come in. TJ reading the letter over Burr's shoulder (after his "whaaaaaat?") was hilarious.
Hurricane: THE STAGING AND LIGHTING ON THIS IS SUBLIME. It's BEAUTIFUL, and seeing it all played out makes AHam's line of reasoning so clear. It's much more believable and logical in the moment than it sounds.
Reynolds Pamphlet: MARIA. OMG. Maria is reading the pamphlet as everyone gleefully runs around the stage and it clearly breaks her. Oh man. Also PHILIP's reaction to it is just.......wow. His fucking FACE. Jasmine and Anthony KILL IT without actually saying anything.
Burn: WOWOWOWOWOWOW. I just had a constant stream of tears in my eyes that made it hard to see. Pippa is SO INCREDIBLE.
Blow Us All Away: Philip, you beautiful, naive, sophisticated newborn baby. This song is such an interesting contrast to Philip's quiet devastation at the end of "The Reynolds Pamphlet." It's also amazing/awful how quickly it goes from a really hilarious argument in the theatre to, you know, UTTERLY HEARTBREAKING. The use of the turntable, again, is great here as a transition between numbers. Also, I'm super impressed by Anthony's ability to freeze keeled over on one foot. I would fall over immediately.
Stay Alive (Reprise): OH GOD DON'T EVEN FUCKING LOOK AT ME. Jesus, Pippa and Anthony are HEARTBREAKING. JFC. Pippa's scream at the end--oh god.
Quiet Uptown: Lin in really amazing in this song. Eliza just stands silent and stoic in the center of the stage for the majority of it, staring out into space, until she forgives Alexander and it's beautiful and awful and I cried like a lunatic.
The Election of 1800: Madison's sobbing "PLEASE" is even funnier in person. I FEEL YOU, MADISON. Burr in particular is amazing in this number. At the end, as they're waiting for AHam to make his decision, TJ and Burr are standing at the bottom of the stage and Burr is smugly beaming and TJ looks nervous and then AHam endorses TJ and...seriously, LESLIE'S FUCKING FACE. He doesn't stop smiling, but the most minute things about his expression change and make the shocked devastation so clear...aaaahhhhhhhhh! It's so, SO great! HIS FACE IS JUST FUCKING FROZEN JUST BUILD THIS MAN A HOUSE OUT OF TONYS ALREADY. At the very end, TJ and JMads are SO Mean Girls-y with the "Because I'M the President!"
Your Obedient Servant: Burr comes off as less angry at the start of this than he sounds on the OBCR, more just...shocked that this has happened. The staging is hilarious, with people running their letters back and forth to each other, including a lengthy multi-page part for "thirty years of disagreements."
Best of Wives and Best of Women: DON'T LOOK AT ME, jesus this was painful.
The World Was Wide Enough: Leslie, JESUS. This whole thing is just....so intense. Burr's voice cracking, THE BULLET, AHam's monologue. As he lists all the people on the other side, they appear in their neutral costumes above him (which is slightly jarring as Laurens and Philip come one after another), and when he gets to Eliza, she steps into the middle of the turntable and WEEPING. And then Leslie in the rest of the number, good god. The waterworks when from a steady trickle to a tidal wave at "they say Angelica and Eliza..." BUILD. HIM. A. HOUSE. OUT. OF. TONYS. JESUS. CHRIST.
Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story: JUST FUCK ME UP WHY DON'T YOU? So, SO many tears. Like, the guy next to me was slightly concerned. Pippa KILLED IT, she was AMAZING, I'm literally crying just thinking about it again. At the end, AHam appears again and escorts her to the edge of the stage where she looks out at the audience and THAT GASP I JUST CAN'T. HANDLE IT.
Cast Notes:
Lin - Lin totally inhabits AHam. He's obviously not the strongest singer, but he's a great actor and that carries him through his weaker bits. His FACE is just... ::hands:: I really love that he has very specifically different chemistry with Eliza, Angelica, and Laurens. (REMEMBER I KEPT SAYING I WOULD COME BACK TO THIS?) With Eliza, it's almost a bubbly, crushy, storybook kind of love. The chemistry with Angelica is more suave and sly and sexual. And then, the relationship with Laurens is very familiar and easy, but almost desperate at times. It's entirely possible I'm projecting a little on that, as that's how I basically broke it down for the ghosthunters, but I really feel like that's what Lin's putting down on stage. I'd LOVE to see Javi in the role and whether any of this changes with the "sexy" Hamilton.
Leslie - BUILD THIS MAN A HOUSE OUT OF TONYS. His performance is SO different than I expected based on the OBCR. It's DYNAMIC and intense. Burr is so multi-faceted and Leslie's facial expressions alone project that. He can convey the smallest little thing with just the twitch of one eyebrow and it just breaks your heart. He can change the tone of his voice just slightly and it changes the whole meaning of everything he's saying. AMAZING. YIKES. THIS DUDE. WOW.
Pippa - Oh gosh, Pippa's RANGE. Going from excited and giddy and young in "Helpless" through her growing frustration in "Non-Stop" and "Take a Break," the anger in "Burn," the devastation over Philip, and then THE END. Good god, I can't believe this woman is only twenty-five.
Renee - Renee was INCREDIBLE in person. MORE and BETTER than you imagine listening to the cast recording. Her FACE in "Satisfied" and how the seeds of "Satisfied" are planted in "Helpless" and then "The Reynolds Pamphlet" and...just WOW. This woman is just amazing.
Daveed - AMAZING. He's able to convey SO MUCH growth in Lafayette with a minimum amount of stage time and he OWNS every scene he's in for Act 2. The bombastic swagger is PERFECT and his FACE. I don't even know how to describe it in words, but his attitude is just so stellar and it WORKS.
Oak - #OAKWASROBBED That dude is INCREDIBLE. The TRANSFORMATION between Act 1 and Act 2! Madison is SO much more than you get through the OBCR. And I really just can't get over Mulligan vs. Madison. The dude was ROBBED of a Tony nomination. Let's go egg the Tony committee's house.
Anthony - I'm so impressed that this kid is just 24. Laurens and Philip are probably the closest double casting, personality-wise, and I think it would be easy to play them the same way, but each of them have a really distinct character. Laurens is also way more angry and way more quiet/sad than you get on the OBCR and EVERY ONE OF PHILIP'S FACIAL EXPRESSIONS is perfect.
Jasmine - HOLY. SHIT. The person I came away most surprised by, tbh. I mean, I knew she was hella talented and had an amazing voice, but there's so much that Peggy and Maria DO physically that isn't apparent on the OBCR and she was just amazing. Everything she does on stage is noteworthy. Peggy is around more than you'd be led to believe on the cast recording and she nails every appearance, and MARIA. Her Maria is so incredibly different from Peggy - she rivals Oak for biggest transformation. The performance is SO nuanced and she gets so much across despite being in the background or off to the side in many of her scenes. Just... WOW.
Chris - SO GREAT. I mean, what else did you expect, really? It's amazing to see how much GWash develops and slips into gravitas over time. "One Last Time" is so pure and it brought the house down. And he's SO Benny in my head that I was afraid that would be distracting, but it isn't, not even for a second.
Rory - Funny! Clearly having a good time! It's one joke, I don't have much to say about it.
The Ensemble is INCREDIBLE. Everyone is always moving and because the set is so bare, there's a lot of atmosphere and setting that they have to convey through their movements and positioning and it's just wonderful. It's one of those things where you don't even notice it happening because it looks so natural and flows so well, and then you do and it blows your mind. Every single one of those people has more talent in their split ends than I can even imagine.
Staging notes:
I think I mentioned most of this in the larger notes but just a few spotlights:
+ The set was perfect. The total minimalist-ness of it really worked and the turntables were INSANE and perfect and added SO MUCH to everything.
+ The lighting was amazing.
+ The choreography is OFF THE HOOK. I'm so sad that Andy isn't getting as much attention as Lin and Lacamoire and Kail. Like, obviously that's because it's impossible to see the choreography until you're at the actual show, but it's SO DYNAMIC and adds so much to the story!!
+ The slow and subtle shift of the costumes to show time passing was great.
+ The band was also great. Sound design too.
I THINK THAT'S ALL FOR NOW. If you have any specific questions I haven't covered (I know I answer the only specific one I've gotten so far in this), feel free to ask!
