Post by marion on Jul 10, 2019 10:37:00 GMT
Well, I was so excited to be going to this. I have wanted to ever since it opened, but the ticket processing is a nightmare and the good seats cost the Earth. So when a friend of mine had a spare I grabbed it when offered! And....... I wouldn't say it was a five star show. Maybe the seats were the problem. We were in a box with what I would call restricted view, and I had to lean right over the rail to see most (not even all) of the stage. Also, I couldn't make out all of the lyrics which are delivered very rapidly at times, which again may have been an acoustics issue for the side seats. And I got a bit lost in the first act, not knowing much about Alexander Hamilton except for what I googled before leaving home.
But on the plus side, it is very slick, the choreography is good, the singing is good and when I could get all the words, there is a wittiness to it. I had said to my friend, the problem is we don't know anything about this fellow, we would have done better with a musical called Jefferson. And Jefferson was hilarious in it! He is dressed in a long purple coat and is a ringer for Prince. He doesn't appear until the second act which my friend and I both thought was better than act one. The casting is completely diverse which is the norm now in London but I can imagine a black George Washington was a bit of a shock at first in the USA. Best song for me was where Aaron Burr sings about wanting to be in the room (where political deals are being made) whose title I don't know, but it lasts a long time and it really telling about his political desires.
Oddly enough, the lead reminded me of Martin Fowler from Eastenders which distracted me a lot! So we all liked it, we mostly preferred act two, but the 17 year old thought the whole thing was great and gave it five stars. The audience went NUTS about it, but the cynic in me wondered if a lot of that was down to reputation. Mind you, I think a lot had been before because they seemed to know what or who was coming. So very good, but probably better from a good seat.
But on the plus side, it is very slick, the choreography is good, the singing is good and when I could get all the words, there is a wittiness to it. I had said to my friend, the problem is we don't know anything about this fellow, we would have done better with a musical called Jefferson. And Jefferson was hilarious in it! He is dressed in a long purple coat and is a ringer for Prince. He doesn't appear until the second act which my friend and I both thought was better than act one. The casting is completely diverse which is the norm now in London but I can imagine a black George Washington was a bit of a shock at first in the USA. Best song for me was where Aaron Burr sings about wanting to be in the room (where political deals are being made) whose title I don't know, but it lasts a long time and it really telling about his political desires.
Oddly enough, the lead reminded me of Martin Fowler from Eastenders which distracted me a lot! So we all liked it, we mostly preferred act two, but the 17 year old thought the whole thing was great and gave it five stars. The audience went NUTS about it, but the cynic in me wondered if a lot of that was down to reputation. Mind you, I think a lot had been before because they seemed to know what or who was coming. So very good, but probably better from a good seat.