Here are “free thoughts” on the cast and performance from Hamilton, which I recently saw in NYC:
- Michael Luwoye is a great Hamilton, but I wasn’t as blown away as I was led to expect from stuff I had read online. He was reserved in some spots and talk sang the beginnings to a bunch of songs. Maybe it’s his style, maybe it was a slow start for a Saturday matinee. However, I think he was really crying during “It’s Quiet Uptown.” He just didn’t always have the energy Lin can bring.
- This may be blasphemy, but Daniel Breaker may be a better Burr than Leslie Odom. He had the snark and bitterness that I imagine Burr actually had from the beginning of the show. He was outstanding.
- None of the women can touch the original trio even though I loved their performances. Lexi Lawson is a great Eliza. She worked really well with Elizabeth Judd, who is the standby for Angelica. That role is so hard because Renee Elise Goldsberry is such a powerful figure. Judd is younger and brought great believeability to the two as sisters. She wasn’t as powerful with some of her singing, but you saw the connection between the actresses. Joanna Jones was a great Peggy/Maria. I will never not love Peggy.
- Euan Morton may be my favorite King. I think I have seen videos of 3-4 of them. I think his face just is more expressive than Jonathan Groft.
- Anthony Lee Medina does a great job with Laurens/Phillip. He has an excitement that is natural, just like Anthony Ramos. He plays Laurens more like a horndog than a guy who may be obsessed with Hamilton, which was fun, but I liked the layered performance Ramos gave a little better.
- Bryan Terrell Clark’s Washington just oozes cool. He doesn’t have the gravitas of Chris Jackson, but he makes the role his own. Unflappable.
- Not the biggest fan of James Monroe Iglehart as Lafayette/Jefferson. His First Act accent is all over the place. And I am certain they play “Guns and Ships” a little slower so he can pull off the rap. Not horrible, just a curious choice for the role.
- Andrew Chappelle played Mulligan/Madison. He was in the Public Theater ensemble and he been understudying on Broadway for a little while. He was good. He is not as imposing so he loses a little in Mulligan, plus it is hilarious watching him (he’s 31, but looks a lot younger) saying “I got ya’ll knuckleheads in loco parentis” to Igelhart, who is 43. I loved his Madison. He played him kind of foppish and effeminate, which I think underscored the weakness the character is supposed to have. He seemed more like Jefferson’s sidekick there so the casting worked well.
- The ensemble member who played James Reynolds (Ryan Vasquez) was spectacular. You could tell he knew he had about a minute to be the biggest asshole he could be and loved every second of it.
- I think the thing that goes unnoticed when watching the bootlegs is how active the entire cast and ensemble is throughout the show. You don’t see all that activity from a video.
- “Battle of Yorktown” is just mindblowing. It was so hard to not stand up and fist pump along with them.