#super simple! just make a tableau! its a fucking tableau. god

[jack-kellys]

ok director. give me your thoughts on the reconciliation of davey and jack between jack’s “betrayal” and davey’s total forgiveness before once and for all. we don’t get to See that conversation but i NEED to know your thoughts

- @we-are-inevitable ✨

yeah wow somehow i never wrote a fic of like. their in-between fix. i did write a post-strike apology fic though

send me ur newsies script issues and i'll try n reason them out

mmmmkay so. sans writing a scene or any of it. let's say the script is all we get. how on earf did davey chill?

so there's this maaaagic thing called an active scene change... that directors can literally just make up. because it's theater and no production is ever the same.

when kath and jack are coming down from the penthouse (however that looks, three stories, one tall plat, etc) they Physically run into davey during the music vamp/scene change. davey goes to come at jack, kath gets between them, explains the plan. jack can look stressed and awful and so fucking sorry. ideal world he falls into davey's arms while davey looks at katherine, bewildered. bc the thing that needs to come across is that jack was scared. sell that, make it clear the Three of them have a plan, move on.

and then after, i think the hoe-down line needs to STOP BEING SO FAR FROM JACK. fuck that. livesies got one thing right and it was that staircase Look. jack & davey should have this exchange while dave's coming down the stairs, not when he's just entering the scene, so that we have more of a like:

DAVEY stops JACK at the base of the stairs. DAVEY: Hey. JACK: Hm? DAVEY: (His hands behind his back) It's... good. To have you back again. JACK: Yeah? ...Shut up.

i think it has to be very clear that davey is making a choice and deciding right then that yeah, okay, it is good to have him back, but he better stay in line. it's good-natured but with davey's air of 'hmph!' and i think jack's visual relief before brushing it off can loosen davey adequately for the rest of the show- but that means jack CANNOT JUST brush it off. i hate that. we can only have that if we had a whole scene of reconciliation.

but yeah basically the reconciliation doesn't even need a whole scene. it can just be such an easy visual to add in, and it requires no words, and like... to the point where im like. why the Fuck have literally no productions ive seen boots of (local and profesisonal) done this. it's so easy actually. just show them talking and someone's hand on someone's shoulder. maybe the vamp is shorter than i remember but THEN JSUT- JUST VAMP THEN WTF

[dwarven-beard-spores]

Chicago Hamilton Notes 06/06/16

So I saw Hamilton in Chicago last night, and HOLY SHIT IT WAS GOOD. So my observations and thoughts are below the cut. (There are a LOT)

Disclaimer that these are all subjective, and what i chose to include/exclude is based on what specifically caught my attention/memory and is informed by things I have previously read/seen. 

Feel free to send me an ask if you have any questions! I would LOVE to talk about it :D

ACT 1

The performance was GREAT, everybody was fantastic, and the emotions in this show were so raw, more so than on the cast album. It was intense. 

The set is beautiful, and even without context I would love to just run around on it. Every time it did something new I gasped. Very roughly, it’s a center with a turntable, and a balcony all around the sides and back. We talked about how it felt very Shakespearean. 

The lighting is holy shit, there are so many layers to that and variations and wow I was impressed. I was in the balcony so I could see the lighting patterns really well. 

Same with the choreography, like you could go to a dance recital with just the ensemble cast and be not disappointed at all. It’s so intricate, oh gods. 

The sheer amount of PAPER in the musical is astounding. People are constantly writing letters and documents and flyers and pamphlets, and they are getting passed here and there and thrown and stored places, and idk how anyone keeps track of them all. 

Aaron Burr Sir and My Shot were so great. One thing I didn’t know is that the Rev Set were pretty well established in the bar, they weren’t coming in when they did their initial introductions, they were chilling at a table, and like beatboxing for each other, and having a great time (until Burr spoils it)

Then My Shot happens, and it’s all going well, they form like four points of a circle and it looks really visually cool, until Ham goes “tell me where the ammunition is” and the spotlight just zooms in on him, so the lights and everyone around is just like “OH SHIT.” and it’s really awkward, until Laurens is like “yeah let’s roll with it.” 

They take “sing it to the rooftops” out into the street, and Laurens has a GREAT time rousing the people, getting them to stand on the balconies and hang off the sets, and it’s super exciting. 

Then everybody FREEZES on the turntable in the middle except for Ham, he’s in a front corner in a spot doing his “I imagine death” bit, so it looks very much like an internal monolog/anxiety, rather than something he’s confessing to his bros

And it stays like that until he goes “this is not a moment it’s the movement” and the moment that was frozen in time starts moving, and I cry at puns and layers of meaning

They get wasted in Story of Tonight, and Burr lurks in a corner, until stepping forward into this blazing diagonal of light to start Schuyler Sisters (all chill like, y’know) 

It seems to be the next morning, because the Rev Set is out on the street handing out pamphlets. Laurens gives one to Angelica, and she reads it while Eiza and Peggy argue, and it starts her off on talking about revolution. 

At the beginning, Peggy’s “and Peggy” is SO bratty, you wouldn’t believe, but at the end she is having SUCH a ball. 

Seabury gets up, he’s standing on a box to give his speech, dressed in like scholar robes or smth. Ham is ready to Fight, and Mulligan and Laffayette totally want him to, but Burr holds him back. 

So Laurens comes in, chats with an ensemble member and reads the scene, and then goes and grabs Burr and takes him back to distract him with a book or smth, and while he’s gone Ham goes in for the kill. 

At first he stands next to Seabury, but Seabury moves his box to upstage Ham. It doesn’t work, and eventually Ham is on the box with him, right up in his face. 

Burr notices eventually and is like “What? Oh fml.”

Up until this point everybody’s been all over that stage, there’s been so much bustle and movement. Then two redcoats sweep everybody off with their Message From the King and King George is on stage alone. And he’s TOTALLY STILL. Except for a few contained gestures, and a walk forward, he doesn’t fucking move. (Yet)

But he’s HILARIOUS, in his voice and the mannerisms he does do, everyone was laughing. 

On “everybody” a bunch of nervous ensemble people come to join him in singing, and they are also very still. 

32000 troops was accompanied by lighting that looked like water. 

Gwash is just freakin’ INTENSE man. He is so angry and so determined. He’s got an army of like 6 ensemble members to be his meager forces at the beginning. (But it’s all better once Ham’s three friends come in lol)

And Burr? Burr is so freaking Done With Ham’s Shit. He’s really angry at the beginning of Winter’s Ball. But he pulls it together to flirt. 

It may have been my imagination, but it sure seemed like Laurens was watching the people around him for Flirting Tips bc his gay ass doesn’t know how to be reliable with the ladies. 

For Helpless, these square lanterns descend from the ceiling, and they’re gorgeous and I gasped. There are also tables of candles in the back. 

Eliza is truly fantastic, she’s running around the room. And they made use of the turntable during the scene in the living room, which was really cool. 

There was so much pain in Angelica’s voice during “if you really loved me you would share him.” :’(

Eliza is pretty concerned about Angelica nomming Ham, but he reassures her. 

She gets a veil for the wedding, and they do the procession. Mulligan is the flower girl as per usual, he threw like 3 petals and looked so done with it XD

Then they smooched center stage, for quite a long time, until Laurens interrupted to bring us into Satisfied. 

Angelica sounded so ANGRY during her opening toast. Like “may you always be satisfied” was like “you’d fucking BETTER be satisfied” O.o

They rewound the action, to the kiss, and then in chunks, like, notable tableaus. Went all the way back to “we’re reliable with the ladies” so they were doing that choreography for the “I remember that night” bit. It was further than I expected but worked really well. 

There was this weird bit when she was introducing Ham and Eliza. So Ham and Eliza froze when Angelica did "number one" and "number two," and for at least one of those freezes there were a bunch of ensemble members who were like, posing Hamilton? Like moving his head and his joints while he was frozen? And I'm not entirely sure what it means but it was cool

In The Story Of Tonight Reprise, Laurens was just as draped on Burr as I’d hoped he would be. 

And when Lafayette said “you are the worst, Burr,” it was RIGHT in front of him, DIRECTLY to his face. It was great. 

Ham’s “oh shit” wasn’t just a tiny noise, it was like “oh SHIT.” 

Wait for It was another really really still number. Burr and some ensemble members. It was really really powerful. But when Burr was like “I’m not standing still” it was like “yes you definitely are though.” 

Stay Alive started with a single redcoat shooting at Hamilton and an ensemble member coming in to hold the bullet and show it’s path. 

Idk the battle scenes were so intense, I was right there in the action but I can’t pick out that many things that actually happened. 

Eaker was totally out there, out of control. A very frenzied “Wheeee!” 

The Ten Duel Commandments was mostly done with Laurens and Lee on opposite points of the spinning turntable. Ham and Burr would meet in the middle. 

During the “moment of adrenaline” there was a line of ensemble members between Laurens and Lee, all doing this fluttering motion over their heart that looked really striking. 

They cross the circle at the same time to switch positions, then turn and fire from there. 

Gwash is PISSED. 

He takes Ham to the downstage right. They have most of their argument standing side by side and facing out into the audience. They switch places I think, but don’t really face each other until “CALL ME SON ONE MORE TIME.” 

For That Would Be Enough, the set is mostly this once curved stone bench. 

Eliza is Preggers, and at the beginning she wants Ham to touch her stomach and feel the baby, but he doesn’t until the end, when he reaches for her very tentatively. 

This Eliza’s voice had the most round-sounding “around” ever, I love her voice so much. 

Lafayette was smoking at guns and ships, and the choreography was really fast too. 

He and Gwash talk about Hamilton by Washington’s desk. Washington writes a letter, which Lafayette then passes to an ensemble member, who passes it to another, and they go up around the balcony passing it until it finally gets to Hamilton. This is when Gwash is singing his slow bit, i believe. 

History has its eyes on you was one of a few numbers where there were ensemble members all around the balconies and edges of the scene, just kinda chilling and watching. 

Yorktown was also super intense. Mulligan killed it. 

“We gotta go, gotta get the job done” was with the whole army lined up right near the front of the stage. 

When the world is turned upside down, people come out with upside down chairs and furniture, and they make pedestals for the main players to stand on all dramatically at the end. 

King George comes back, and he is slightly more animated this time as he loses his grip on sanity! He’s also in a front corner as opposed to center stage. Still so many laughs. “I’m so blue” is when he stamps his foot and the lighting goes blue. It’s great. 

The staging for Dear Theodosia is really simple. It’s Burr at the very front of the stage, in a soft spotlight, holding the back of a chair which is facing towards the audience. He stands there and sings, and then sits down. Ham comes out with another chair and does the same thing. 

For the most part, I was fully in the moment while watching the musical. But I couldn’t help but think at this point of the comic where Hamilton goes “LOOK AT MY SON” and hurls a baby in Burr’s face. Oops. 

They are interrupted by Eliza (which is kinda cool, considering she’s the one who’s been really invested in kids) with a letter. This is the Laurens Interlude and it is very sad. She reads Hamilton the letter while Laurens stands next to him in a bluer spot and goes through The Story Of Tonight. 

At the end Eliza asks “are you alright?” and Ham answers by saying “I’ve got so much work to do.” 

By this time he’s in his green silk suit (I believe he changes right before Dear Theo). 

The Levi Weeks trial is on the turntable, so even when the players are stationary they’re still moving. Ham does sit down when Burr tells him to, but gets up like two seconds after. 

Angelica and Ham walk diagonally across the stage while she tells him that she’s going to London. He is a bit put out to find out she’s going with a husband, but does agree that no one can match him, and seems pleased with Angelica’s saying it.

Then the turntable takes her away, and brings Eliza forward at the same time. 

Everyone clears out for Ham and Burr’s midnight conversation. Burr’s “no” was like “noooooo” and I laughed. 

They pull out a chunk of the balcony!!! And it’s a set of stairs with a platform at the top, and they roll it to the center of the stage, so there’s stairs going up from the center onto the balcony! I gasped then too. 

Annnnd, INTERMISSION.

ACT 2

It opens with Burr on the top of the stairs (I think. Or else he climbs there promptly while giving his introduction.) He’s at the top when he calls out “Thomas? THOMAS!” and TJeffs comes out from the top of the stairs as well. 

His stage presence is so great, he is having a BALL. When he gives the audience a kiss it’s with his face out, he’s not blowing one. He just leans into it like “mwah!” 

And he gets wheeled around on the staircase, which goes back into the balcony afterwards. 

Madison shows up and is like “shit’s going down!” and Jefferson’s like “sure, but I’m the shit.” 

And when Gwash and Hamilton show up, Hamilton zooms forward and cuts Gwash off to shake Jefferson’s hand first and introduce himself. 

Then they cabinet battle! Someone comes with a case that has microphones in it, and the stage gets set up so there’s an upside down V with Gwash at the point and Tjeffs and Ham on this inside. 

Jefferson finishes his things and then drops the microphone like it’s hot. Madison makes a show of picking it up with his hankercheif. 

Ham’s body language while mocking Tjeffs is fantastic. He doesn’t do the same little hop Lin did during “Montechello,” but he did some disparaging wiggle that was really funny. 

Gwash has to physically separate the two and tell Ham to chill out. 

Take a break! Phillip is adorable, and it’s very clear that Eliza’s teaching him to play, and they’re really cute. 

Eliza has to physically take the pen out of Ham’s hand before he’ll come to dinner. 

Phillip is so nervous! And Eliza’s beatboxing for him, and gesturing to him like “you got this, come on,” and then he hits his stride and it’s so exciting. 

Hamilton’s teeny “hi” remains one of the best things ever. And Angelica is barely there three seconds before getting dragged into their problems. 

Say No To This has streetlights set up, and the outer ring of the turntable is going while Maria walks along it. She’s in Seductive Red (tm) and is circling the stationary desk where Ham is being angsty and tired. 

The ensemble members going “No! NO!” are SO DONE WITH HAM’S SHIT. On every “no” they change poses, and every pose is one of despair/exasperation/just general Done-ness. 

James Renolyds is a dirtbag, and calls Maria away with a slap to his leg. She and Ham share a longing glance before she goes. 

The Room Where It Happens was amazing. When Burr is setting the scene, Ham, Tjeffs, and Madison are standing in a line, facing away from the audience. They set up a table with Tjeffs and Madison seated and still facing away. Ham pours everyone drinks. That’s what the meal itself looks like. 

During “Thomas says” narration, Hamilton sure does simper for his help. It’s cool bc it’s maybe subjective based on the narrator, whoo!

Based on that post connecting Say No and The Room that had to deal with Ham borrowing strategy from Maria rather than Burr, it was interesting to have her red dress compared to Tjeff’s maroon suit… the warm colors contrasting against Ham’s green were a little similar. 

Burr gets on the table to emphasize his point, and at one point he jumps and someone pulls the tablecloth out from under him. The table is mirrored! I haven’t explicated the meaning behind that either, but it was really cool and unexpected. 

Everyone’s favorite, Schuyler defeated, was pretty chill. Eliza and Phillip were up on the balcony, Ham and Burr were center stage. Ham was pissed. 

They set up the second cabinet battle the same way as the first, and it follows the same format. Gwash dramatically flips his coattails every time he sits down. (He’s in black, btw)

Ham does a very nice imitation of King Louis’s head. 

Washington On Your Side was amazing. It started with just Tjeffs on stage complaining, and then Burr shows up and is like “I wanna complain about Hamilton too.” Madison doesn’t come on until it’s to remind everyone that he wrote the bill of rights. 

They’re so sinister. And the way the number builds in intensity is just right. 

During the song Tjeffs writes a letter, which makes it to Gwash’s desk for the beginning of One Last Time. When Hamilton comes in he is given the letter and reads it, and isn’t really paying that much attention to Washington until he announces he’s resigning. 

They’re BOTH in black now, btw. 

For the speech it works like this: Hamilton goes front and center and starts writing/reciting the speech. Gwash is in the back, right next to him but a stage behind. Then Ham starts walking backwards as George walks forward, until they’re next to each other in the middle. They pause, then George walks the rest of the way forward and Ham walks the rest of the way backward. As they do this, their voices match how far forward on stage they are, until George is carrying it by himself. 

At this point, people are watching: Ham and Eliza and Phillip are there, clinging on to each other, Madison and Jefferson are there, groups of ensemble members. 

George Washington’s stately walk away is matched by King George back. he’s completely lost it, and his gestures are so much wilder. 

“looms quite as large” reeeeaaaaallly sounded like a dick joke when he said it. 

Also his estimation of Adam’s height was like four feet tall maybe, and he lowered it upon further consideration. 

Then he decided to stay and hang out! He pulled up a chair on the side of the stage and sat there to watch shit go down!

Hamilton’s retaliation to John Adams was a giant bundle of papers, which he dropped from the center of the balcony. When it landed the lights and sound followed like an explosion. 

He goes to work at his desk, and is visited by Jefferson, Madison, and Burr, all in a line. They wave receipts in his face, and he grabs the letter from James Reynolds out of a drawer off to the side. Madison reads it while Jefferson hangs out near Hamilton to bother him, until “that was my wife who you decided to-“ when he dashes over there to read the letter for his own eyes. 

Desperation is rolling off Hamilton like waves in this scene. He is just barely hanging on as it is, and he does not need this bullshit. 

Burr’s cryptic answers are still cryptic… but in this performance they also sounded threatening. 

Hurricane starts with hurricane lighting swirling all around Hamilton, he’s in the eye. 

For most of the time he’s not alone onstage. He’s got ensemble members acting out the storm, and the scenes he’s talking about, and generally adding to the chaos. 

There’s a brilliant moment, and I can’t remember the exact line right now, where the entire stage is lit neon green and purple. Like cartoon radioactivity. It’s only for a few seconds and never anywhere else in the musical. I got chills. 

The Reynolds Pamphlet is CHAOS. Papers are going everywhere. Phillip gets shown the grisly details. Hamilton just stands in the center. 

It clears away when Angelica arrives, then it’s her and Hamilton. 

Then it comes back, and papers get thrown in the air and everywhere. Jefferson placed a sheet on Hamilton’s shoulder, which stuck. King George got into the action, he was having a ball. 

HIS POOR WIFE. 

Burn was just absolutely wrenching. The set? Was so simple and painful. A coal bin. A lantern just like the ones that had come down during Helpless. The stone bench from That Would Be Enough. Even thinking about it I’m tearing up. Eliza read the letters there, looking for her sign. She burned them in the lantern and tossed them in the coal bin. Wow it hurt. 

Pain and resolve is what came off her in waves. Her VOICE. 

And then Phillip shows up, all scholarly and ready to have threesomes.

The play is actually there; there are two actors in a harsh white square of light (stage) acting out some scene when Phillip comes in to get Eaker. They stop what they’re doing and watch the confrontation! Who’s on stage? It’s in flux! Then they’re like “screw this” and leave. 

Phillip and Eaker are on opposite points of the turntable too. Phillip is center stage when he gets shot. He falls back in slow motion, and is caught by an ensemble member who lowers him onto a table. The table keeps spinning around slowly as Hamilton comes in to look for him. 

*cries forever*

Eliza screams “NO!” after he dies. It hurt. 

At one point, Hamilton reached for her hand, and she wouldn’t let him touch her. 

Uptown was lit in a purple stone pattern, at least for some of it. Eliza and Hamilton weren’t alone, there were passersby all over the place. 

Angelica says “she takes his hand” before Eliza actually does, which surprised me. It was almost like Eliza was listening to Angelica and then responding. 

Can we get back to politics? Please? 

Hamilton trying to mourn, in black, just sort of wandering through the enthusiastic crowd asking about his opinion was really striking. 

Okay so the best part of The Election of 1800 for me was this realization. Something about the way Burr and Hamilton played the scene made me think of it in a whole new way… When Burr says “I learned that from you” it’s the absolute WORST thing he could have said. Because Hamilton is still dealing with the fact that his advice is what killed Phillip. He is realizing that his entire worldview may be flawed. And NOW Burr wants to take his advice? That can only end in disaster. 

So his decision to support Jefferson is not just because of Burr’s politics (though they are pretty awful) but is also because he’s trying to save Burr from following his advice. (In the least tactful way possible). 

MY HEART. (I need to write fic about this). 

Also, Jefferson is just really disgusted with the way Burr’s like “I can’t wait to work with you!” Like, dang. Not only did you miss out on the presidency, but your “wait for it” strategy got you kicked out of being VP. No wonder Burr is pissed. 

Speaking of pissed, he is SO out for blood in Your Obedient Servant. 

The lights turn red and put him and four ensemble members in white diamonds of light that reminded me of playing cards. 

He sits down at a desk and writes out a letter, which is then delivered to Hamilton.

Hamilton then sits down and starts writing his massive response, and it get delivered page by page by a different ensemble member each time. 

When he’s writing his 30 years of disagreements, he just kind of scribbles across the page, and it made me laugh. 

At the end, they both sign letters at the same time, and they get delivered in the order A. Ham (to Burr) and A. Burr (to Ham). 

Best of Wives was short and sweet. Hamilton kissed Eliza’s arm. 

This was set up much like the rest of the duels, with people going everywhere but the focus being the turntable.

During Burr’s “confession time” two ensemble members came up behind him and did the heart fluttery motion that meant “adrenaline” in Ten Duel Commandments, and it was a cool callback and also meant something different so I really liked it. 

When Burr shot, someone came up to hold the bullet, just like in Stay Alive. The table stopped turning, but Hamilton moved a bit. 

Laurens/Phillip, Hamilton’s mom, and George Washington all showed up on the balcony, but when Eliza showed up, she went right between Burr and Hamilton, so it looked as though she might be getting shot, or Ham would shoot her if he decided to fire.

Hamilton crumples into this tiny black ball when he’s shot, and he starts turning with the turntable. Two ensemble members sit next to him and act out rowing him back across the hudson. 

He ends up climbing the stairs to get to the balcony where his dead loved ones were, while Burr ends up center stage. 

Then WLWDWTYS happens and it’s so sad. Eliza comes into the spotlight, and the strength of her greif is overwhelming, especially in, like, “he gives me what you always wanted, he gives me more time.”

She ends it crying.

END