Kick off the July 4 weekend by singing along with ‘Hamilton’
Get ready.
“Hamilton” is coming to television.
Yes, that “Hamilton,” the musical theater piece that has been selling out on Broadway since
2015, that continues to be a hardto-come-by ticket, and that costs more than the average show will begin streaming on Disney + at 3 a.m. Friday.
Disney + audiences will see the entire show as it was recorded during two performances just before the original cast, including Tony winners Leslie Odom, Jr., a Philadelphian, Daveed Diggs, and Renee Elise Goldsberry, departed in 2016 for other productions, mostly for film or television. (Diggs goes from playing Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette to portraying the towering Black leader, Frederick Douglass, in an upcoming series based on Solebury resident James McBride’s book, “The Good Lord Bird.”)
About a third of the show’s 40some numbers were shot between the two full performances, so director Thomas Kail could choose from several shots, a necessary move considering he could not stop a live show to insure all was perfect on camera.
While a ticket to “Hamilton” on Broadway would cost a minimum of $200 and probably more in the neighborhood of $300, TV viewers can enjoy the show for the price of a subscription to Disney +, which is a considerably less $6.99 a month ($69.99 for the year).
Friday, July 3, the first day of Independence Day weekend, seems a fitting time to bring “Hamilton” to the masses.
Through an agitator for American independence as a student at what would become Columbia University, Alexander Hamilton did not have a critical role in the Revolution or its creative aftermath until after July 4, 1776.
When he gained importance, first as an aide to Gen. George Washington, then as Secretary of the Treasury under President George Washington, then as a framer of the U.S. Constitution with James Madison and John Jay, Hamilton did his job so well, I’d rate him as second in significance among America’s founding fathers, with Washington in the No. 1 slot and Madison as No. 3.
Lin-Manuel Miranda saw value and character in Hamilton when he read Ron Chernow’s thorough biography of the West Indian native who wrote outlines for a nascent American government and the Constitution that influenced the invention of a free republic and stand as guides for governmental structures to this day.
Miranda took Chernow’s book, turned it into a musical and brought it to New York’s Public Theatre where it was an instant sensation and created a demand that did not abate after five seasons on Broadway.
Like other Broadway shows, “Hamilton” is shuttered because of the coronavirus pandemic that makes all gatherings, but especially tight theater gatherings, a daunting challenge.
Producers did not intend to introduce “Hamilton” at this time or on television. It was meant to be released at some point as a feature film with a theatrical run.
No doubt that will happen in the future, but Friday, millions who did not stand a prayer of seeing “Hamilton” any time soon, will have it unspooling, at will, in their living rooms.
Miranda’s piece earns it reputation.
It is not always historically accurate, especially in regard to the Marquis de Lafayette, but it never fails to capture the excitement of a fundamental event in world history and make vivid the characters who brought that event to be.
As it tells a seminal American story, “Hamilton” offers a good lesson in politics, the people attracted to them, and the giveand-take needed to get anything done. Miranda shows the partisanship represented by Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and Hamilton’s killer (in a duel), Aaron Burr, but it also depicts how George Washington mediated, how Hamilton and Madison collaborated and compromised, and Burr stands for the person who wants fame and glory while the others want both but argue more from a standpoint of what they think is right.
“Hamilton” received some attention when it opened because it was cast without regard to race. Miranda, who is Latin, played Hamilton, not so far a stretch when you look at Hamilton’s heritage. Black actors played Burr, Washington, Lafayette, Jefferson, and Angelica Schuyler. Eliza Schuyler Hamilton was played by an Asian. Britain’s George III was played by a Caucasian. In watching the show, none of this matters, except it adds depth in terms of American diversity and the idea that story and character counts more than being literal.
As writer, composer, and lead player, Miranda portrays Hamilton is all of his many facets. Magic happens as Hamilton changes coats as he rises from a military attaché to Washington’s most complete, prepared, and trusted advisor.
One thing I’ll be looking for is how much of the Broadway staging Kail, the director, retains for this recorded version.
People who’ve seen “Hamilton” might remember how sweeping the direction it was and how it followed a circular patterns that placed all principals in critical dramatic positions on the stage.
Television and movies both require more close-ups. Showing an entire stage sometimes impedes more than it helps in telling stories a director has no choice but to stage as one big picture on a stage.
Virtual Fourth of July
July 4 is going virtual. As usual, Philadelphia will be treated to a concert featuring major stars, and fireworks, but this year, on Saturday, and all during the week leading to the Fourth, the coronavirus pandemic precludes a large gathering on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, or the arrival of 500,000 visitors, so performances will stream.
Saturday’s finale, with Tony winner and Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo, and international recording star, Jason Derulo, as headliners, will come to TV audiences live from The Met, on Philadelphia’s Broad Street, at 8 p.m. via Channel 10.
Virtual July 4 fireworks will follow.
A full listing of events including 9 a.m. tours of several museums can be found at www.welcomeamerica.com. Welcome America, as usual, is sponsored by Wawa.
Perry Mason still works
This mystery program, by a different name, would smell sweeter.
I’m talking about “Perry Mason,” which began streaming last week on HBO and created some surprises, one being that Mason, played by Matthew Rhys from
“The Americans” is a modernseeming private detective operating in 1932 Los Angeles, instead of the attorney we know from the CBS series that starred Raymond Burr in the ‘50s and ‘60s.
I miss the attorney.
One of my guilty pleasures is watching vintage series of MeTV each night. I marvel at how uniformly bad the acting is on “Cannon” and how it gets marginally better on “Barnaby Jones” and “Mannix.”
“Perry Mason” is the treasure trove because unlike the other programs mentioned, its writing and acting holds up and is as entertaining now as it was half a century ago. Burr, as Mason, and Barbara Hale as his assistant, Della Street, give performances as good as any from their era of television. Plots are interesting, and it’s fun to see Mason and his team solve crimes.
The new “Perry Mason” doesn’t resemble the 20th century model in any way.
The pity is that creates disappointment when one first tunes in and expects to see an updated version of what attracted so many audience circa 1957.
Even the iconic theme music is gone.
A bigger pity is HBO’s “Perry Mason” is a decent show that suffers by having the name of a classic.
I, for one, would have enjoyed the show more if it had a different title, and Rhys was introduced as a newbee in the ranks of TV private eyes.
This “Perry Mason” has a hard time deciding whether it wants to be a contemporary show or a period piece. Though set in the past, and reveling in showing ‘30s setting and wardrobes, it has too modern a feel to be noir or reminiscent of the classic detective stories of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, or even Elmore Leonard.
The 21st century impinges too much on a time that is almost 100 years past.