film/musical: hamilton

Finally watched Hamilton last night. On Disney+. What a time to be alive.

The Disney+ experience

• The Disney+ launch timing was perfect (July 3, 2020) - watching quarantined at home against the backdrop of illegal fireworks going off in the distance did feel quite patriotic in a “revolutionary” way

• The launch marketing was everywhere but not in an overwhelming way like Quibi. It was much more organic, perhaps attributable to the original hype but still extremely effective. It showed up on local entertainment sites (The Nudge) and the device itself (Fire TV)

• The app delivers. This was my first time downloading Disney+ and while I’d typically think twice about signing up for another monthly subscription, the $6.99 / month vs idea of a $450 musical ticket sold itself

The film/musical itself

• This seems like one of those musicals where there is so much in the details you have to watch twice, thrice or possibly more to catch it all. I for sure missed a lot of Easter eggs due to lack of musical / historical knowledge

• Pretty cool to see it with the original cast from the comfort of home

• I watched with roommates who had seen the musical live and said the subtitles helped a lot with understanding

• The camera close-ups on the actors and actresses were great for slower scenes, but much of the grandeur and specter of the bigger musical dance numbers was lost on a TV screen

• Afterward found myself devouring reviews debating its revisionist history in light of artistic ingenuity

• And non-stop streaming the incredibly catchy soundtrack

• And adding the Alexander Hamilton biography to my Goodreads

• Would consider myself a musical newbie who was all in all enraptured by the film experience and left hungry for more

The implications

• Going to look into the Disney/Broadway shows and if this means more musicals could be released via streaming

• This could be an unique audience that other streaming platforms can’t reach (musicals have a very dedicated online community that has been forced to upload in non-viewer friendly ways)

• Was a bit long as a film watch. There weren’t any good pause points besides the one minute intermission which was appreciated. Carving out nearly 3 hours to watch something that is not Hamilton is a lot to ask. Could see future musicals having suggested “episodes” for viewing ease (like this guy did for The Irishman)

Watch with: Anyone. Literally anyone will find something enjoyable here.