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Hamiltonofficially lands onDisney+on July 3, over a year earlier than fans originally expected.
Helen Shaw:Hi, Mark!
So, how many times had you seen the show before you saw the film?
How did it compare for you?
Harris:I was quite thrilled by it in ways that I didnt completely expect.
The fact that I was able to see his face whenever he was singing expanded this.
Shaw:For me, there are two big contextual changes.
Jonathan Groff in deep close-up?
Harris:I completely agree with that.
I love that theres a one-minute intermission.
Theyre all so clearly on the same page.
It is not an attempt to turnHamiltoninto something it isnt; its an attempt to share with you whatHamiltonis.
But to get back to its new resonance now in the era of Black Lives Matter protests.
It feels right for this moment, rather than like something anticipating a moment still to come.
Youre listening to a description of Obama.
And youre doing it with a Black president on stage!
Those three men in a row, Diggs said, thats where we are in history.
Those orbits actually kept moving and white supremacy came back around again.
as opposed to reflection and reality and up-to-date-ness.
Washington is a slave owner who does not want slavery to go away.
And that fact is missing fromHamilton.
Harris:That is a big issue.
It makes me think of Ron Chernows book, the 800- or 900-page biography that is the inspiration forHamilton.
Its not just, Oh, by the way, heres something more you should know about Alexander Hamilton.
Its, Heres something more you should know about Alexander Hamilton in thelanguageofHamilton.
Shaw: You know, that word availability is the most important thing about this film.
It wasnt as simple as saying It isnt reaching the people it needs to reach.
Now, with the availability of it going wide like this …
I dont know what Im paying for Disney+, maybe ten dollars?
And that feels radical to me!
Harris: I couldnt agree more.
But still, it was a lottery, its a crapshoot.
Its a really limited number of tickets.
So how do you make theater genuinely available to people?
I suppose there will be people who say, Well, theres nothing to compare to seeingHamiltonlive on stage.
But now, manifestly, there is something to compare!
Doing something likeHamiltonis much, much harder and more complicated.
And for me, they cracked it.
Shaw: I will admit that I found it a little busy.
Ive seen it three times; life is short.
And then I saw the Disney+ film and yep, I would now definitely go back.
And I think it will do that for others.
I am suddenly just dying to be … Im not going to say it.
Harris: I know, I know, but I hear youwantingto say it.
Shaw: Let us say, I want to be in the chamber where it occurs.
Harris: In the space where it takes place!
Did you call it performance on film?
I think thats exactly the right phrase.
Its a political show that will speak to any political moment, just in different ways.
It was about joy and rebellion.
It isnt a memorial, but itisamonument.
It isof size;its going to be difficult to move; its cast iron, or whatever.
And thats what I thought watchingHamiltonlast night.Hamiltonis clearly the achievement of musical theater of the last ten years.
And its a monument made of Black faces; its all brown faces.
Harris: Like you, I think that Ive had a journey in terms of how I read that.
[As an audience member], you know that howHamiltonwas cast is part of whatHamiltonis.
And about the people who are determined to hold on to that custody.
Shaw: I should also say, I think the third big contextual shift is obviously the pandemic.
Her mouth hinges in the back of her head, somehow.
And it is so exciting.
Through the screen, you get this fight-or-flight response.
Her sound is unearthly: this gigantic, resonant, indescribable thing.
And I thought, selfishly speaking, Im very eager for theater to survive the pandemic.
It proves that it is very, very precious.
This show is in-your-face at a moment when nothing is allowed to be in your face.
The language of the show is, in some places, about showing off putting up a good persona.
And that is also part of the joy of theater.
Its particularly moving to see it at a time when all of that seems so imperiled.
I wanna see the spit; I wanna see the sweat.
I want people to know why its exciting to watch people in real time turn into somebody else.
Like you, I miss all of that very much.
But I would give anything to suffer some of the longueurs of theater right now.
I really do miss it more than I imagined.
