Hamilton Musical Review (Disney+ Movie vs. Theatre Version)

Read: HAMILTON in MANILA! (A Review) + Guide

Awesome to watch the Hamilton Musical on Disney Plus performed by the original cast led by Lin-Manuel Miranda as the author and lead actor to celebrate the American Independence Day weekend.

Hamilton is a theatre hip hop musical about the story of the United States Founding Fathers particularly Alexander Hamilton. We watched Hamilton at the West End in London last 2018.

Here’s what we think about what we like about the theatre movie version vs. the live theatre production.

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First Things First

This is one of our memorable dates with Rache watching the sold-out West End production of Hamilton at the Victoria Palace Theatre, London last March 2018.  We almost missed this but luck was on our side, someone returned 2 tickets and we immediately grabbed that opportunity even if it was out of our budget.  I did not want to let this pass while we were in London.

Awesome to watch the Filipino cast: Rachelle Ann Go as Eliza Hamilton and Christine Allado as Peggy Schuyler/ Maria Reynolds (mistress)!

After the show, we waited for the fan moment with Rachelle Ann Go to congratulate her for the awesome Eliza performance (better than the original version).

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Hamilton Disney+ Theatre Movie

Love the close-up shots of the theatre movie version that provides a more intimate connection with the characters.

This is my favorite scene — My Shot and love the cinematic shots of the movie version but it failed to capture the live energy of the thumping and clapping, the fast rap with clear diction, and the inspiring message that touched our pumped up hearts.

The King George performance of Michael Jibson in West End was a lot better and I remembered that we were laughing the whole time because the actor’s acting was on point with the British’s mocking humor of their crazy King George.

Every musical need a signature love song and ‘Helpless’ was done quite well. I understood this scene better because of the rewind sequence of Angelica Schuyler on how she secretly loves Alexander.

Love The Ten Duel Commandments movie version because of the close-up, wide, and eagle’s eye view shots that increased the drama of the scene.

I appreciate more the Rap Battle between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton because the captions were very helpful to provide context. You can pause the scene and google what happened during this time to better understand it.

I can still vividly remember  the piano/beatbox scene of Rachelle Ann Go which is way better than the original cast version.

The drama of the scenes was accentuated with the slow motions and lighting contrast during the movie version.

The message is more relevant today specially during this pandemic. You get to reflect on how and who you will tell your Covid war stories and make this moment count.

Will you be the Aaron Burr or the Alexander Hamilton in the post-Covid world?

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Final Thoughts

Thank you to Lin-Manuel and the Hamilton team for releasing the Stage Theatre Movie version of Hamilton where we can experience the characters and the story in a more intimate and touching moment.

To be honest, I was inspired to make my story count more than ever during this pandemic despite the crisis, to help as many people as possible during this historic moment.

The Disney Plus movie version has better cinematic shots, more intimate relationship with the characters because of the close-ups, clear captions, and better context with slower R&B pacing. Of course, nothing beats Lin-Manuel’s Alexander Hamilton performance and we watched it over and over again this weekend.

Best of all, you can sing your hearts out in a karaoke rap session as you watch it.

The London West End Hamilton version is more awesome for us because you can feel the intense emotions and appreciate the precise synchronization of the fast rap, hip hop dance, and message delivery. We are also just proud of Rachelle Ann Go’s performance and appreciated it more after watching the movie.

I didn’t realize how special that Hamilton moment in London with Rache.  Proud to be a Filipino that night and happily reminiscing it once again.

Live an Awesome Life,

Founder, Our Awesome Planet

Disclosure: We paid for our Hamilton theater tickets and Disney+ subscription.  I wrote this article with my biases, opinions, and insights.

P.S. You can watch Hamilton Musical in Disney+ and you would need a VPN to watch and a US credit card to subscribe to Disney+. 

My name is Anton Diaz

And there’s a million things I haven’t done
But just you wait, just you wait…