broadwaysfguy said: ""everyone taking off this week" is a gross exaggeration
my friend whos there tonight sent performers listing tonight and entire cast is in except for josh henry and the phillip schuyler/doctor track"
No one said everyone was offf this week. We were pointing out how the last few weeks several people have taken vacation and were wondering if anyone aside from Joshua would also be on vacay this week as well. Given that Ryan Vasquez has said he'll be Burr sometime this week it looks like it's just Joshua his week who's out, which it nice because there's still a couple people who haven't taken vacation.
With the announced return in early 2019, I wonder if the Chicago run will just transfer over to SF and establish residency there for quite sometime. Either way, an extended run on the west coast is welcome news.
I have to say Ryan Vasquez did a very interesting take on Burr last night. More reserved and almost british colonial up till the end, then more manic and extreme when hamilton supports jefferson. solid volcal turns on room where it happens, wait for it and theodosia. he got very enthusiastic crowd response. Josh is still the burr champ imo and anyone who sees the show with Vasquez not knowing what they are missing with Josh will be very happy.
Ryan A was hamilton and his performance was much better than the first time i saw him. He played hamilton as more confident and if you squint he looks and sounds a lot like miranda. he's still missing the emotional depth and projection when his son dies and during the foregiveness scene, and something about his energy just doesnt make me believe he is as badass as hamilton must have been. see miranda, michael and Javier for how this energy is carried off...all three of them have "it"
also julia harriman in for eliza and she was fine
Jordon gave one of his best and funniest performances every as Jefferson. The role is in great hands and he has come a long way from the first preview march 10...fantastic job!
Rest of cast was great Emmy's singing and presence were amazing as always
I saw the show last night, too. It was my 4th time seeing the show (all 4 in SF), and my 2nd time with a different Hamilton (Ryan Alvarado both times), and my 1st with a different Burr (Ryan Vasquez) and Eliza (Julia Harriman). I agree with everything that @broadwaysfguy said about last night.
To be honest, if Ryan Alvarado and Ryan Vasquez were the actual SF leads for Hamilton and Burr, I would've been o.k. seeing the show one time. Michael Luwoye and Joshua Henry made me want to see the show every week and enter the lottery every single day. They're soooo good! Fortunately, I was able to see it four times thanks to my subscription, balcony seats opening up and winning the lottery.
I never saw the show in NYC and don't regret missing it. The one actor I wish I could've seen was Daveed Diggs.
I sat in balcony right last night (row AA, seat 4). It's a really good partial view seat. I posted pics on A View from My Seat website.
i called my broker friend at 1245 who said michael lewouye had just walked by. i got to the theatre at 120 and found out the entire original cast was in for major roles except josh for burr
was lucky enough to get orch e1 on left center aisle
the cast was on fire
the contrast of michael and ryan a in the hamilton role 18 hours apart was about a 5x difference in energy presence acting and passion
michael lowouye is fricking unreal and gives the kind of deep emotive performance that reminded me a lot of ben platt who i saw exactly a week ago
solea gave one of her finest performances both emotionally and vocally-i was soooo happy to see her one final time
emmy is just so good show after show
i also really took time to focus on the emsemble and their group vocals and incredible dancing
im so so grateful to shn for grabbing hamilton first on the tour and every single member of this extraordinary touring cast.
I saw the closing night of Hamilton in SF (my 3rd time seeing it). The dancing and ensemble work was sublime. I'm also glad I got to see Michael Luwoye again as Hamilton. His portrayal was so fiery and emotional. He has really captured the richness and complexities of the role. And his breakdown in "Quiet Uptown" just killed me. The whole cast was in (except for Joshua Henry) and was in excellent form. Ryan Alvarado was Burr. I'm sorry to be negative, but he was totally miscast. He simply didn't have the voice or presence to pull off the role. While he isn't necessarily a bad actor, he just seemed to be out of his league in trying to assume such a big role with so many complexities and contradictions. The evening truly belonged to Hamilton, while Burr seemed like a supporting character. I also saw him play Hamilton the last time I saw it. And he was actually even more forgettable in that role, which made it all about Burr. Aside from vaguely resembling Lin Manuel Miranda, I wonder what they were thinking when they cast him to be the standby for such heavyweights as Joshua Henry and Michael Luwoye.
i like to always support actors when possible, and have to agree with you completely that after casting two complete heavyweights stars as hamilton and burr, casting Ryan Alvarado in either role is a huge letdown.
i saw him twice as burr and twice as hamilton and his performances ranged from forgettable to wierd.... he just doesnt seem to have the acting depth, vocal nuance, and presence required for both these incredibly layered and challenging roles....
The good news for hamilton as a show is so incredible that i noticed casual theater goers who hadnt seen michael or josh and were thrilled to be seeing hamilton and seemed to be fine with Ryan A or Ryan V (i liked his acting as burr, vocally a letdown) in as the leads. I never like to see this happen on tours and hope someone at hamilton upgrades the understudies for the leads, and keeps the quality of those two lead roles extremely high.....
I, unfortunately, feel the same about Alvarado's Burr, I wasn't able tell if it was limited ability or choices he made, but it was lack luster. I found myself using his moments as a chance to scan the stage and pick up on movements from the ensemble and other actors, catching things I never noticed before because I was so engaged in the main focus.
I really really loved Vasquez's Burr though. I think He has a phenomenal voice, but agree it wasn't all it could be (yet!) I think if he gets the chance to play the role more and more, he can really be a powerhouse. (Like for example, Wait for it started off a little rough, not bad, just not very smooth, if that makes sense, but when the song picks up, so did he and he finished it very strong!) There were a few moments where I wondered if he was maybe tired, and really within two and a half weeks he played Washington Hamilton and Burr 4 times each, on top of his normal track, and this was his last SF performance as Burr that I saw, so that was a lot in such a short time, but I know he has the vocal chops, regardless, because I heard what he did with Washington and it's all there. I would be really really interested to see (or even just hear) him as burr after he gets a few more attempts under his belt. His acting was spot on though, like his Hamilton, I really enjoyed how he made the part his own and during The World Was Wide Enough, it was the first time Burr ever made me cry. The emotion in his voice was so insane, and when he got to "I survived, but I paid for it." It was like he could barely get the words out. I feel like it's just a mater of time before he really breaks out, he's got all the pieces.
I totally agree with everything you said about Vasquezs Burr. He started out a little shaky with Wait For It, but finished it strong. I think I even preferred his Room Where it Happens to Joshua's, though Joshua was definitely the best overall.Â
article from the SF Chronicle about "the Hamilton Effect" on restaurants and bars around the Orpheus Theater. The link is part of the paid subscription, but first timers accessing the site should get free views. You can also wait a few days, as often articles on the paid site transfer to the free companion site, www.sfgate.com.
If you can't access the link, there is nothing too surprising: Hamilton brought a much-needed jolt of revenue to the up-and-down mid-Market area. There was considerably more business than other shows at the Orpheus. Business was way up before and after the eight weekly performances. Restaurants rode the wave by creating Hamilton-themed menus and dishes. For SHNSF, the local producer, season ticket sales for next season stand at 35,000, down from 42,000 last season.
n.holden said: "I totally agree with everything you said about Vasquezs Burr. He started out a little shaky with Wait For It, but finished it strong. I think I even preferred his Room Where it Happens to Joshua's, though Joshua was definitely the best overall."
Joshua is definitely better overall, but it's so hard to even try to compare when it comes to him. I think that's why I appreciated Vasquez's Ham and Burr so much. Michael and Joshua are such powerhouses, so he took the roles in different directions letting his performances be something you can completely appreciate on their own without being able to compare them, intentionally or otherwise. There were no traces of either performer when he was taking on the parts and that's definitely why I think he's really going to go places. The confidence he exuded in all three roles I saw him cover was palpable. I'm really excited to see where this all takes him.
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Posted: 8/1/17 at 11:15pm