alexander. i have to leave. ALEXANDER. look AROUND look aROUND, at how lucky we are to be alive right nowHELPLEEESSS they are ASKING me to lead look AROUND - isn’t THIS enough he will never be SATISwould it BE ENOUGH he will nevTO BE SATISFIIIIED SATISFIIIED sISTORY HAS ITS EEEEEEYES OOOOONNN YOU ASSUME YOU’RE THE SMARTEST IN THE NOOOOONNNN-STOP YOU WILL NEVER BE SATISWOULD IT BE ENOUGH SATISFIED BE ENOUGHFII-IIII-I-IIIIIEEED RUNNING OUT OF TIME WHY DO YOU WRITE LIKE HISTORY HAS ITS EEEEEYYYYYYYEEEESSSS OOOOOOONNNN YOU i am NOT throwing away my JUST YOU WAAAIT i am NOT THROWING AWAY MY JUST YOU WAAAIT I AM ALEXANDER HAMILTON!!! HAMILTON !!!!JUST youWAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTT
Throughout, Burr is easily the most relatable character. Who among us has not watched as a favored colleague rose through the ranks, drawing lucky ticket after lucky ticket, as you also toiled away, but to no reward? In “Right Hand Man,” Burr comes to then-general George Washington to propose a strategy for the war. At this point in history, Burr is a war hero: he fought his way through enemy forces in 1775 to rescue the body of his commander, Richard Montgomery, for which he received a citation for bravery.
Yet in this scene, Washington ignores Burr’s ideas and opinions in favor of young upstart Hamilton, asking him to “close the door on [his] way out.” Burr’s frustration at this deeply unfair dismissal is palpable. Burr is a genius, credentialed beyond belief. But at every point, Hamilton, either consciously or unconsciously, keeps Burr from “the room where it happens,” the place where the decisions are being made. Their eventual last encounter becomes more understandable by the second.
[…]
Burr really has two roles in the show: the omniscient narrator, and himself in the present moment. In the affecting finale, as he recounts the moments that led up to his and Hamilton’s fateful, fatal conflict, Odom’s voice takes on a note of barely disguised panic. As the keeper of the narrative, he knows what is coming yet is powerless to stop it.
Odom has said in interviews that he lets himself be shocked by the ending every night, lets himself believe it can be avoided until it can’t. He is a miraculous actor, one whom you can watch thinking, a rare and impressive skill. As he takes his position in the final duel, his eyes wide with fear, you can feel every inevitable step that led to this. Burr’s last “present-moment” word, as he’s shooting Hamilton, is “Wait!” in a terrifyingly sad recollection of his earlier catchphrase, which was the watchword of his ambitions—now to be dashed.
This leads to his all-too-knowing coda to the duel: “History obliterates—in every picture it paints, it paints me in all my mistakes…Now I’m the villain in your history. I was too young and blind to see—I should have known the world was wide enough for both Hamilton and me.” (That last is something the real Burr actually said before his own death at 80.) Odom weeps as he sings this, both out of regret and out of catharsis for all the pent-up frustration he’s been holding in the entire show.
- the sun is rising and you have to go to work. it’s a twenty
minute drive and you put on the CD player to blast the broadway album. you sing
along too loudly and try not to crash your car while delivering a line too vivaciously.
it is dark now. you don’t know when the album ended and you swapped disk 1 out
for disk 2 and disk 2 for disk 1 and disk 1 for disk 2—you keep driving,
propelled by the burning need to just listen to one more song. you will never
be satisfied.
- today is lin manuel miranda appreciation day. every day is
lin manuel miranda appreciation day. the gods require their sacrifice to keep
pure this precious human cinnamon roll. you do not hesitate to spill your blood
over your keyboard and the plastic CD case, red splattering over gold. they are
thirsty today.
- the album is on shuffle. one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine—– what is next? the ten duel commandments or there are ten things you need to know. you need to know (your emotions must be ready for hilarity or bone-crushing sadness). you wait with a heart beating too fast, but the next lyrics never come. you are waiting with bated breath forever. you will never know.
- it is there, always haunting your thoughts and driving your
speech. you have listened to it too many times so that it has been ingrained
into your brain and made your ears bleed. there is no such thing as too many
times. “meanwhile” someone says. you bite your lips and keep your tongue still.
they do not care, they do not need to know about madison (they do not deserve
to know).
- ‘yayhamlet’ you
whisper to strangers on the street. they look back at you with blank stares.
they do not understand, they never understand. you slump your shoulders and
soldier on. someday you will find the true hamiltrash.
- what is your name? you lick your lips and try hard to
remember. you can’t remember. the album has consumed all aspects of your
identity. you think it began with an ‘m’ or a ‘b’. no, it was an ‘a’. alexander.alexander hamilton. your name is alexander hamilton.
- you want to listen to something else. you scroll through your spotify and click play. how does a bastard, orphan son of a whore and a scotsman dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the caribean by providence, impoverished in squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar? this is not what you selected.you scroll through again. how does a bastard, orphan son of a whore—– again. how does a bastard—– again. how does—– again and again and again until your fingers bleed. you were a fool to think you could listen to anythign else. you cannot listen to anything else.
chris jackson was with lin in the heights and lin told him about the show and the rest is history
phillipa was asked by tommy kale to do a reading of act II of hamilton mixtape for elizabeth schyuler (and then immediately when she got off the phone was like ‘who is elizebeth schyuler?)
leslie got an email from lin with the subject “octoBURR-fest”
he then saw a reading at vassar and fell in love so he said yes right away
(lin then looked at the audience and went ‘you think you were the first ones to make burr puns, i see you!)
daveed knew lin from freestyle love
renee auditioned for the part after hearing the demo of lin singing ‘satisfied’
oak also auditioned - originally for the part of washington, but they also had him read for herc and he fell in love with the part
groff was asked to play the part after Brian d’Arcy James went to something rotten and he was like OF COURSE
lin wanted to include the fact that burr actually stopped a duel between james monroe and hamilton in the show
also maria reynolds got divorced from james reynolds and burr was her lawyer - he wanted to include that, too
according to daveed, jefferson came back from france and was like “everybody needs a dog, dogs are great” and by the end of his life he was like “dogs are the devil. fuck dogs” and after he told that story all the cast members were cracking up
interviewer: “renee, are you a rapper?” / renee: “i am now.”
apparently when they were in the public theatre after shows they would go into the green room and freestyle and oak and renee are really good
everyone is just so kind to each other and complimenting each other they are so cute omg
