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naijastudio · 3 years

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Kanye West Biography, Age And Net Worth

Kanye West is a Grammy Award-winning rapper, record producer, and fashion designer who is known for his outspokenness. Kanye West: Who Is He? Kanye West first rose to prominence in the music industry as a producer for well-known acts. With his 2004 debut, College Dropout, he demonstrated his rap ability, and albums like Late Registration (2005), My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010), Yeezus (2013), and Yeezus (2014) confirmed his spot atop the hip hop world (2018). West is a Grammy Award winner who is also noted for his awards show antics, excursions into fashion, and his marriage to Kim Kardashian. Kanye West Life Style And Birth Kanye Omari West was born on June 8, 1977, in Atlanta, Georgia. Ray, his father, was a photojournalist for the Atlanta Journal and a member of the Black Panther Party; he eventually became a Christian counselor. Donda West, West's mother, was a teacher who went on to become a professor of English at Chicago State University and then her son's manager before dying in 2007 at the age of 58 from heart illness following cosmetic surgery. Her death would have a huge impact on West's musical career as well as his personal life. When West was three, Ray and Donda split amicably. Following that, he was reared by his mother in Chicago's middle-class South Shore neighborhood and spent summers with his father. West traveled to China with Donda when he was ten years old, where she taught as part of a university exchange program; he was the only foreigner in his class. West was lured to the South Side's hip-hop scene after returning to Chicago, and he befriended DJ and producer No I.D., who became his mentor. West received a scholarship to study at Chicago's American Academy of Art after graduating from Polaris High School, but he dropped out to pursue music full-time, a move that would later inspire the title of his first solo album. Kanye West Net Worth Net Worth: $6.6 Billion Date of Birth: Jun 8, 1977 (44 years old) Gender: Male Height: 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Profession: Record producer, Songwriter, Singer, Actor, Film Producer, Rapper, Businessperson, Screenwriter, Fashion designer, Music Video Director Nationality: United States of America Kanye West Music Career West created a trademark sound known as "chipmunk soul," which features sped-up soul samples, after spending time producing for local musicians. Following that, in 2001, he relocated to New York. He got his big break here, working on the production for Jay-song Z's "This Can't Be Life," which debuted on the album Dynasty: Roc La Familia in 2000. He reinforced his rising fame the following year by producing four songs on Jay Z's The Blueprint, widely regarded as one of the best rap albums of all time. West went on to create for other notable artists including as Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and Ludacris, as well as singers Alicia Keys and Beyoncé. West, on the other hand, was not content to be a sidekick. He aspired to be the main attraction, but found it difficult to be taken seriously as a rapper at first. He begged Roc-A-Fella Records to let him rap, but as co-founder Jay-Z told Time magazine later, "We were all raised as street kids who had to do whatever it took to get by. Then there's Kanye West, who, as far as I'm aware, has never worked a day in his life. I couldn't see how it could possibly work." Other labels reacted in a similar way to West. He said, "I'd leave meetings crying all the time." Damon Dash reluctantly signed West to Roc-A-Fella in 2002, but he did so only to keep him as a producer. West was injured in a head-on vehicle incident while driving home from a recording session in a California studio in October of that year, leaving him with a cracked jaw. With his jaw still wired shut after reconstructive surgery, he wrote and recorded "Through the Wire," a song about the experience.While recuperating in L.A., he wrote the most of the rest of his debut album. However, once the album was finished, it was leaked on the internet. West chose to improve it by revising and rewriting songs and fine-tuning the production, which included the addition of heavier drums, gospel choirs, and strings (he paid for orchestras out of his own pocket). Dropout from College The album was finally published in February 2004 and quickly became a hit, selling 2.6 million copies and propelling West to stardom. The College Dropout defied the gangsta-rap mold, including topics like as consumerism (of which he was critical at the time), racism, higher education, and his religious convictions. "They say you can rap about anything but Jesus," he rapped on the tune "Jesus Walks," "That means weapons, sex, lies, videotapes/But if I talk about God, my album won't get played." The College Dropout reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart, and West garnered ten Grammy nominations, winning three of them, including Best Rap Song and Best Rap Album for "Jesus Walks." West formed his record label, GOOD music — an acronym for Getting Out Our Dreams — with Sony BMG shortly after the album's release. He'd release songs by John Legend, Big Sean, Common, Pusha-T, and others. Registration after the deadline West spent a year and $2 million on his sophomore album, enlisting the help of an orchestra and composer Jon Brion, who had never worked with a rapper before. According to the New York Times, West, the restless bourgeois-creative, wanted to "see how far he might expand" hip hop. The results were outstanding, with Best Rap Album winning again, as well as Best Rap Song for "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" and Best Rap Solo Performance for "Gold Digger," and Best Rap Song for "Diamonds from Sierra Leone." Late Registration premiered at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 200, a feat West would replicate with each solo album release after that. In Rolling Stone's five-star review of the album, Rob Sheffield stated, "On Late Registration, the Louis Vuitton Don doesn't just want to create pop music — he wants to be pop music." "As a result, he improves his lyrical game, displays his epic production skills, reaches higher, pushes harder, and declares the entire world of music to be hip hop turf." West appeared on an NBC program in September 2005, a month after the release of Late Registration, to collect donations for Hurricane Katrina victims. When he declared live on air that "George Bush doesn't care about Black people," echoing widespread criticism of the president for not visiting the damaged city of New Orleans straight away, he ignited a national media storm - his first, but by no means his last. West's remark enraged Bush, who subsequently described it as a "disgusting moment." Graduation West was motivated to create hip hop more anthemic, to be performed in stadiums and arenas, after traveling with U2 in 2005-2006. He began to incorporate elements of both rock & roll (the Stones, Led Zeppelin, and the Killers) into his music (which originated in his hometown of Chicago). Graduation, his third album, was released on September 11, 2007. It was released on the same day as 50 Cent's album Curtis, in a struggle for hip-soul hop's between the educated showman and the bullet-scarred street thug. But there could only be one winner with Graduation's breakthrough (for hip-hop) palette of layered electronic synthesizers and sloganeering wordplay — "I'm like the fly Malcolm X/Buy any jeans necessary," he sneered on "Good Morning" — West's album went straight to No. 1 after selling 957,000 copies in its first six days. With the music industry wringing its hands over the internet's impact on profit margins, West simply embraced the change with his video for the single "Can't Tell Me Nothing," in which he hired comedian Zach Galifianakis to lip-sync along to the lyrics on an alternate version, resulting in a YouTube viral sensation. The Death of Kanye West Mother West was on top of the world, acclaimed as the musician who had put gangster rap on the verge of extinction. Then catastrophe happened in November 2007. Donda, his adored mother, died of a heart attack after cosmetic surgery. He dedicated a performance of "Hey Mama" to her on his first show after the funeral. West split up with his fiancée, Alexis Phifer, a few months later. 808s & Heartbreak, his next album, was released 12 months after his mother died and was laced with grief, agony, and isolation. West even gave up rapping in favor of singing through an Auto-Tune vocal processor, which gave his voice a robotic tone – a technique that is now commonplace in hip hop. "Hip hop is done for me," he declared after describing the new album as "pop art" (not to be confused with the visual art movement). (It wasn't; he won Grammys for guest raps on Estelle's "American Boy" and TI's "Swagga Like Us" that year.) Kanye West Earnings By Year Follow Money Year Earnings 2007 $17,000,000 2008 $30,000,000 2009 $25,000,000 2010 $12,000,000 2011 $16,000,000 2012 $35,000,000 2013 $20,000,000 2014 $30,000,000 2015 $22,000,000 2016 $18,000,000 2017 $22,000,000 2018 $90,000,000 2019 $100,000,000 2020 $200,000,000 Total: $437,000,000 Taylor Swift's VMA Feud and Diss The fragility of West's mental health was brought into question the following year at the MTV Video Music Awards. He stormed the stage during Taylor Swift's acceptance speech for the Best Female Video award (for "You Belong to Me") at Radio City Music Hall in New York to argue that Beyoncé should have won instead. The reverberations from that moment are still being felt. West apologized, then retracted his apology in a New York Times interview in 2013. By 2015 they had become friends and were even spotted at dinner together. Then in 2016 Kanye rapped on his song "Famous": "I feel like me and Taylor might still have s*x/Why? I made that b**** famous." Swift responded from the stage at the 2016 Grammy Awards, this time unapologetically, with the words: "To all the young women out there, I want to say something: There will be people who try to undermine your success or take credit for your successes along the way... Don't let those folks get in the way." Fashion West took a break from music after the Swift fiasco to focus on fashion. Since 2006, he'd been collaborating with limited-edition sneakers with brands including A Bathing Ape and Nike. To obtain experience, he reportedly interned at Gap in 2009 and later Fendi. In 2011, he debuted his first collection in Paris, however it was critically lambasted. Long Nguyen, style director of Flaunt magazine, sniffed, "You can't just dump some fox fur on a runway and call it luxury." At the show's after-party, West delivered a wounded-sounding address. "Please take it easy," he said. "Please give me the opportunity to mature." After a lackluster response to his second collection a year later, West stated that he would no longer be presenting in Paris. In 2013, he collaborated on a capsule collection with the French label APC, and in October 2015, he struck a $10 million agreement with Adidas, launching his first sportswear collection, Yeezy Season 1, with the brand. The label has received mixed reviews, while Anna Wintour praised his Season 5 collection in February 2017. She told the New York Post, "I really liked it." "A little more attention than we've seen from him before." My Dark Twisted Fantasy West returned to music in November 2010 with his fifth album, a bombastic and towering monument to self-aggrandizement that sounded "like an instant greatest hits," according to Pitchfork. It was a bombastic and towering monument to self-aggrandizement with paranoid celebrity and rampant consumption as the dominant themes: it was a bombastic and towering monument to self-aggrandizement that sounded "like an instant greatest hits" according to Pitchfork It was Kanye West's best and worst all bundled into one: a magnum work that bordered on the insane. It spawned four songs, including "Monster," on which West, Jay Z, and Rick Ross were famously beaten into second place by Nicki Minaj's furious guest verse. In 2011, West and his old sparring partner Jay Z released Watch the Throne, a joint album that delivered seven songs, including "Otis" and "Niggas in Paris," as well as three additional Grammy awards for West and Jay Z. Relationship In 2012, West released Cruel Summer, a compilation album including artists from his GOOD Music label. However, his romance with reality-TV star Kim Kardashian, which began in April, dominated the headlines that year. They married on May 24, 2014, in the medieval Fort di Belvedere in Italy, after West proposed at the AT&T baseball stadium in San Francisco on October 21, 2013. As Kardashian came down the aisle, Andrea Bocelli performed, The designer Rachel Roy, tennis champion Serena Williams, film director Steve McQueen, and music performers Legend, Q-Tip, Rick Rubin, Tyga, and Lana Del Rey were among the visitors. North (born June 15, 2013), Saint (born December 5, 2015), and another daughter are the couple's three children (born via surrogate January 15, 2018). Psalm, the couple's fourth child, was born via surrogate in May 2019. Yeezus West's sixth studio album, Yeezus, was released in June 2013 and had little evidence that the rapper was living a happy life. West had engaged producer Rick Rubin to make sweeping alterations just days before the album's release, thus the sound was aggressive, raw, and almost entirely melody-free. On "I Am a God," which featured the iconic phrase "Hurry up with my stupid croissants," West sounded neurotic and egocentric to the point of bathos. With the exception of the excellent glam-rock-inspired hit "Black Skinhead," West stated the album was a "attack against the commercial," and it certainly included nothing that was radio-friendly (the first of only two singles from the album). Yeezus is the only album by Kanye West to have sold less than one million copies in the United States. Nonetheless, it was highly welcomed by critics, including rock veteran Lou Reed, who told Rolling Stone that "It's as if you're crafting a movie with each tune... The guy is incredibly gifted." Beef on Jimmy Kimmel In September, West and Jimmy Kimmel had a Twitter dispute after the talk-show host ridiculed an interview West had given to the BBC in the United Kingdom. On his show, Jimmy Kimmel hired young actors to recite some of West's more bombastic remarks. West, on the other hand, was not amused. One of a series of outraged tweets said, "Jimmy Kimmel is out of line to try to mimic in any manner the first piece of honest media in years." During his next episode, Kimmel happily read out West's tweets, eliciting more ire from the rapper, who shared a link to a Slate piece headed "Kanye was right." West returned on Jimmy Kimmel Live the following month, and the conversation lasted the most of the broadcast, with multiple free-flowing Kanye monologues covering everything from his career to his thoughts on the paparazzi, Steve Jobs, and Jesus. "I don't know whether you're aware of this, but a lot of people believe you're a jerk," Kimmel said, before complimenting West's portrayal. West had been hurt by Kimmel's characterization of him, as it turned out, because the two had known each other before to the disagreement. "When I'm cooking up a comedic routine," Kimmel said, "regarding a celebrity's feelings is not something that comes to mind." They had cleared the air by the end of the show. More Public Outbursts, Collaboration with Paul McCartney, and Rihanna West made history as the first rapper to collaborate with Paul McCartney, releasing the tune "Four Five Seconds" alongside the Beatles icon and Rihanna at the start of 2015. But a month later, there was yet another award-show snarl, this time at the Grammys, when West protested to Beck winning Best Album. After the ceremony, West remarked, "Beck needs to respect artistry, and he should have presented his trophy to Beyoncé." In an interview with The Sunday Times newspaper in England a few months later, he withdrew his comments. "My image of a gentleman who plays 14 instruments not respecting craftsmanship was incorrect," he admitted. West, along with other artists such as Beyoncé, Jay Z, Rihanna, Madonna, Chris Martin, and Nicki Minaj, was introduced as a co-owner of the music-streaming service Tidal in March. Despite a petition with 135,000 signatures requesting for him to be removed from the lineup, he headlined the Glastonbury festival in the United Kingdom in June. The Life of Pablo Picasso In the lead-up to his seventh album, The Life of Pablo, there was even more controversy. West made headlines before the film's release on February 14, 2016, for a series of inflammatory tweets, including one declaring Bill Cosby, who is on trial for drugging and raping women, to be innocent. He began a feud with Wiz Khalifa, a musician he mistookly believed had ridiculed his wife, Kim Kardashian ("I am your OG and I will be respected as such," West tweeted.). He also expressed regret for appearing to disparage Michael Jordan in his lyrics. West then oddly advised his fans to lobby Facebook founder Mark Zuckerber the day after his album was released. He also expressed regret for appearing to disparage Michael Jordan in his lyrics. West then oddly pushed his fans to lobby Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to spend $1 billion in West's "ideas" the day after his album was released. He also claimed to be in debt for $53 million. Thealbum was yet another departure from the norm, as well as a triumph. It has a considerably broader sound than Yeezus, integrating a wide range of sounds, styles, and inspirations, ranging from trap to gospel to Auto-Tune crooning, avant-pop, vintage soul, and dancehall. Frank Ocean, Chance the Rapper, Rihanna, Desiigner, and Kid Cudi were among the guest vocalists. It was West's sixth solo album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 list in a row. Cancellation of the Tour and Return to the Spotlight West paused a show in Sacramento on November 20, 2016, while on his Saint Pablo Tour, to go on a rambling diatribe about radio playlists, MTV, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Beyoncé, and Jay Z ( "Call me, Jay Z... I know you've got killers. Please don't shoot them at me "(Imaginative+ paraphrase). He had ranted onstage and proclaimed support for Trump for the second time in a week, and this time it seemed like a public breakdown – he did not finish the act. He canceled the remaining 21 concerts of his tour the next day, citing tiredness, and spent the next eight days in the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Pusha T, the president of GOOD music, revealed in an interview in February 2017 that West was working on a new album. Rumors about the album's progress persisted, with some stories claiming that the Grammy winner had sought creative inspiration in the Rockies of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. With the announcement that he was authoring a philosophy-themed book, Break the Simulation, in April 2018, West re-entered the news cycle. Days later, he verified the rumors of new material in a rapid-fire sequence of tweets, announcing that he will release two albums in June, the second of which would feature longtime collaborator Kid Cudi. The artist then caused a sensation when his tweets turned to his admiration for President Donald Trump, referring to him as "my brother" and claiming that they shared "dragon energy," even sharing a selfie wearing Trump's "Make America Great Again" cap. West later clarified the situation by adding that he adored Hillary Clinton as well and that he didn't agree with everything the president stated. "I don't agree with anyone except myself 100 percent," he wrote. Read the full article

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portugalnet · 7 years

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what are the most important/beautiful things to visit in lisboa?

OH BOY

ok so it REALLY REALLY DEPENDS on what you like but the GENERAL MUST SEES for me are (and i’m only mentioning things/places IN LISBON - sintra isn’t lisbon, i know sometimes it’s sold/advertised as it is but it isn’t and while it’s 100% worth it it’ll take you like 1h to get there so you have to dedicate a whole day to it):

first of all: most museums are open on sundays and closed on mondays, don’t open until 10h, and have their last entry about 1h/30min before the museum closes. plan accordingly. but the nice thing about lisbon is that if you’re here on a monday there’s still plenty of things to see.

the whole downtown/chiado/bairro alto area. like. that’s vague i know but you just have to walk around and enjoy the day tbh. if you don’t want to suffer i recommend starting in principe real (the very top) and make your way down to the downtown area (a lot of people go the other way around and like RIP honestly). IF YOU HAVE THE TIME principe real is just a neat place to start, as you start going down there’s a gorgeous viewpoint, you can then visit the church (and museum) of são roque, and then you can get yourself inside bairro alto and explore its streets (art, shops, you’ll find a bit of everything there - unless you’re going at night then you’ll only find bars lmao). in chiado there are a bunch of churches you can visit for free if you’re into that. right next to chiado you have the church/ruins of carmo (you’ll hear and read convent of carmo but it’s not the convent it’s just the church turned museum - the convent is occupied by GNR) which is a must see for me tbh. also in chiado you have the iconic brasileira café, and the chiado museum (contemporary - again depends on what you like and dislike). in the downtown area there’s an archaeological center if you like those things (more info here - also fun fact if you go inside H&M, on the ground floor, and look down the floor is made of glass and you’ll se roman ruins). the lift of santa justa is neat, the arch of rua augusta are neat as well (you can see both but you don’t necessarily have to visit them). if you want to learn more about the history of lisbon, Lisboa Story Centre (in commerce square/praça do comercio) is p neat. AROUND HERE YOU ALSO HAVE: rua cor de rosa/pink streett (near cais do sodré - just a neat street, at night it’s usually filled with people bc it has a lot of bars), the historical ginginha place (near rossio - ginjinha is a sweet liqueur), lisbon jewish memorial (in rossio), adamastor viewpoint (on the edge of bairro alto - gorgeous and p much almost everyone’s fav, someone will likely try to sell u drugs here just say no and keep doing ur thing it has happened to almost all of us)

st george’s castle - the whole castle hill tbh. marybe follow the "cerca velha" pedestrian route which personally is one of my favourites. ANYWAY my advice for you is to walk there. i know it seems like a lot (esp in this heat) but if you take your time and don’t rush, maybe make a stop (there’s plenty of viewpoints), it’s really not that bad and on your way up you’ll get to visit Sé/the cathedral, viewpoints, the ruins of the roman theater (there’s a museum too - the ruins are free but the museum isn’t). here i’ll even write u a thing - i recommend going up the following streets: rua santo antónio da sé (you can visit st anthony’s church first - not really mandatory but he’s p important to lisbon so? yeah? - and then the cathedral), rua augusto rosa, rua da saudade (roman theater + museum - museum not really hella important but it’s still interesting) all the way up to st george’s castle, (and now you start going down) rua do chão da freira, travessa do funil, largo do contador mor, travessa de santa luzia (viewpoint + church), largo das portas do sol (viewpoint - there’s some museum here as well but they’re not… important… altho i do suggest the decorative arts museum which is one a lot of people ignore & it’s gorgeous. NOW, you can call it a day here or you can keep going. chill at the viewpoint for a while, get some food and drinks, and then go down to alfama (historical neighborhood - there’s a staircase in the viewpoint in a street called rua norberto de araújo wher you’ll find this aka the story of lisbon) you’ll end up close to the river and 5 minutes from commerce square/praça do comercio. depending on what do you and skip/don’t skip, this is a tour that can take half day to a whole day. i once did the whole thing in 4hrs but i really do recommend taking your time especially in this heat!!!!!!!!!!!!! NEARBY: you have the fado museum (which also has a restaurant).

listen…. u gotta dedicate a day or an afternoon to belém. u just gotta do it. my recommendations for belém are: the monastery of st jerome (u don’t have to pay to go inside the church and like u can just visit the church but…. the monastery is totally worth it imo), the archeological museum (if you like those things), the naval museum (listen i didn’t think much of this museum but it’s…. it’s incredible), the national coach museum, pasteis de belém (not a museum - it’s where u buy delicious tartlets from heaven. there’s going to be a line bc there’s ALWAYS line but the ppl who work there move fast just HAVE THE MONEY IN HAND), the tropical & botanical gardens (not really mandatory but a+ if u like gardens), and if you’re up to it ajuda’s palace which is nearby (you can walk there) and a personal fav. you need to visit the tower of belém but you don’t NEED to go inside - you can, awesome, it’s great, i love it, but if the line is huge or you’re on a budget you can see it from the outside that’s it’s still fucking outstanding and incredible. same goes to the monument to the navigators/monument to the discoveries/padrão dos descobrimentos. if you like contemporary art (or just want to chill bc the view is nice and there’s cafés) def visit CCB (cultural center - big white building, u won’t miss it - it houses the berardo museum which has works by ppl u might know such as picasso, dali, and warhol). tips for visiting belém are: lunch hours are the best for visiting the monastery - there are HUGE lines in the mornings (esp during the weekends and fridays) and at about 3pm they start getting huge again. either go early (10am) or around noon. ALSO ANOTHER TIP: YOU CAN BUY COMBINED TICKETS IN A MUSEUM TO VISIT OTHER MUSEUMS!!!!!!! i can’t promise you you’ll be able to skip lines bc sometimes it’s just fucking impossible and it’s no one’s fault (especially not the museum workers!) but if you have combines tickets YOU CAN ASK IF YOU CAN SKIP. i can’t remember all the combinations off the top of my head but just go to a museum/monument and ask about the combined tickets! if you want to visit several things it’ll save you money. ALSO NEARBY BUT NOT NECESSARILY IMPORTANT IT DEPENDS ON YOUR TASTE ETC: if you like art def visit the ancient art museum - several buses that go to belém (and from belém to lisbon) stop right in front of it. a cool place to chill is LX factory - several buses that go to belém (and from belém to lisbon) stop right in front of it.

OTHER THINGS: Gulbenkian!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! if you have the time DO VISIT THE GULBENKIAN MUSEUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it’s gorgeous. it has a nice space for you to relax. it’s worth it. 10/10 heaven on earth 100% recommend and would take a bullet for. the national tile museum is hella nice but again it depends on what you want to do and the time you have available. the orient museum is also a personal fav but like… i don’t know if it’s for everyone? but yeah. you also have the whole estrela area - there’s the royal basilica and you have the house of writer and poet fernando pessoa nearby.

there are other things you can visit, obviously, but i think i covered the basics and what’s most important. if you like something in particular or have a particular interest let me know so i can share things in specific!

#Anonymous #portugal #lisboa #lisbon #visit lisbon #visit portugal

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fourteenacross · 7 years

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hamilton chicago: friday, may 19

AS PROMISED! Show notes! About the Eliza Company!

(Previous Ham show notes: May ‘16, July ‘16, October ‘16)

Pre-show notes:

There were so many stairs! Which wouldn’t have been a problem except they didn’t sell all the merch upstairs and didn’t SAY THAT until we were already up there, so I ran a marathon to get a gd hoodie. idk how those Great Comet kids do that every night, jesus

The stage is smaller or at least SEEMS smaller--more narrow. Thus, some of the choreography seemed different.

This will be the bougiest thing I type in this review, so brace yourselves: they had different signature cocktails and they did NOT have a gin cocktail and while their Hennessy cocktail was FINE, I was a little bummed.

In overview: I LOVED this cast and most of them are now my second favorites after the OBC. They were PHENOMENAL. I’m so jealous of all my buddies in Chicago who are so close to this cast.

Cast: Alexander Hamilton: Miguel Cervantes Aaron Burr: Daniel Breaker Eliza Hamilton: Ari Afsar Angelica Schulyer: Karen Olivo George Washington: Jonathan Kirkland Lafayette/Jefferson: Chris De'Sean Lee Mulligan/Madison: Jean Godsend Floradin Laurens/Philip: Jose Ramos Peggy/Maria: Samantha Marie Ware and the rest of the cast

Song-by-Song

Alexander Hamilton: It was weird not having the wild applause after each actor’s entrance, not even for A.Ham. There was nothing wrong with that, it just threw me. I could tell IMMEDIATELY that Daniel Breaker’s Burr was going to be unique. There wasn’t as much emphasis on my FAVORITE DUMB DETAIL of this song, the coat-books-bag hand-off.

Aaron Burr, Sir: Daniel plays Burr as a little more irreverent, and a little closer to ~*~historical Burr~*~ rather than Leslie’s more sleek and refined Burr. His “talk less, smile more” was almost sarcastic, and that really set the tone for him. The whole time that AHam is ranting and babbling, he looked more and more like he was trying to keep his distance, like he was already exasperated. The intros for the gang were PERFECT. They were different from the OBC, but still in the same style.

My Shot: THIS WAS SO GOOD. The moment I knew this cast was going to be something else. This song was a perfect encapsulation of Hamilvantes--frantic and desperate and defensive and ready for shit. José was a perfect hype-man, his Laurens’ recklessness really shone through, like this was what he was always primed to do and he finally found someone willing to encourage it. Chris Lee was SO funny and his accent was PERF. I’d say better than Daveed’s, but I’ll get to the issues with that later. We had an understudy for Mull/Mad, Jean Godsend Floradin, and he was SO AMAZING--he was small and somehow had all that big Hercules Mulligan personality inside of him all the same.

Story of Tonight: I will admit that this song was not as queer as I’m used to/wanted it to be. AHam did a lot more hanging off of everyone as opposed to just Laurens. Of course, no one will ever gay this up as much as Lin and Anthony.

Schuyler Sisters: SAMANTHA WARE THO. Peggy is so frustrated and angry with her big sisters at the start and that was perfect. Karen is AMAZING she brings a very different energy to Angelica in this song, more...I don’t know, like she’s rushing out there to learn, whereas Renee played it more like she already KNEW these things, but was bringing her sisters out to see it for themselves. Also, Daniel’s Burr is so full of himself and such a smarmy asshole and I LOVED IT.

Farmer Refuted: Seabury was so tiny! José Amor was just swallowed by the costume. He played the character younger and less condescending than Thayne does. Miguel had an almost angry edge to his delivery, or maybe more sarcastically vindictive. Whatever he did, it was super funny.

You’ll Be Back: This was funny? idk, I’m not into these songs as much as other people, they’re funny, but it’s kind of just one joke?

There were audible gasps during the transition, which furthers my conviction that it’s one of the three best things in the show that you don’t know about if you haven’t seen it.

Right Hand Man: Jonathan Kirkland as GWash was really good, but it took me a couple minutes to decide that/connect with him.Very commanding and frustrated in a very different way than Chris Jackson. Older seeming. I noticed for the first time the very specific desertion choreography leading up to “are these the men with which...etc.” I LOVED Daniel’s delivery of Burr’s lines in GWash’s office, particularly “from a distance.” “We keep meeting” was played for laughs explicitly, whereas on b’way I always feel like people laugh at it even though it isn’t necessarily delivered as a joke. (This line always scans as more creepy than funny to me on the cast recording.)

Winter’s Ball: Weirdly, this was the gayest number in the show? AHam and Laurens are hanging off each other basically up to the second the “ladies!” bit starts and did not seem like, totally convinced this was something worth their time? It was an interesting choice.

Helpless: My party was divided on their feelings on this song and Ari, but I came down strongly on LOVED HER. I wrote a little heart next to this number in the notes in my bullet journal. She was so cute and I loved her voice and she was perfectly bubbly and in love. Karen’s delivery of “I’m just saying...etc” was AMAZING and totally new and I loooooooved it.

Satisfied: I WOULD KILL A MAN FOR KAREN OLIVO. Her performance is basically like she’s having a conversation with herself, posing a question/problem and trying to come up with any possible solution where she wins. Like she’s working through this problem and realizing she’ll never win. It was much more...idk, interactive than Renee or Mandy? There was a lot of her delivery and face that was more animated. Her “so this is what it feels like...etc” was AMAZING, incredible, genuinely amazed and shocked that she was stymied by this guy’s brain. It’s definitely my favorite performance of this song ever. Worth the whole goddamn Chicago vacation on its own.

Story of Tonight (Reprise): Cute. “She’s married” was SO good. They were both so into it--Burr was smug and knew exactly what he as getting away with and AHam was almost proud of him for it XD

Wait For It: Daniel’s more rakish, funny Burr makes this song even more poignant, like a look into what’s beyond his jokey exterior. I connected with it SO deeply.

Stay Alive: Lee was pretty funny. I’m pretty sure Lafayette gave him the finger as he ran off, which made me laugh.

Ten Duel Commandments: Again with the “not as queer as it could be.” (Sorry, my gay, depressed, stressed out self over-relates to historical Laurens’ gay, depressed, stressed out self, so Laurens’ subtextual gayness is important to me.) (And a lot of feelings about the decision to make it subtextual in the libretto, if not in the OBC’s performance, but I won’t get into that.) (Altho I will say something about the letter hand-off at the “note for your next of kin” made it seem like the letter was specifically intended for AHam? Something in the look they exchanged on the hand-over.) José was SO tiny next to Robert Walters as Lee??? And, surprise, I loved Daniel’s delivery of E V E R Y O N E of his lines.

Meet Me Inside: GWASH WAS SO BIG AND AHAM IS SO LITTLE. Like, one of the few things I knew about this cast going in was that Miguel is the tiny!Ham, but Jonathan Kirkland is SO TALL! I loved AHam losing his shit, but given how scrappy and defensive Miguel plays the character for the rest of act one, I kind of expected more? GWash played it almost as if he wasn’t firing AHam, just sending him home to think about what he’d done and see his wife and cool off.

That Would Be Enough: Ari has a great voice and I love how physically affectionate she is with AHam. It felt so natural and really added to their chemistry.

Guns and Ships: Burr’s intro is SO EXCITED like he couldn’t wait to tell us about Lafayette. Like I said earlier, Chris Lee’s accent was better than Daveed’s, BUT because it was so good, I have a feeling some of the lines were indecipherable to people who didn’t know the words, despite the fact that his rapping was very crisp.

History Has Its Eyes on You: I never really noticed the signifigance of Washington handing over the sword before. It definitely felt like Washington was making sure AHam really thought long and hard about his new responsibilities before giving it to him.

Yorktown: INCREDIBLE. Mulligan’s verse was SO GOOD. This number always gives me chills and this was no exception. I always want to jump up and cheer and they def fueled that today. Also, the “immigrants” line got applause and cheers, even though a lot of the other applause/cheer lines didn’t not.

What Comes Next: This was fine.

Dear Theodosia: Very sweet on both their parts. Their voices really sound wonderful together.

Tomorrow There’ll Be More of Us: The cramped staging of this really threw me. AHam could have reached out and touched dead!Laurens. José played it kind of wistfully smiley which didn’t 100% work for me, which is probably good in the long run considering how wrecked I was watching Anthony.

Non-Stop: SO GOOD. At the beginning-- “after the war” etc--it was like AHam was trying to show up Burr in all his line deliveries. At the start of the courtroom bit, Burr looked at the audience like he was looking into the camera on the Office and it was amazing. “Constitutional convention” was adorbs--he started normal and went full on squeal by the end. “You’re a better lawyer than me” was SO GOOD, like he showed up just to announce that after steeling himself and Burr was so over it and I LOVED IT. The end was so perf and intense, specifically the “isn’t this enough”/”he will never be satisfied.” And AHam’s “look around, look around” is always one of my favorite lines.

Intermission: I am SO GOOD at bathrooms, guys, I was in the ladies room before the lights even came up all the way and out in time to grab a drink before dissecting the show with my buddies.

What’d I Miss?: Good, but not as good as I wanted it to be? Lots of little flourishes that made it his own, but not over the top enough for my preferences. (I’ve previously seen Daveed and Chappelle, so my preferences really err on the side of VERY OVER THE TOP). He kept poking Madison with his cane to get his attention, which was cute. His “I can’t believe that we are free” hit particularly hard for some reason--it might have been the angle I was sitting at and how the slaves were framed in the view from that side.

Cabinet Battle #1: GOOD ALL AROUND A+ EVERYONE.

Take a Break: I really liked José’s approach to this number more than Anthony’s. Anthony hangs a lampshade on it, José leaned into playing a nine year old, and that works better for me. The audience LOVED Eliza’s beatboxing. And Karen and Ari are SO. GOOD. TOGETHER.

Say No To This: Samantha Ware definitely plays Maria as more complicit in the blackmail. You can tell she LIKES AHam, but she’s also an adult who knows what she’s doing the whole time. I LOVED that play on it--very different from Jasmine, but equally nuanced and interesting.

Room Where It Happens: SO GOOD. I know I keep typing that in all caps but IT’S TRUE especially when it comes to Daniel’s Burr. It’s like he so genuinely was shocked and needed to figure this out. There was so much energy at the end and his final verse with slightly different choreography was sooooooo great.

Schuyler Defeated: Good job everyone.

Cabinet Battle #2: “France” was so good, like Madison wasn’t sure if he was supposed to reply once the mic was in his face. He almost missed it. A+.

Washington On Your Side: THIS WAS GREAT. I loved TJeff’s fast verse in the middle, his realization that he needed to resign made him wide-eyed and bowled over. Madison directed his “which I wrote!” at TJeffs and Burr, when he’s directed it off stage the last few times I’ve seen it, like he was finishing an argument with people and then wandering into this song. Burr was def stirring shit at the start when he went up to TJeffs.

One Last Time: ALSO SO GOOD EVERYTHING WAS SO GOOD SORRY. I loooooved GWash’s “talk less” which was much more sarcastic/bemused than Chris’ frustration on that line. His GWash overall had that much more fatherly feeling to him. His riffs at the end were amazing--he went full gospel and he def had a powerful enough voice for it.

I Know Him: Good, etc.

The Adams Administration: King George is much more involved in this number than he’s been any other time I saw it. I didn’t dislike that? I’m neutral on it.

We Know: Good. One of my other fave lines is in this song and I wasn’t super into the delivery of it, but overall it was suitably foreboding.

Hurricane: Beautiful. I really felt it on the heels of AHam’s desperation/defensiveness in Act 1. I totally get why he would do this, even more so than usual. And there was def a little spite thrown in with his other reasons, just for good measure, which is #relatablecontent.

The Reynolds’ Pamphlet: Samantha Ware’s forced “haha NOTHING TO SEE HERE” smile added to the “she’s complicit” vibe. José was great, King George and TJeffs were HILARIOUS.

Burn: SO FUCKING GOOD. SHE WAS SO ANGRY AND UPSET. I LOVED IT. Her “I hope that you BURN” at the end gave me chills and seemed ten times more vengeful and furious than any other performance I’ve seen, which I am INTO. Give me more furious, vengeful Eliza.

Blow Us All Away: mostly fine. Philip could have been a little suaver. “Everything is legal in New Jersey” was great, I have yet to hear a bad delivery of that line, though I may be biased.

Stay Alive (Reprise): SHE SCREAMED A LITTLE! Not the full on shriek, but a tiny anguished scream and that is ALL I WANT. It totally worked for me and was one of the two things I REALLY missed from Lexi’s performance.

Quiet Uptown: Not as emotional, and not in a bad way. Everyone was a little more in control, which is a legit way to play it--more numb than hysterical. As a result, I stayed more together than usual. Karen has a great voice, obvs.

Election of 1800: Burr was all exhausted for the whole thing and I loved it. I loved his eavesdropping on the voters. Madison’s delivery of “you worked on the same staff” was great. I kind of wanted more from Burr’s face after he lost b/c he was SO EXPRESSIVE for the rest of the show. The “because I’m the President” bit was good overall, though no one will ever beat Chappelle’s delivery of that line. Burr sucking up to TJeffs and the way TJeffs and Madison broke away to have that conversation like Burr wasn’t right there. Loved it!

Your Obedient Servant: FUNNY esp because Burr is SO MAD and then so sweet on that closing lines. His "Sweet Jesus" was great.

Best of Wives, Best of Women: I teared up. Ari and Miguel had such lovely, loving chemistry.

The World Was Wide Enough: Very good on all sides--Daniel killed it. I teared up on “Eliza!” as usual, which started tears #1. Tears #2 is “They say Angelica and Eliza.” I never noticed before how everyone gathers around Burr at the end. The end of the song was so painful and emotional, I lost it again on “The world was wide enough...” it was SO full of emotion.

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story: I BURST into tears on “Eliza!” here too. and then just sobbed through the end. Karen was SO angry at the start of the song and that worked so well. And Ari did the look and the gasp and I am CRYING AGAIN JUST THINKING ABOUT IT (Lexi also didn’t do the gasp when I saw her and I’m slightly bitter). Then I cried for like, five solid more minutes.

Cast

Miguel Cervantes: He’s SO TINY? SO. TINY. His Hamilton is SO angry and scrappy. He def plays Ham as defensive of everything. He was incredible. He had amazing chemistry with Ari and Karen and José and a great rapport with Burr and Washington. He was SUPER flirty with the girls. His delivery of “I’m not stupid” was fab, said very plainly and directly. He had SO MUCH emotion during things like “Yorktown” and “Non-Stop.” The way he taunted Burr in “Room Where It Happens” was great--you could see his slow slide from “I want to be this guy’s friend!” to “my asshole frenemy.”

Daniel Breaker: I would kill a man for Daniel Breaker? Holy shit, I loved him so much. Like I said, his Burr is more sarcastic and funny, more personable, more goofy, using sarcasm to keep everyone at arm’s length. He was definitely invested in AHam and the gang, but kept himself at a distance. His face was AMAZING, his facial expressions were worth the price of admission. He really connected with Burr in “Wait For It.” He was so angry and betrayed at the end, and watching that drift into regret was beautiful. His “WAIT!” was chilling.

Ari Afsar: I LOVED HER. Great transition from innocent and excited and enthusiastic and lovestruck to more mature to stoic and angry. She was very physically affectionate with Ham and their love was very believable and sweet. She did the scream and the gasp, which, as I said, are so important to me. During the finale, she perfectly melded the innocence and joy of act 1 with the maturity and determination of act 2. Eliza is a kind of thankless role and it’s difficult to put enough into it to shine, I think, but she nailed it.

Karen Olivo: I WOULD KILL A MAN FOR KAREN OLIVO. She’s maybe my favorite Angelica? I liked her better than Mandy, whom I LOVED, and maybe even more than Renee. I need to listen to/watch Renee again. But. WOW. Her “Satisfied” is so different--her whole interpretation of the character is so different! Her Angelica is much more animated and nosy and involved. She had amazing chemistry with Miguel and with Ari. “Schuyler Sisters” was WILD and ENERGIZED and excited. When she came out for WLWDWTYS, I was honestly shocked by how fierce she was.

Jonathan Kirkland: I was a little unsure of him when he first came out, but he totally sold me. His GWash was incredibly paternal, something Chris flirted with, but there was definitely a delineation there between family and duty. Jonathan plays it much more familial, which was really cool and obvs hit my found family buttons like whoa. You could tell how genuinely he cared for AHam as a person. He was more amused than annoyed by a lot of AHam’s shit. He also felt OLDER than the rest of the cast, but in a different way than Chris did.

Chris De’Sean Lee: SO GREAT. His French accent was so good--better than Daveed’s--and his rapping was A+. He’s definitely my second favorite Lafayette. He was very playful. His Jefferson was very good, but not as good as I wanted it to be? There was a little something missing in comparison to Daveed and Chappelle.

Jean Godsend Floradin: He was an understudy and I was SO SURPRISED because he really owned the role! He was tinier than the traditional Oak!sized Mull/Mad in my head, but just a fierce and scrappy. His verse in “Yorktown” was intense and he was so funny as Madison. He had great partner-in-crime chemistry with Laf/Jeff.

José Ramos: His rapping voice was incongruously deep! But he really established the angry shit-stirring recklessness of Laurens. His Laurens was FIRED UP to kick ass and take names. He was also SO SMALL compared to everyone but AHam, but ESPECIALLY compared to Lee. “Ten Duel Commandments” was so funny when they were back to back. He was fierce, though. His death scenes were a little too wistfully smiley to me, but still better than Thayne’s Musical Theatre Smile death scenes. Philip was GREAT--he leaned into the tininess at the start of the act. He was great during “The Reynolds Pamphlet” and his interactions with AHam were great.

Samantha Marie Ware: REALLY GREAT. I saw Sasha Hutchings as Peggy/Maria and was not so impressed. It’s a tough, thankless role and hard to make something of it, I think. Jasmine, of course, completely turns the role into a highlight of the show, but it’s not easy. Samantha NAILED IT. Her Peggy was almost argumentative in “Schuyler Sisters” and her Act 1 interactions with everyone, esp the sisters, were great. Her Maria was AMAZING. She played Maria as at least partially complicit, but with mixed feelings and it worked SO WELL for me.

AND THAT’S THAT. We didn’t stage door because we literally forgot that was a thing, we were so pumped from the show. Let me know if you have any questions, I am HAPPY TO ANSWER THEM to the best of my ability!

#hamilton #hamilton musical #hamchi #eliza company #theatre #show notes #stuff i've seen

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naijastudio · 3 years

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