Unit 3: Hamilton and National Theatre

Hamilton Cast Q&A 17/10/18

1. What did you find out about the background of the production? Background, context, characters, themes ect.

On the 17th of October 2018 3 members of the Hamilton cast came in and did a question and answer session with us. The cast members who came were Giles Terera (Aaron Burr), Rachelle Ann Go (Eliza Schyler/Hamilton) and Curtis Angus (Ensemble/ George Eacker) as well as the producer of the production. 

I found out that Hamilton was written, music and lyrics, by Lin Manuel-Miranda after reading a biography of Alexander Hamilton while he was on holiday in 2008. The show was originally off-Broadway but after a very successful run, transferred to Broadway in July 2015. In December 2017 it opened at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London and is currently on in Chicago, New York, London, touring the US and will soon be premiering in Puerto Rico where Lin Manuel-Miranda will once again play the title role, Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton tells the story of America founding father, Alexander Hamilton. The show is split into 2 acts, the first telling the story of Alexander becoming more and more influential and how he was greatly successful in gaining American independence from the British Empire under King George III and the second focuses more on his family and what caused his eventual downfall. The musical is massively important as it is one of the only musicals ever written that has a base of rap and hip hop. There are over 30 members of the West End Hamilton cast, including all swings and understudies, the only time they have performed with every member of the company was their Olivier performance in 2018: 

2. What did you learn about the skills required to be part of the production? 

I learnt that you have to be able to learn quickly, whether that be learning the harmony or lyrics to a song, remembering lines or a dance routine, you need to be able to constantly be confident in what you are doing. I learnt that to be as employable as possible you need to be very versatile. This means you have to be good at acting, singing and dancing and if possible add even more strings to your bow. Some of the examples that Curtis Angus (Ensemble, George Eacker) gave us were directing, producing or choreographing. I learnt you also have to keep your strength up and be able to take good care of yourself and be as healthy as possible while you're in the show or you won't be performing as well as you are actually able to.

3. What did you find out about the challenges of working as a performer in the industry? 

I found out that the challenges can be remembered everything such as dance moves or songs. Rachelle Ann Go (Eliza Schyler/Hamilton) said that she'd actually forgotten her biggest song in the show ("Burn") and that it was challenging to just carry on and finish the number correctly. 

I also found out that it takes a toll on things such as social life, as you're performing every evening and therefore can't go and socialise then, sleeping pattern as you generally get home at about 11-12 o'clock at night, depending on where you live and meal times, as you may have to eat between shows or when you get back from an evening performance. 

We also learnt that one of the biggest challenges is dealing with rejection. Giles Terara (Aaron Burr) talked about how out of 100 auditions, you may only get 1 job. All 3 cast members talked about how this can make you feel as though you're not good enough and that it puts people off performing professionally in the industry. They talked about how often it isn't even about how you performed in the audition but ofte n it'll be about your appearance vs how they envision the character or how you might not sound the way they want the character to be. It seems as though this is the biggest challenge about working as a performer in the industry.

4.  How can this inform your own approach to your training?

It will help me as I will be aware about the challenges that performing brings and how I could avoid any mistakes being made. I would also be able to prepare myself for things such as having to learn a great deal of material in a small amount of time, dealing with a different sleeping or eating pattern than others and being able to develop a thick skin so that I don't take rejection personally. 

Hamilton Performance and Q&A 6/11/18

1a. What techniques were used to tell the story "Hamilton"? 

There are 4 main mediums used in the show and these are: singing, rap, dance and acting. Other minor mediums included multi-rolling, and elements of physical theatre.

1b. How clearly did the production and its narrative, structure and characters communicate the historical context of the story and how did they update it for a modern audience? 

 I thought that both the production and it's narrative did an excellent job of portraying the historical context. For example, one of the numbers in the first act of the show is called "Right Hand Man" and is sung by the actor playing George Washington. One of things Alexander Hamilton is most famous for is being George Washington's right hand man. 

A second example of the show explicitly stating the historical context is in the song "Aaron Burr, Sir" when Lafayette, Laurens and Mulligan enter the scene and each have a short rap explaining who they are. These ring true to what these figures were like in real life, Mulligan has a line that says "I'm a tailor's apprentice.. I'm joining the rebellion as I know it's my chance to socially advance instead of sewing some pants" Mulligan was indeed a tailor's apprentice and used to revolution to advance further up in society.

1c. How did they update it for a modern audience? 

The main medium through which the story is told is rap and hip-hop. This is one of the very first musicals or even pieces of theatre which "uses hip-hop not as content but as a story-telling devise" in the words of writer Lin Manuel-Miranda in his book: Hamilton: The Revolution. This in itself is hugely modern, especially considering the story is about 18th and early 19th century America. 

The songs are very modern, with only one or two songs being completely sung-through without elements of rap and reflect the newer sound of musical theatre that has emerged over the last 15 years. 

Although the show is massively modern overall there were a couple of standout moments in the performance which emphasised it. For example, in the act 2 song "Take A Break" Hamilton's son, Phillip (played by Cleve September) performs a short rap and when finished, runs off the stage. In this performance however, Phillip ran to the back, did a dance move called "flossing" and then ran off the stage, while I believe this is a one off as the audience was made of young people, it emphasised that an actor can do that in this musical and is a comedic moment that fits with the piece. 

2. How successful were the performances in the production- were there any stand out characters?

I thought that overall the performances in the production were incredibly successful, the singing was brilliant and accurate, the dancing was in sync, wonderful to look at and engaging. For me there were some stand-out performers: Cleve September as John Laurens/ Phillip Hamilton and Jason Pennycooke as Lafayette/ Thomas Jefferson. The reason why these performers stuck out to me is because they portrayed not just one, but two characters brilliantly. Cleve September in particular was spell-binding and was both hilarious and heartbreaking at times. 

Cleve September in particular was spell-binding and was both hilarious and heartbreaking at times as at the beginning of the show he plays revolutionary John Laurens who is a friend of Hamilton and is shown to be quite comedic in the song "The Story Of Tonight Reprise" where he and Hamilton's other friends tease him about the fact that his freedom will not be limited by the revolution but rather by the fact that he has just got married to Eliza Schyler. This comedy side is also shown in his second character, Phillip Hamilton, Alexander's son. In the song "Blow Us All Away" he jokes about being promiscuous when he interacts with a couple of girls saying "Y'all look pretty good in your frocks how 'bout when I get back we all strip down to our socks" which got a big laugh from the audience. While he was incredibly successful in these moments he was also breathtaking in "The Laurens Interlude" where it is revealed to Hamilton via a letter that John Laurens has sadly passed away. Hamilton reading the letter is split up by Laurens singing sections of "The Story Of Tonight" where he talks about how his freedom will never been taken away and how more people will join their cause. This song is one of the slower ones in the production and this moment was utterly heart-wrenching. This is similar to the end of the act 2 song "Stay Alive (Reprise)" where Hamilton goes and sees Phillip when he is dying after having been shot although he took his father's advice about firing his weapon into the sky instead of at his opponent. He sings breathily, gasping for air as he tries to get the words out before he tragically dies at the end of the song. This moment is incredibly poignant in the show and the way Cleve used his voice and facials in both those numbers gave an extra level to the songs and heightened how upsetting those moments were. 

3. How did the audience respond to the work at different points? 

The audience had a wide range of different reactions during the show that really reflected the mood of what was going on on stage at that particular moment. During numbers such as Cabinet Battle 1&2, where many of the performers on stage were reacting to the conflict between Hamilton and Jefferson, the audience joined in, particularly on the line "turn around, bend over, I'll show you where my shoe fits". The audience really engaged producing reactions like clapping, cheering Hamilton on and shouting "oooooooooo" when one of the characters was badly insulted. These reactions contrast greatly to how people reacted in the much more emotional numbers such as Stay Alive (Reprise) and It's Quiet Uptown. There was certainly more of an emotional, heartfelt reaction to these numbers with some people crying and really feeling the pain of Eliza and Alexander Hamilton when their son Phillip dies. 

National Theatre Tour 4/12/18

On the 4th of December we took a tour around the backstage of the National Theatre on the Southbank. The tour was really interesting as we got to go to places around the theatre that normally the public aren't allowed to access. We learnt a lot about how the National Theatre productions are put together. Not just the actors but all the behind the scenes workers too. We filled out a sheet of questions as we went around the theatre: 

National Theatre Quiz:

1. In what year did the National Theatre open?

As a company it began in 1963, the current NT building opened in 1976.

2. How many seats does the Olivier theatre hold? 

1160 seats in a fan formation.

3. How many degrees is peripheral vision in the Olivier?

118 degrees- average angle of human peripheral. 

4. How many theatres are there in total?

3.

5. What different possibilities do the 3 theatres present for performance and what type of work does each of them show?

Olivier- the biggest theatre, shows bigger productions like Shakespeare and musicals- Greek fan style seating designed so all the audience can see everything on stage at all times.

Dorfmann- more of a black-box style, massively versatile, has been made into a catwalk going into the audience, can be completely redesigned based on what is showing there. Good for a large range of productions, smallest amount of seating, numbers changes based on staging. 

Lyttleton- Made for more natural styles of theatre. Contained on the stage, 4th wall drama, typical proscenium march stage

6. What was your favourite prop and why?

My favourite prop was the War Horse puppet as it is very beautiful and really impressive. I saw the show a few years ago and seeing the inner workings of the puppet was a great experience. The design of it is incredibly intricate as it has to make sure the audience can tell it is a horse and fit in with the WWI setting of the play. The way it is designed makes it took like it's made out of whips and really fits in with the motif of violence in the play.

7. What is the part under the stage called in the Olivier? 

The Drum 

8. What different departments did you visit backstage and what does each of them do?

We visited the prop department who make all the props for all the productions that the NT put on, we visited the set building department who create the intricate sets used for productions, we visited the backstage area where the actors get ready to go on stage. We also looked at the storage area where they kept a lot of the old props, costumes and pieces of set from past productions although we learnt that the majority of old pieces are kept in a warehouse where different bits can be hired out for a price.

National Theatre Job Roles

We were tasked with finding out about 2 backstage obs and reporting on them. I decided on the costume designer and a set builder.

Job Title:
Costume Designer

Where might you be employed?
Any working theatre/ film set

Who would you be responsible to?
The performers wearing the costume, the director and the producer. 

What salary does the job attract?
Average salary: £24,858.45 however can range from £8.1K-£54.8K

Summarise the key responsibilities: 
The key responsibilities would be drawing concepts of potential costumes for characters in films/ T.V shows/ musicals/ plays.Often this job would require them to physically make the costumes from scratch. This would include finding materials, sewing, and making sure that the costume captures the essence of who the character is. They'd also have to tailor each costume to the actor/ performer using it. 

Summarise the essential qualifications, experience, skills that the person applying should have:

For this job you'd need to have an eye for design, know where to find the materials you want and have very advanced sewing skills. It would be preferable to have a positive relationship with the director and producer of the production. You'd have to have experience in textiles, sewing, design and drawing. You would also have to have a very good knowledge of the character whose costume you are designing so you can be as true to them as you possibly can. 

Would you be interested in this job, if not now then potentially in the future?

I would be interested in this job for the actual designing part however if it came down to actually putting a costume together I know that I wouldn't have the necessary skills needed in order to do that successfully. I'd enjoy putting ideas forward and forming an image of what a character's costume should be but as I don't have an interest in needlework or textiles I feel that this wouldn't be the backstage job best suited for me.



Job Title: 
Set Builder

Where might you be employed? 
Any working theatre/ film/ TV set

Who would you be responsible to? 
The set designer, the performers in the show/film, director/ producer.

What salary would the job attract?

Average between £24,672.38-£35,637.88

Summarise the key responsibilities of this job:
The key responsibilities would be building a convincing set to match the design given by the set designer as well as making it as safe and stable as possible to protect the performers and any backstage crew. 

Summarise the essential qualifications, experience and skills that the person applying should have:
Thorough knowledge of the performance and how the fits in with the piece, knowledge of technical and electrical aspects- sets may have complicated technical parts to them or be able to move on their own etc. They should be able to really pay attention to detail in order to make the set as convincing and suitable as possible. The person should also be aware of any safety hazards and be able to fix these in order to keep everyone involved without injury. A positive relationship with the director, producer and set designer would also be a great attribute. 

Would you be interested in this job?
I would not be interested in this job as I don't know anything about or have any interest in building. I would enjoying possibly designing a set but I would not have the skills or the passion required for actually building a set from scratch.