@@MarcDanielPatrick Especially when she's sitting down! It's SUPER hard to get that level of vocal control when you're not standing. She's a freaking queen 👏
I love when she is putting the burning letters into the bucket, she drops them quickly and forces herself away from them. In a way, it implies that she is desperately trying to keep herself from reaching back in there, saving those letters and the relationship that she cherished with her whole heart - but she knows it was what had to be done.
Your insight is very helpful. Although I love theater and have seen plays in New York, Chicago and London, I have not had much practical experience with the nuts and bolts of producing musical theater, so I am learning every time I listen to you. And yes, Phillipa Soo has a magnificent voice. Didn’t she go to Juilliard? Also, it seems to me that she deliberately makes her smooth-as-silk voice rough in certain places to convey the depth of her emotion. Would that be accurate?
I also just love Burn as a song because it tells you WHY she has been in the background for a large part of the show. We don't see her much in the first 3/4ths of the show because she chose that. She chose to not have her earlier years remembered, so we didn't get to see much of them.
"You, you, you..." She lets the intensity, and righteous anger start to show, then pulls it back on, "I'm erasing myself from the narrative." Then she builds the intensity back to "The world has no right," and just punches the "You forfeits". Then the final "I hope that you burn" sounds so (ironically) ice cold.
Yesssss. The moments that stood out from watching it versus listening to the soundtrack were all her. The intensity in burn that gives me goosebumps. And the screaming sob in stay alive reprise. (That one killed me, as the song already made me want to cry, then hearing that I was broken)
From a thematic standpoint the you you you was a revisit from One Last Time when washington sings to hamilton "history has its eyes on you you you." At that moment, it's a positive thing about a positive legacy. In Burn it's clearly a negative about hamilton's narcissism and self destroying drive bringing his story to full circle.
Phillipa Soo? Do you mean an angel sent from heaven that we don't deserve? Also, how about Satisfied from Hamilton? Renée SLAYS in that one. Edit: Also, Sierra Boggess singing "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" from Phantom of the Opera.
Also: as a woman, Lin does two incredibly wonderful things as a writer. (1) even though the most likely thing that happened is that people decided Eliza's letters weren't important enough to save for posterity, since she was a woman, he created a path of agency that is so powerful. (2) he leaves her on the stage alone. She's talking to Alexander, but if Alexander was there, we'd have been looking for his reaction. By giving her time alone, he forces the audience to watch her and her alone. The musical is 'Hamilton' after them both, but while Burr is the narrator, this shows why the character is so special
I LOVE the acknowledgment of the title being Hamilton rather than Alexander Hamilton. The nuance had never occurred to me before yet it fits Lin-Manuel's direction for the production reflecting today's world.
I love how when she slows it down for “you, you, you…” she’s looking at his letter, as though she’s finally starting to realize how incredibly self-absorbed he is and how he always talks about himself. She’s amazing!
I appreciated the fact that all three actresses have their own unique tone. Jasmine have that sultry jazz/RnB voice, Phillipa have the sweet lullaby voice and a melodic rasp that can elevate as the song progress, and Renee got such booming, strong, take you in like a mother holding their child vocals. I love these ladies. Very inspiring!
I also read once that Eliza, in this song, burns what makes Alexander Hamilton himself. Writing is what he does and it made who he is and one of the big treason why we even know about him. And what did Eliza do? She burned the thing that makes him, him, and targeted it. She knew that that was where the weak point is; his writing/letters.
Oooh I never considered the title “Hamilton” could stand for both Alexander and Eliza, but it fits with my interpretation of this song being centered on him, but also on her being the emotional core and final narrator. That’s brilliant.
I believe personally, that whilst Act 1 is very much Alexander's story, Act 2 is Eliza's. We see her go through several ordeals, overcome them and so on. Act 2 is very much HER story. Her arc. Her act.
I just realized that the name of the show could refer to both Alex and Eliza. This made the name felt more powerful to me because Eliza is such a big part of the story
The show doesn't claim Alexander was a hero, just an influential, but flawed man who ultimately gave up his shot. He's not even the narrator, the man who killed him is. It closes by celebrating the 50 years Eliza continued to live without him (longer than the years she lived WITH him.) She used her long life to raise their many children, build and contribute to the new country. It could have easily ended with his famous death, but concludes with Eliza's, so I'd say Hamilton is decidedly *their* story, not his.
One of many Brilliant parts of Hamilton which lend to it's tone. Of course the writing is amazing, and the performances are exemplary... But the set design, the props, the costumes and wigs, the lighting... OH and especially the ensemble... paint the picture so vividly. The division of her face is PERFECT. She's heartbroken, and of two minds. She loves and hates him.
Phillipa is something else, her talent is unmatachable, after her preformance of eliza you would neber think she was actually a happy go lucky person. She really can change her mood like a flip of a switch. I adore her dearly.
That is something; really projects the rage of a woman betrayed. Actually I think she manages to age her voice to sound like a much older and more mature woman than she was in the 1st act. A one in a million talent.
Lemme just say this. I've put this in a reply to a comment seconds ago but I love the chills her voice sends up my spine. You can put the saddest video in front of me and I won't break but her voice, it moved me to tears. She is very talented in potraying the emotion of the character all through the stunningness of her voice. Even in Stay alive reprise where Philip died, I couldn't help but tear up, the pain she can convey is very convincing ❤😢
Yes, her physicality, facial and vocal performance are all Exactly where she wants them to draw us in and make us understand and care about her perspective. And it sets the stage to make her forgiveness of Alexander and the final song where she takes charge of his legacy and then builds a private orphanage all the more powerful (I am tearing up typing this, and I have only seen the show once). Angelica made much of Eliza's character, and we see the truth of that. Lin Manuel certainly respected her, she has the final song and it ends with everyone standing behind her on stage, she becomes the most pivotal character.
For me while acting it's easy to empathize, act sad and cry, but it's very difficult in a musical to act and sound sad while actually controlling to not crossing that line of when you start to sob because you lose your voice at that point. She is always at that limit where she is almost crying but maintains a powerful voice, she is in character but doesn't let the character's emotions flood her. I always erase myself and any sense of reality when I act, so I find it very hard to not just start crying ;w;
I love love Pippa Soo’s voice!!! She has this gentle, motherlike sound, but also the hurt and broken lover. And at the end she is determined and takes her life back. I just Love how her voice has so much power!! This is by far my favorite song to sing from Hamilton
I am so unbelievably ecstatic to hear someone vocalise how incredibly difficult it is to capture an audience's heart the way she does and portray this narrative. Phillipa makes this look so effortless and that really is testament to how talented she is. I am so happy to see people appreciate how amazing she is because they know how hard it is to do themselves on stage. Your reaction gives me chills because it is so much like how all of us performers watching feel.
I enjoyed Rachelle’s performance. In my opinion Philippa is more heartbroken and disappointed, while Rachelle was pissed and angry. I prefer Philippa’s take on Eliza , but I did enjoy them both
It's different with every Eliiza because nobody really knew what she felt except the people who saw her first hand. Like as stated in the song, she burned all the letters and erased even herself from the narrative, "the world has no right in our bed, they dont get to know what i said". "Let future historians wonder how Eliza reacted". It's literally the point of the song. It's not that out of place either since they got back after around 5-8 years since the scandal and Lin stated they cant possibly mash everything up in 2-hours so they decided to cut some parts of the whole story. For reference, my aunt caught her husband cheating on her and was in utter disgust and separated, 5 years later they're ok so...
Philipa is amazing in this role. The emotion that she plays in this song as well as her portrayal of the Eliza character overall. I have seen the performance of Rachel Ann Go in the role, and although she's vocally powerful as well, my favorite will have to go to Philipa. On the other hand, I saw Lea Salonga's rendition and hers, of course is amazing. Both Rachel Ann and Lea's renditions seem similar to each other in emotion - while theirs shows anger and hurt (and is in undeniable amazing perfect pitch), Philipa's is more confused, disappointed and hurt. It's also interesting to point out Burn is the only scene where they have a real fire burning on stage when the entire musical is set in the late 1700s, a time when fire was a main source of light.
@@hunnerdayEDT I haven't seen it live either. Eventually I want to (though when I do, it 100% most likely won't be with the original cast). But that makes sense though since it looks like she's burning a whole lot of paper.
@@aznmochibunny I saw it in London with Rachel Ann Go, and was honestly a bit disappointed by her Eliza 😥. Beautiful voice, of course, but it felt so empty compared to Phillipa's performance.
I have never had the pleasure to see it in person, but I feel that Philipa does an amazing job at capturing the incredible level of dedication and love that Eliza had for Alexander. It shows so well in this song, where you see her reacting to his betrayal and how Philipa shows the anger and confusion while still returning to the very composed, dedicated wife that Eliza was so well. It gives me chills each time.
Would have to agree. After seeing a video of Rachelle, as much as I love her, her version is a “concert” version while Pipa is still very much in character. Eliza at first didn’t actually believe the rumors about Maria prior to the Reynolds Pamphlet. She was raised to be dignified and thus her emotionality would never be overt in the usual dramatic sense. Pipa’s anger is more quiet which reflects Eliza more accurately. She withdraws herself from the narrative and her singing reflects that withdrawal.
Can you react to First Burn? It gives a different dimension to this song too. Much more angry and raw. I feel Burn is when Eliza has had time to reign in her emotions, and so it's more subtle (but equally as powerful). Philippa will always be my number one Eliza, especially with Burn. Just the sheer emotion on her face and the quiet anger and betrayal - she does it so well. I love that "you built me palaces out of paragraphs, you built cathedrals" is said so fondly and the "you, you, you" is so scornful (as Hamilton only thought of himself in this moment). As well as the "the world has no right to my heart, the world has no place in our bed.....you'll sleep in your office instead." Eliza may be a more reserved and quiet person, but when she gets angry she doesn't hold back. And Philippa's scream when Philip dies is just gut wrenching.
The piece is also interesting in the context of Hamilton's era. She gets loud, she takes control, in a time when wives were largely still "in the background"/expected to follow.
Its so easy for someone with this much power in her voice to overdo something like this... Phillipa does just enough to break your heart and make you want more. That is her genius! Her control is as important as her power! *Swooning*
Phillipa Soo honestly deserves the world Just a quick recommendation, I'd love to see your reaction to Jeremy Jordan singing It's All Coming Back To Me Now by Celine Dion. He changes a couple of things towards the end and I got chills listening to it for the first time
You look like you’re going to cry a few times while listening to her singing. I don’t blame you though, I felt like I was the one being cheated by Hamilton while watching this. She just gave you all the feels...
Watching Phillipa’s face even without the music can give me a world of complex feelings, she is so incredibly talented, then on top of that absolutely top tier acting she has that powerhouse voice, she is a true artist.
The truly surprising effect this masterpiece had on me when I first saw it on the stage, was the amount of crying, sometimes sobbing, I did during the performances of the actresses that sang Eliza and Angelica.
The chord progression in the intro sounds like the music for Burr's "how does a bastard" verses, but in reverse. It feels significant and eerie because we are hearing her unwrite the narrative before she states her intent to. My untrained opinion.
I read that the production designer spent hours figuring out the right paper so that the letter would extinguish with the end of the song. Precision is so much a part of this show; from the amazing performances to the sets and lighting. She is amazing
I first heard the soundtrack about three years ago. This was one of my favourite performances straight away. I'm envious of the people who got to see it live. Now HAMILTON is my favourite musical of all time.
I enjoy musical theater and am loving all the great performances you're showing. But, as much as I like watching them I love watching your face and seeing your love for musical theater make you glow!
One of the things I love about this is watching your expressions as you react to her performance. ~4:15-4:20, the level of authenticity there, you can tell you're really connecting with her pain, the lip quiver and the smile in the beauty of her performance. Whenever I perform, I want the audience to feel that same level of connection. It really shows just how amazing her performance is to see your reaction like that.
My family is very musical. My great grandmother was an opera singer. My cousin is a well-known barbershop quartet singer. Watching and listening to music like this...singing music like this. I can definitely say I cannot perform emotional songs like this, because the emotion takes over me and I will cry.
My favorite part of this song is when she goes in with that strong emotional “you you you” and then just stops. It’s like she has so much power and her voice is amazing it just blows me away every time.
I hope that you do Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again from Phantom of the Opera. That has always been my favorite song from the musical since I saw it at a young age.
@@kianabrown2865 Sarah's so good! And she is the original. Something about Sierra, Ramin Karimloo, and Hadley Fraser kills me, but it's probably because it's the first one I ever saw.
Her voice just fills the soul with such beauty and joy. I enjoy watching Marc’s reaction to these artists. His face is priceless as it shows his deep down love and respect for these performances.
See this is why you're my favorite reactor of Hamilton songs. Like you GET IT❗❗ Other ppl just don't get it and your visual reactions, faces of just utter mesmerization, and explanations really encapsulate how I be feeling 120%😫 man this is why I always have to gravitate to your videos, you're the only one who understands😭thank you sm okay I'm done😭
This song has so many emotions behind it ( cause Alex was a workaholic , he was cheating on her with her sister and then the Reynolds Mrs , the death of her son that she loved dearly and spent her affection on , cause Alex weren't there to help her ) and Philipa did absolutely wonderful showing these emotions with her voice 💔
I love how when she turns the letter over is when she and the song turn a page. She transitions from looking at the past for answers to deciding her future.
She is truly amazing - from pure betrayal... to anger... back to betrayal. I wonder how hard it must've been for her from going to a kneeling position (after she burned the letters) to full standing while maintaining that note.
I love that you allow yourself to show the pure emotions on your face and the fact that you yourself fell apart in this performance. It is such a powerful and emotional song.
Please cover other songs from Phillipa and Renee as Angelica she has a few challenging songs and their ability to sing while using the turntables and all.
I just watched Hamilton but been listening to Phillipa Soo before from Helpless to Burn and it alwaya haunts me. So beautiful. Hopefully you'd react to Movie In My Mind from Miss Saigon. It also has a proshot lol
Wonderful analysis, as always, and I appreciate that you chose one of the quieter, less showy numbers, because it's so difficult. The song is dangerously repetitive (obviously deliberately so) as Eliza works through her anger and grief, but Phillipa invests each new verse with these new subtle shadings -- humiliation, heartbreak, rage, and then finally indomitability. I love her performance in the entire show, and one of the things I loved about the HAMILTON film was that it slightly magnified the quieter, more cerebral performances. The intimacy of film really served Phillipa well (and I would argue also brought Lin-Manuel's Hamilton up in sheer charisma to rival Odom's Burr). I mean, Renee Elise Goldsberry is magnificent as Angelica, but I'm so glad Phillipa isn't being overlooked either. What she does with Eliza is so difficult, so beautiful, and so subtle and nuanced. I saw the show on national tour (and met Lin-Manuel back in 2009 in NYC!) but for me the film elevates the show even further, and gives Eliza her moments.
I completely fell in love with this performance, the level of control over her voice to still sing all of it perfectly and clearly while letting us hear the emotions in her voice is just insane to me. And she goes through all of the emotions of being faced with something like this so well, from the semi happy creeping in with her remembering their courting days slowly turning bitter, the mix of humiliation, hurt and anger with not only what he did but deciding to make it public for everyone to find out at the same time as her etc. You can hear it in her voice as she moves through the song and it makes it so so much more powerful.
Philipsburg has such a beautiful voice. Glad they brought Hamilton to Disney+. It’s been a great way to introduce my girls (5&6) to theatre. Thanks for another great video.
I think the strength of her voice is so special, too, and makes her stand out. Like, I LOVE her and Renee, but the fact that you can't see all the muscles in Philippa's throat vs Renee's gives her a quiet, steady, smooth strength vs the effort you see in Angelica's physical body. It gives you a sense that Eliza is holding back, almost, while Angelica isn't, just like you can almost see Lin and Renee burning through their bodies, in real way
I suggest to please react to Pink's 2010 Grammy performance "Glitter in the Air." She's a phenominal singer and many people already recognize that, but for some reason one of the best performances she has ever given is largely unacknowledged. She has such abdominal strength (both for breath AND the acrobatics) to the point that she chose to to deliberately add some gasps into the performance just so people could tell that it was actually live. It's a lovely piece of art and music, and well worth viewing!
I personally love the part where she burns the letters and her voice spirals upwards to then crash down to the "The world has no right to my heart" She realized that she's n out of dependent on Alexander. That she has the right to be angry, that she's more than just a wife that you can step on. It's BEAUTIFUL
I was a drama major all throughout high school but transitioned to screen soon after graduation. Your expressions, watching these performances, have made me fall in love with theatre all over again. What a dream it must be to have you as a coach..
