I’ve been enjoying Hamilton as soon as it was released on Disney+ and after the third or fourth viewing, I started to wonder how they got those tight shots at a live Broadway musical. Michael Paulson in the New York Times:
Declan Quinn, the director of photography, spent two months watching performances and reading the script, trying to suss out the best angles to capture key dramatic beats. He installed nine cameras around the Richard Rodgers Theater — one with a view toward the audience through a hole cut into the back of the stage set, one fixed on the balcony rail for a wide shot, and seven hidden behind black drapes so they would be less distracting to theatergoers — to shoot a Sunday matinee and a Tuesday evening show. Between those performances, the cast ran through 13 of the 46 numbers, but this time with onstage equipment — a Steadicam, a crane and a dolly-mounted camera — for close-ups and overheads.
Originally planned for a theater release, Covid–19 changed all that. While it would have been nice to watch in a theater, I’m glad that those who are subscribers are now able to enjoy it without going into one.
Proceeds from the sale, Seller said, will be shared with the beneficiaries of the Broadway production, including the nonprofit Public Theater, where the Off Broadway production was staged, and members of the original cast, who in 2016 won a hard-fought battle to share in the profits of the stage production. “The actors are absolutely reaping the benefits of our financial rewards,” Seller said.
The cast welcomed the arrangement.
Also glad that those who deserved it, got paid.
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