Last passion blog! Last week we left off with Jefferson, Madison, and Burr wanting to prevent Alexander from gaining political power.

We Know-Jefferson, Madison, and Burr confront Alexander about extorting his position as Secretary of the Treasury; he ends up telling them that he has been having an affair with Maria Reynolds

Hurricane-this is an inside look into Alexander’s thoughts; he equates his success with writing to success in general; the audience learns about the traumatic experience of having his mother die in front of him when he was twelve; during this song there are different themes playing in the background such as Burr’s “wait for it,” and Washington’s “history has its eyes on you”; Burr is patiently waiting for Alexander to self-sabotage himself while Angelica, Eliza, Maria, and Washington warns him of the consequences of doing just that

The Reynolds Pamphlet-this was the actual name of the pamphlet and was the first sex scandal in the Colonies; some of the lyrics are from the actual pamphlet; Alexander writes this thinking that Burr wouldn’t be able to use it against him if everybody already knows; Angelica comes back from London to support her sister – she tells Alexander that she hopes he’s satisfied with his actions; Jefferson, Madison, and Burr are overjoyed to learn that Alexander is “never gon’ be President now,”; King George III also makes an appearance here

Burn-opens with a lantern and letters; Eliza burns the letters onstage because she is “erasing [her]self from the narrative”; this song makes use of words with two meanings-Eliza had a burning passion for Alexander when they first began courting and now she hopes that he burns; she praises his writing skills “you built me palaces out of paragraphs, you built cathedrals,” and then berates him for only thinking about how others think about him, “and you are paranoid in every paragraph, how they perceive you!”; this is one of the reasons Eliza’s hair is up during Act II, she has hardships during the second half where she didn’t in the first half

Blow Us All Away-this is an upbeat song that contrasts from Burn and Stay Alive; we meet back with Philip who is now nineteen years old and a graduate from King’s College; like his father, Philip’s mouth gets him into trouble-he demands to have a duel with another man, George Eacker; Alexander advises him to fire in the air; Philip reverts back to his rap from when he was nine years old (which hits hard); at seven paces, Eacker fires and shoots Philip

Stay Alive (reprise)-Alexander comes in a frenzy, he is worried about his son; Philip ensures that he took Alexander’s advice to which Alexander responds that he knows and to save his strength; Eliza comes in distraught; Philip tries to apologize for forgetting what Eliza taught him (numbers in French); they count together, Philip dies

It’s Quiet Uptown-they move after Philip’s death; Alexander repeats some of Eliza’s themes back to her; they are grieving over Philip’s death; at the end, when Eliza finally takes Alexander hand she forgives him; I’m sure you could infer this but I cried

The Election of 1800-this takes place as the same as It’s Quiet Uptown; it’s the election of Jefferson v Burr-their old themes also come up; Alexander endorsed Jefferson because Jefferson had beliefs while Burr was vague with his values; Jefferson wins

Your Obedient Servant-Burr and Alexander send letters back and forth; Burr blames Alexander for his Vice President position; Alexander does not regret his choice; they plan to duel at Weehawken

Best of Wives and Best of Women-short and sweet; the entire musical is basically a love letter to Vanessa, Miranda’s wife; this was from the last letter Alexander left to Eliza the morning of the duel; Eliza tries to get Alexander to go back to bed

The World Was Wide Enough-this song is from mostly Burr’s perspective; they are in the same spot where Philip died; Alexander has a Macbeth-esque soliloquy about death; Burr shoots Alexander and has immediate regret about it; Burr realizes that he and Alexander could have worked something out since the world was wide enough for both of them

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story-Washington’s words from earlier; after Hamilton dies Jefferson and Madison show their respect for him; this last song is not about Alexander, the protagonist, but Eliza-she tells his story; Eliza outlives the people she loves most, including Peggy, Philip, Alexander, and Angelica; Angelica is buried in Trinity Church near Alexander; she spends her days doing things that Alexander would have, speaking out again slavery, raising funds for the Washington monument, interview the soldiers he fought alongside; she is dressed in blue, the only one in a different color, as the focus of the song

Thank you for sticking around this long! As you can tell I loveeeee musicals, even ones I haven’t seen before. Everyone can relate to music but I love musicals because they take words and show it through actions. The choreographers are skilled at moving the bodies in ways that I feel the same thing the characters are feeling. I’m a little sad that this is the last one but I might keep this up if I have time. Good luck on finals and have a fun break!