How to Party With a Hamilton Watch
Whether you likeit or not, after today, you won’t have to: On July 3, Disney + will host Lin-Manuel Miranda’s groundbreaking Broadway musical blockbuster, a Tony Hamilton award-winning movie . I can’t think of a better way to kick off the Fourth of July weekend than by hosting a virtual Hamilton watch party, so here’s all you need to do to make sure your fellow # Ham4Ham fans arehappy , starting with the right partner. browsing a browser extension to share access to some fun bonus content.
Find the perfect virtual location
Living in a pandemic means your viewing party will – should – probably be socially isolated, but luckily there are a number of browser extensions that allow you to bring all of your guests to theroom where it happens . You probably heard the buzz about the Netflix Party in the early days of the Corona Times. It’s a Chrome browser extension that, once installed and enabled by all parties, for example, allows multiple people to watch the same Netflix video at the same time – and even chat with each other via text chat in the sidebar during a show. By now, there are many options that work with other services, including Disney +.
Here are a few of your options (and note that for all of them, everyone who comes to the party will need to both install the extension and be able to log into a Disney + account):
- Disney Plus Party: Hey if it worked for Netflix … Disney Plus Party is a robust extension that adds a real social element to your virtual clock party – the extension allows you to host both public and private viewing rooms alike what you can sync Add Disney + videos with friends or complete strangers, and text chat or face-to-face with them throughout the show.
- Vemos: We wrote about this before . Vemos is a Chrome browser extension that works with Disney + as well as Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, and Hulu. In addition to text chat, Vemos also includes the ability to video chat with other viewers, which is useful when you need to fill in plot details for a guy who is resting on a potty and comes back asking,“What am I missing? “ (It also sounds like a great opportunity for podpevaniya. Who canit refuse?)
- TwoSeven: This extension, available for both Chrome and Firefox , works pretty much the same way as everyone else. All viewers will need to install it (a requirement worth mentioning onelast time , if only to save you technical issues during the show), but you all also need to create a free TwoSeven account in order to host or join a room. … and everyone will need to sign in to their Disney + account. TwoSeven isn’t as user-friendly as some of your other options, but it works well when you’re set up and running, and it also includes options for both text and video chat.
Make sure everyone has Disney +
First, the bad news: While most streaming services offer a free trial period of a few weeks or a month, Disney + recently discontinued its free trial offer for new subscribers . The only sure way to get Disney + for free right now is with a Verizon promotion, which requires you to sign up for a new phone or new internet service. It’s a nice bonus if you planned to do it anyway (I personally just switched to Verizon Fios, so timing is good), but it’s not really practical to shake things up just to see Hamilton for free. That said, with $ 6.99 for the standard monthly plan, $ 69.99 for an annual subscription, or $ 12.99 a month for a package that also includes Hulu and ESPN Plus, it’s actually a pretty good deal – and if you really only want to watch Hamilton, you can always cancel after the first month. (Disney is bettingyou come back – which is why they are investing this $ 75 million acquisition in the streaming service in the first place.) Yes, and you can share accounts too – each Disney + account can have up to seven different profiles and four concurrent logins, so if you’re intimate, you can be configured with a single subscription (for now – Mouse has threatened to crack down on password exchanges in the future).
Behind the scenes
There is no reason your Hamilton party should end with a curtain call. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s masterpiece is a great way to get everyone, especially kids, interested in the story, and there is a wealth of behind-the-scenes material on the Internet that explores both the creation of the musical and the real-world characters that appear in it. Why not share these links in the text chat of your hour-long party to stir up the buzz or helpkeep the post-show debatealive ? (I’ve also included a few indirectly related goodies.)
- Hamilton’s America: PBS has compiled a wealth of material that immerses Hamilton, both as a person and as a show, in this series of 10 short videos exploring the various facets and times of the main character. You can view all of them on the PBS website .
- Lin-Manuel Miranda speaks at the White House: Hamilton’s screenwriter / composer / lyricist has worked on the production for years – initially assuming it will be a concept album – and for the first time he gave the world a feel for what was about to happen in 2009 when he performed. ” The Hamilton Mixtape “at the White House Poetry Jam (of course, President Obama hosted poetry evenings at the White House). You canwatch a video of this performance on YouTube ; even in this nascent form, you will behelpless in the face of resistance.
- In The Heights Trailer: The premiere of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights musical before Hamilton was due to open this summer but has been delayed due to the pandemic. Why not kick off the party by getting everyone towatch her compelling YouTube trailer ? It will cheer you up with Miranda’s music and fill your tears before the presentation.
- Sing 1776 : Another revolutionary musical, the 1969 Broadway hit of 1776, acts as a kind of prequel to Hamilton , covering historical events that mostly take place before Miranda’s beginnings. One of his songs – most of which are available on YouTube, taken from the 1972 film adaptation – will also be a great intro, if only your guests can be amazed at how differently the two shows fit into history, let alone Broadway. (luckily theworld was wide enough for two musicals about America’s founding). I suggest the starting number,“Sit down, John,” which name is actually verified in Miranda’s lyrics.