Tamar of the River in with all the heavyweights!! (Assassins, Spring Awakening, Jesus Christ Superstar…”)
VOX SAYS: “Hamilton’s diametrically opposed twin — it’s similarly ambitious and atypical, with a similarly unique take on the power of myth and history….The music is gorgeous, single tones building atop each other in unexpected intervals and chords that sound slightly non-harmonic before finding their way to resolution. The actual New York production of Tamar of the River ran for only an incredibly short period in a tiny theater, but the preservation of its cast album will hopefully lead to a well-deserved cult following.”
Or the part about TAMAR below:
Tamar of the River is simultaneously about as far away as you can get from Hamilton and as far away as you can get from traditional musical theater, which makes it Hamilton’s diametrically opposed twin — it’s similarly ambitious and atypical, with a similarly unique take on the power of myth and history.
Very, very loosely based on the lesser-known biblical story of Tamar, the show blends Marisa Michelson’s hauntingly unusual music with lyrics by Joshua H. Cohen that don’t attempt to tell a story so much as evoke one. At times, Tamar of the River seems to assume that you’re instantly familiar with the tale it’s telling, through cultural osmosis, so it can simply get down to the business of being utterly unlike anything else.
But even though its book isn’t the strongest, the musical has one thing going for it: The music is gorgeous, single tones building atop each other in unexpected intervals and chords that sound slightly non-harmonic before finding their way to resolution. The actual New York production of Tamar of the River ran for only an incredibly short period in a tiny theater, but the preservation of its cast album will hopefully lead to a well-deserved cult following.
Percent like Hamilton: 10. Where Hamilton feels like it emerged, fully formed, from modern pop music’s subconscious, Tamar sometimes sounds like it hails from a world where pop music followed a very different evolutionary path. Its Asian-influenced sounds are the opposite of Hamilton’s contemporary tones — but it’s just as adventurous for the occasionally staid world of musical theater.