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I have tried and tried, searched far and wide, googled and googled and googled, looking for a clip of Jonathan Groff's portrayal of King George III singing "You'll Be Back" from
Hamilton that was filmed by Disney and the camera angles and close-ups give you a “front row seat” to what I consider a masterclass in stage acting.
For starters, the lyrics (written by Lin Manual Miranda) are poetry.
But it is Groff's remarkably subtle, outrageous portrayal of King George that is masterful. Watch his eyes. (He blinks just twice during the whole performance.) Watch his body language. His walk. His lips. His shoulders. His hands. I think it is as close to perfection as acting can get. Not to mention his great singing voice. And the costume! Remember, too, that King George eventually goes mad. You can feel it bubbling beneath the surface in this performance.
Disney filmed a live performance of
Hamilton (available on Disney+. I think you could do a month free trial and then cancel. It would definitely be worth it just to see the film version with all its angles, closeup, etc. that give you a feeling like you are sitting on stage).
Unfortunately the only clips of it I can find are ones posted by singing coaches and acting coaches. (Disney, I suspect, has blocked the scene from being seen on YouTube).
Here is the best clip I could find of it. It plays the entire three-minute performance uninterrupted but in split screen. You can enlarge the video so that only Groff’s performance fills the screen. After the uninterrupted performance the acting coach then goes back and analyzes it and does a good job. Definitely worth watching his commentary so that you don’t miss any of the myriad of things Groff does to pull of this gem.
Btw, watching a filmed version of a live performance is a crazy-good way of seeing live theatre. During the pandemic the Metropolitan Opera began streaming live performances of operas and it has made me into an opera fan.
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