Tribeca 2024: Renée Elise Goldsberry's Satisfied Pulls Back The Curtain Behind The Artist
It's one thing to know a piece of art, but to know its artist is somehow even more liberating and powerful. To understand the passion, dedication, determination, fear, and failure of the person behind a life-changing project almost allows you to relive the experience of seeing it for the first time. This was my experience attending the premiere of Renée Elise Goldsberry's Satisfied documentary at Tribeca Festival. Directed by Chris Bolan and Melissa Haizlip, Satisfied revisits a life-changing period in Goldsberry’s life and a pivotal time for the entire Broadway world.
Hamilton took the world by storm, having one of the most significant impacts on the theatrical world in our lifetime. From the songs to the writing to the cast, the world fell in love with this show, creating a world full of wonders not just for its audience but also for its cast, with Goldsberry being one of them. It still runs today as one of the hardest Broadway shows to get tickets for and, although Hamilton has seen many people step into its orbit, we cannot forget about the people who were first in the room where it happened.
Satisfied goes back to before Hamilton became one of Broadway's biggest hits, back when it was just a workshop. Goldsberry had what most people would consider a successful career. She had been on TV shows and involved in big productions. So, when she got the call about a new production, there was no part of her that was eager. She wanted to bask in her family’s love and be present. It wasn’t until she finally heard Lin-Manuel Miranda rapping “Satisfied” that she gravitated towards the role. And it’s that one fateful event that gave us our original Angelica Schuyler.
That's the story we're following here: an actress and a show that changed her life. But more than that, we watch a woman working a job she is passionate about and believes in, while also sacrificing a huge part of herself — her family. With her fame and success came numerous obligations: award shows, interviews, and, of course, the occasional off-site performance for the White House. It's easy to forget that art would be nothing without the sacrifices of its artist. Goldsberry’s story is a reminder that there can be pain and beauty in success. It is not always galas and drinks after a performance. Sometimes there’s heartache and doubt. The world doesn’t stop moving because you’re doing something you love — in fact, it can speed up right in front of your eyes. And that’s where this film succeeds, by humanizing the star.
Goldsberry is captivating in her commitment to sharing freely and open. She even shares the experience of having miscarriages, which becomes daunting and more frightening every time. She makes it clear that her children are her life and her greatest blessing, which is why basking in her success didn’t always come naturally. She couldn’t help but think about what was going on at home.
It's emotional to watch someone making life-changing career advancements while also being at a low. We move between her pulling off the famous “Satisfied” rap to the moments she’s missing as her family lives day to day without her. We see her FaceTime her kids, send them videos before bed and early in the morning, and they send her videos back. A particularly emotional part of the documentary was when her son, after spending the afternoon with his mom, begged to stay as he was picked up by the nanny. In her phone vlog, she cries, “You shouldn’t be thankful for spending time with your mother, you should take that for granted.” This is a real battle women deal with, finding a work-life balance, and Goldsberry speaks to this in a very vulnerable way. It shouldn’t be this hard to have both a beautiful family and a rewarding career.
This film is by no means the best documentary I’ve ever seen. Ariana DeBose and Lin-Manuel Miranda make very lackluster cameos to share their perspective with minimal screen time. Their contributions felt unnecessary and just thrown in for fluff. It also seemed surprising the documentary focused on just one point in her career starring in Hamilton when her journey started well before that and has continued well beyond it. But I have to admit, it does make sense. Hamilton changed her career, even securing her a Tony win, but it also challenged her as a woman, a mother, a wife, and a creative. It's clear Goldsberry couldn’t imagine her life without her years at Hamilton.
Satisfied allows for a vulnerable truth, especially in the way it utilized using at-home videos. This probably isn’t the documentary for everyone; in fact, it might be just for Broadway lovers and fans of Goldsberry, but I left the theater feeling emotional and uplifted as a woman. For me, the experience of watching in a crowd where we laughed together, cried together, and clapped together elevated what at-home viewers would experience.
