We wanted to democratise who could see Hamilton
Lin Manuel-Miranda’s hit stage musical is now on the small screen. The original cast tell LAURA HARDING it’s the perfect time for its positive message to reach a wider audience
IT’S hard to overstate the cultural impact and global success of Hamilton. The musical, which blends hip hop, R&B, pop and traditional showtunes to tell the story of America’s first Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, has been a juggernaut.
It has won Grammys, Tonys, Oliviers and a Pulitzer Prize, while its creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, was awarded the prestigious MacArthur Genius Grant, and the original cast recording has been a chart hit. However, until now, only those within travelling distance of one of the theatres where it’s playing, in London or across the US, and have the patience, luck and (sometimes eye-watering) funds to secure tickets, have been able to witness it firsthand.
That has now changed, as a filmed version of the show, recorded at The Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway in June 2016 with the original cast including Miranda as Hamilton, has arrived on streaming service Disney+, more than a year ahead of schedule. “The world turned upside down,” says Lin-Manuel, quoting a line from the show as he explains the shift.
“The world changed and I think it took us a while to realise Hamilton wasn’t going to be playing in any theatres live for a long time. It took us a minute to adjust to the new timeline of the world.
“Then we heard from people who said ‘Hey, we hear you have the Hamilton movie. We are all home, please give it to us.’
“We also heard from people who
Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton and Phillipa Soo as Eliza had tickets to see the show somewhere in the world and weren’t able to go, and it’s an incredible gift that Tommy (Kail, the director of the show and film) has been working on this movie for the past few years.
“We always said we wanted to democratise the world seeing this company doing this show, it just felt like a good opportunity and it happened almost exactly on the five-year anniversary that we opened.”
When the show launched, with Barack Obama still in the White House, it made headlines, not just for its creative blending of musical styles and homages to rappers such as Mobb Deep, Rakim and A Tribe Called Quest, but for the diversity of its cast, with a performer of colour occupying every main role.
Five years later and America is very different. It’s hard to ignore the fact that the film is being made available as Black Lives Matter protesters fill the streets and statues of historical figures are toppled.
“It’s been nice to re-examine the show through a different lens,” says