Ashley Lee -
Disney is bringing movie goers to the room where it happened. Specifically, to the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City for a performance of “Hamilton” with the original Broadway cast.
The show’s producers announced last Monday that Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical juggernaut will be released in movie theaters worldwide by Disney. Directed by Thomas Kail, it will hit the US and Canada on October 15, 2021.
A filmed version of the 11-time Tony Award-winning production has been in the works since it opened on Broadway in 2015, with Miranda promising fans that the show would be captured before the original Broadway cast — which includes Miranda, Daveed Diggs, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Leslie Odom, Jr, Christopher Jackson, Jonathan Groff, Phillipa Soo, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Okieriete Ona Odowan, Anthony Ramos and Ariana DeBose — moved on to new projects.
Releasing the footage as a film is a massive move forward in affordability and accessibility to theater — a topic that has long been important to Miranda.
“We are thrilled for fans of the show, and new audiences across the world, to experience what it was like on stage — and in the audience — when we shot this at The Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway in June of 2016,” Kail said in a statement. “We wanted to give every one the same seat, which is what this film can provide.”
“Hamilton” has since launched open-ended productions in Chicago and London, as well as numerous national tours.
Though many theater stars — including Wayne Brady, Brandon Victor Dixon, Joshua Henry and Mandy Gonzalez — have since taken on “Hamilton” characters, no current production features any major members of the original Broadway cast, who have since gone on to star in movies, TV shows and other Broadway productions.
“Lin-Manuel Miranda created an unforgettable theater experience and a true cultural phenomenon, and it was for good reason that Hamilton was hailed as an astonishing work of art. All who saw it with the original cast will never forget that singular experience,” Robert A Iger, chairman and chief executive of the Walt Disney Co, said in a statement.
“And we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to share this same Broadway experience with millions of people around the world.”
While the theatrical release of a filmed stage production is not uncommon — National Theatre Live is currently offering a stellar lineup on various screens, including Phoebe Waller-Bridge in “Fleabag,” Andrew Scott in “Present Laughter” and Gillian Anderson and Lily James in “All About Eve” — it is rare from one of the major Hollywood studios, which annually dabble in the movie-musical space.
And 2020 is already a busier-than-usual year for the genre, with Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story,” Jon M Chu’s “In the Heights, “Miranda’s “Tick, Tick... Boom!” and Ryan Murphy’s “The Prom” all on the way to the screen.
Each of these upcoming movie-musicals was cast, rehearsed and filmed separately from any live production, often leaving its cast and creatives to start from scratch. That can be tough, or too distinct a departure from the live experience of a stage show, which features a cast not only seasoned from originating their characters and performing hundreds of shows but also uniquely bonded from building the production together from the ground up.
In the case of “Hamilton,” Tony winners Jackson and Diggs had been playing their roles since the show’s earliest workshop in 2013; the rest of the cast joined the show off-Broadway and later reprised their roles on Broadway.
“I’m so proud of what Tommy Kail has been able to capture in this filmed version of ‘Hamilton’ — a live theatrical experience that feels just as immediate in your local movie theater,” Miranda said in a statement.
“We’re excited to partner with Disney to bring the original Broad way company of Hamilton to the largest audience possible.”
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