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Hamilton Film
Hamilton Film

Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton to Reprise Roles on the Big Screen

The Broadway phenomenon Hamilton, the Tony Award–winning Best Musical of 2016 and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, has become one of the most sought-after tickets in Broadway history. Now the show is officially heading for the big screen. Tentatively scheduled to premiere in October of 2021, the announcement of the film comes with a very special promise: the original Broadway cast will reprise their roles in the film adaptation.

The promise has, in fact, become a reality, as the film version of Hamilton has already been preserved. The original cast, including Tony Award-winning creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and Tony Award-winning actor Leslie Odom, Jr., was filmed at Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre where the stage production continues to play to sold-out audiences. Joining Miranda and Odom, as Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, respectively, are Tony-winner Renée Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler, Tony-winner Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson,Tony nominee Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton, Christopher Jackson as George Washington, and Jonathan Groff as King George. Also in the cast are Jasmine Cephas Jones as Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds, Okieriete Onaodowan as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison, and Anthony Ramos as John Laurens/Philip Hamilton.

With a scheduled release date of October 15, 2021, the film version of Hamilton will be produced by Disney along with Miranda, producer Jeffrey Seller, and director Thomas Kail. The production features choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler, orchestrations by musical supervisor Alex Lacamoire, sets by David Korins, costumes by Paul Tazewell, lighting by Howell Binkley, and sound design by Nevin Steinberg. The original Broadway production was nominated for 16 Tony Awards, taking home twelve trophies, among them Best Score, Best Book, Best Choreography, Best Direction, and Best Musical.

Hamilton tells the story of American founding father Alexander Hamilton. The musical draws its inspiration from Ron Chernow’s biography of the same name. The score blends hip-hop, jazz, blues, rap, R&B, and Broadway. It is the story of America then, as told by America now.

Another Lin-Manuel stage musical, In the Heights, is also receiving the big-screen treatment. That film arrives on June 26, 2020, with Hamilton star Anthony Ramos in the lead as Usnavi. Jon M. Chu directs.

Mark Robinson is the author of the two-volume encyclopedia The World of Musicals, The Disney Song Encyclopedia, and The Encyclopedia of Television Theme Songs. His latest book, Sitcommentary: The Television Comedies That Changed America, released on October 15. He maintains a theater and entertainment blog at markrobinsonwrites.com.

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