Hamilton Mixtape

Final Cast of Hamilton at the Public Theater!

itshamiltime, , , , , , 1 Comment

Broadway World reported last week that the full cast of Hamilton has now been announced.  Hamilton will be playing at the Public Theater from January 20-March 22.  Below is a brief look at the cast.  The actors come from a variety of different backgrounds, including Broadway, television, and film.

– Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton

– Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr

Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton

– Daveed Diggs as Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette

– Christopher Jackson as George Washington

– Brian d’Arcy James as King George

– Renee Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler

– Anthony Ramos as John Laurens and Philip Hamilton

– Jasmine Cephas Jones as Maria Reynolds and Peggy Schuyler

– Okierete Onadowan as Hercules Mulligan and James Madison

The Public Theater’s description of the show states:

From the creative team behind the Tony Award-winning In The Heights comes a wildly inventive new musical about the scrappy young immigrant who forever changed America: Alexander Hamilton. Tony and Grammy Award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda wields his pen and takes the stage as the unlikely founding father determined to make his mark on a new nation as hungry and ambitious as he is.

From bastard orphan to Washington’s right hand man, rebel to war hero, loving husband caught in the country’s first sex scandal to Treasury head who made an untrusting world believe in the American economy, HAMILTON is an exploration of a political mastermind. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Eliza Hamilton, and lifelong Hamilton friend and foe, Aaron Burr, all attend this revolutionary tale of America’s fiery past told through the sounds of the ever-changing nation we’ve become.

Tony Award nominee Thomas Kail directs this new musical about taking your shot, speaking your mind, and turning the world upside down. HAMILTON is produced with the support of Jeffrey Seller, Sander Jacobs, and Jill Furman.

The New York Times noted that “the musical has been developed with support from commercial producers; if all goes well at the nonprofit Public, it is likely to transfer to Broadway during the 2015-16 theater season.”

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s HAMILTON World Premiere Winter 2015

itshamiltime, , , Leave a comment

Exciting news: Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton will have it’s world premiere next winter at the Public Theater!  The New York Times reports that the production will be directed by Thomas Kail, who collaborated with Miranda on In The Heights and was nominated for a Tony.  Additionally, commercial producers Jeffrey Seller, Sander Jacobs, and Jill Furman, will be financially supporting the production.  Hamilton will begin performances on Tuesday, January 20, 2015 and run through Sunday, February 22, 2015.

The Public Theater’s press release states:

“HAMILTON, written by the Tony and Grammy Award-winning composer and lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda, will have its world premiere next January as part of The Public’s 2014-15 season at Astor Place. Directed by his In The Heights collaborator Thomas Kail, this new musical features Miranda playing Alexander Hamilton, one of our country’s Founding Fathers and the first Secretary of the Treasury. ”
“Lin-Manuel Miranda is a marvel, but nothing could have prepared us for the astonishing achievement of  Hamilton,” said Artistic Director Oskar Eustis. “Alexander Hamilton was born in the West Indies, the only Founding Father who was an immigrant, and Lin’s genius is to tell the story of the birth of the United States as an immigrant’s story. The energy, the passion, joy, tragedy, and raw intelligence of this show are stunning.”
HAMILTON, featuring a cast of historical figures that includes George Washington, Aaron Burr, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson,  Miranda performed a song from HAMILTON for President Obama and the First Family at the White House in 2009 during its first-ever White House Evening of Poetry & Spoken Word. Watch it here http://1.usa.gov/1bGCQbh. Inspired by the book Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, HAMILTON is produced with the support of Jeffrey Seller, Sander Jacobs, and Jill Furman

The Public Theater website states:

The Public Theater is the only theater in New York that produces Shakespeare, the classics, musicals, contemporary and experimental pieces in equal measure. The Public continues the work of its visionary founder, Joe Papp, by acting as an advocate for the theater as an essential cultural force, and leading and framing dialogue on some of the most important issues of our day.  Creating theater for one of the largest and most diverse audience bases in New York City for nearly 60 years, today the company engages audiences in a variety of venues—including its landmark downtown home at Astor Place, which houses five theaters and Joe’s Pub; the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, home to its beloved, free Shakespeare in the Park; and the Mobile Unit, which tours Shakespearean productions for underserved audiences throughout New York City’s five boroughs. The Public’s wide range of programming includes Free Shakespeare in the Park, the bedrock of the company’s dedication to making theater accessible to all, new and experimental stagings at The Public at Astor Place, and a range of artist and audience development initiatives including its Public Forum series, which brings together theater artists and professionals from a variety of disciplines for discussions that shed light on social issues explored in Public productions.

Pop Culture Watch: Lin-Manuel Miranda’s The Hamilton Mixtape Live this Summer!

itshamiltime, , , , , , , 1 Comment

Apologies for the long posting hiatus!  I’m just coming off a very intense period of time at work.  Back in action now and should be posting regularly!

The Powerhouse Theater at Vassar College announced that Lin-Manuel Miranda will be presenting his show, The Hamilton Mixtape this summer.  Miranda is best known for composing and starring in the Tony Award-winning show “In the Heights.”

Broadway World states:  The Hamilton Mixtape is a hip-hop song cycle about the life and death of Alexander Hamilton and showcases a fusion of Miranda’s signature Latin, hip-hop and classic Broadway styles.

The world got its first taste of the Hamilton Mixtape in May 2009, when Miranda performed at the White House Poetry Jam.   In January 2012, he performed a one-night only preview of the Hamilton Mixtape at Lincoln Center.

Click here for a January 2012 New York Times profile on Lin-Maunel Miranda and his Hamilton Mixtape project.