Six years after Hamilton stormed Broadway and almost a year after Disney Plus premiered the filmed staging of that production, the musical is opening on our shores.
Yes, we no longer need to wait for it: after a fierce bidding war between our two biggest cities, Hamilton is now playing at Sydney's Lyric Theatre.
Its opening on Wednesday night marked the first performance of Hamilton, globally, since March 12, 2020.
If you're feeling a little in over your head, perhaps a little helpless, here's a guide to the Australian production of this inimitable, original musical phenomenon, which won 11 Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize.
First things first: what — or who? — is Hamilton?
This is the story of Alexander Hamilton, America's forgotten founding father; an orphan and immigrant from the British West Indies who became George Washington's right-hand man during the American Revolutionary War.
After the war, he was a fierce and prolific advocate for the new American constitution, and played a pivotal role in the development of the US economic system as America's first treasury secretary.
LoadingThat may sound dry, but Hamilton also had a pretty messy personal life, including a nemesis: lawyer (and eventual US Vice President) Aaron Burr.
Musical wunderkind Lin-Manuel Miranda (In The Heights) wrote Hamilton, inspired by Ron Chernow's 2004 biography of Hamilton.
Miranda told Playbill in 2012: "I had that rare experience that, as I was reading it, songs were popping out to me. It's an incredible book, but it's also an incredible life."
LoadingHamilton began its life as a concept album and then evolved into a live sung-through hip hop musical, which opened at New York's Public Theater (off Broadway) in January 2015.
By August it had transferred to Broadway, where it was hailed as a breath of fresh air in the world of American musical theatre.
Hip hop might seem like an odd choice for a musical about a bunch of white guys, but Miranda told 7:30 that Hamilton "shares traits with the hip hop artists that I admire, in his self-invention and in his prolificness".
Supplied: Hamilton The Musical/Joan Marcus
)I've seen Hamilton on Disney Plus; how different is the Hamilton stage show?
As with most Broadway blockbusters, the set, staging and choreography remain the same in each local or touring production of Hamilton.
Accordingly, Sydney staging is almost identical to what's on Disney Plus — with one notable change.
Echoing a move he made for the West End production, Miranda has changed three words in the lyrics, to ensure certain jokes land.
Director Thomas Kail dares superfans to figure out what — in a show that averages 144 words per minute — those three words are.
Hint: The changes are in three different spots and one relates to geography.
Supplied: Getty/Neilson Barnard
)Do I really need to see it live?
We cannot answer that.
Kail told ABC Arts: "One of the things that the film does is it gives everybody the same vantage point, because of the way that the camera moves ... [But] your experience in going to the theatre is a collective experience, you're en masse — which is such a thrill."
So who's in the Hamilton Australia cast?
The 35-person Australian cast includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander performers as well as actors of Samoan, Maori, Filipino, Jamaican, South African, Nigerian, Egyptian, and Japanese heritage.
Supplied: Lisa Maree Williams
)Miranda is passionate about on-stage diversity, and from the beginning and for every production, performers of colour have played all the main roles.
The original cast included Miranda (Hamilton), Leslie Odom Jnr (Burr) and Christopher Jackson (George Washington).
"It was a way to not have this be a story about ancient dusty white men," says Kail.
Plus, a diverse approach to casting makes sense for a musical told via musical forms — including hip hop, R&B and jazz — that were created by African American artists.
I'm a Hamilton superfan — will this production be up to scratch?
We're sure you'll be satisfied.
Michael Cassel Group (also behind the Melbourne production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) is behind the Australian production, and the original American creative team have been closely involved, from Miranda and Kail to choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler and music supervisor Alex Lacamoire.
COVID-19 has meant that their work with creative counterparts in Sydney has been done via Zoom, including a year-long casting process.
Supplied: Lisa Maree Williams
)Kail has been impressed by the quality of our local talent.
"The folks that were coming in, not only were making bold choices and really had strong interpretations that were particular to them ... but there was also just a passion for theatre," he says.
While filling the shoes of someone who raps 6.3 words per second (Daveed Diggs, who played everyone's favourite fighting Frenchman Marquis de Lafayette, as well as the role of Thomas Jefferson) might seem intimidating, Kail says each new cast member brings their own experience to their character. Take Maori performer Matu Ngaropo (The Lion King, Sydney), who plays George Washington.
"I have no idea of what it feels like to go through some of the things that these men went through," he told The Stage Show.
How do the politics of Hamilton play in 2021?
The musical doesn't explicitly address or explore slavery, despite the fact that several of its main characters were slave owners.
Neither does it address the role of some its key characters in the genocide of Native Americans.
Unsurprisingly, it has been criticised for both these omissions — criticisms that resurfaced last year when the filmed version landed on Disney Plus, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests.
Supplied: Joan Marcus
)Director Thomas Kail welcomes criticism.
"The nature of theatre is that none of the words have changed [since 2015] ... but the world is so profoundly different, and the conversations we're having are so much more illuminated, that now the show takes on a different meaning."
"And we need to embrace the conversations that come from that, and recognise and talk about the things that are in the show, and the things that are not in the show, and ask questions about why they're not," says Kail.
Read more: How the Indigenous Australian and Maori cast feel about playing their Hamilton characters.This all sounds very American.
And yet: there are Australian fans who know the cast album word-for-word — and the only thing that put a stop to Hamilton's sell-out run on the West End (which opened in 2017, and won seven Olivier awards) was the pandemic.
Kail told The Stage Show: "Even though our show is very much about the founding of our country, it's [also] about the spirit of revolution."
Jason Arrow — who plays Hamilton in the Sydney production — told 7:30: "It's about people, history ... [and] how America got to where they are, but that's still relevant to us as well; as a country, we're still finding our feet in a lot of different respects."
How are they pulling this off in a COVID-safe fashion?
With Broadway and the West End still dark, the opportunity to see Hamilton live might make you look around and marvel at how lucky we are to be alive right now.
As per the Lyric's COVID-safety plan, and in accordance with NSW Health, Michael Cassel Group are currently ticketing at full venue capacity — but audience members are given specific times to arrive, and mask-wearing in the theatre is mandatory for those aged 12 and up.
How long will the production run for?
Non-stop, eight productions a week, with tickets currently on sale for shows through to September.
How do I get my hands on Hamilton Australia tickets?
LoadingIf you wanna be in the room where it happens, then tickets are available through Ticketmaster.
But no need to beg, steal, borrow, or barter, there's also a $10 ticket lottery for every performance.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMicGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIxLTAzLTE4L2hhbWlsdG9uLXN5ZG5leS1hdXN0cmFsaWFuLXByb2R1Y3Rpb24tbGluLW1hbnVlbC1taXJhbmRhLW11c2ljYWwvMTMyNDc4NjjSASdodHRwczovL2FtcC5hYmMubmV0LmF1L2FydGljbGUvMTMyNDc4Njg?oc=5
2021-03-17 17:27:47Z
CAIiEGw8jo5uYzDTlXNjbmv0-F8qFggEKg4IACoGCAow3vI9MPeaCDDciw4
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