By Amber Avila & Adrienne Diaz
It has recently been announced that the popular musical, “Hamilton,” created by Lin-Manual Miranda, will be brought to the big screen in Fall of 2021. Planned to be a theatrical release, Disney has taken on this project with Thomas Kall as the director.
His inspiration for creating a hip-hop musical based on a founding father came after he read the biography “Alexander Hamilton” by Ron Chernow.
“Miranda saw Hamilton’s relentlessness, brilliance, linguistic dexterity, and self-destructive stubbornness through his own idiosyncratic lens. It was, he thought, a hip-hop story, an immigrant’s story,” said Rebecca Mead in her New Yorker article “All About the Hamiltons.”
Hamilton made its debut in 2015 at the Public Theater and later made it to Broadway. The musical was a hit and went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2016 and 11 Tony Awards (also breaking the record for most Tony nominations, previously held by “The Producers” in 2001).
The recording of the Hamilton took place June of 2016 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York with the original cast in which Kall then edited the recording into a more cohesive film. This recording has been kept from audiences until Miranda and his team felt that the time was right. The Walt Disney Company eventually purchased the rights to create the film last February for a whopping $75 million.
“All who saw it with the original cast will never forget that singular experience. And we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to share this same Broadway experience with millions of people around the world,” Disney chief executive and chairman Bob Iger said.
Disney is more known for their kid-friendly content, and although the musical is known for having some swear words it is currently unknown if Disney will include them in the film.
This is not the first time Miranda has released Hamilton related content. In 2016 the “Hamilton Mixtape” was released, which included popular musicians like John Legend, Wiz Khalifa, and Usher, performing their own renditions of the Hamilton soundtrack. A film adaptation of Miranda’s other well-known musical “In the Heights” is also being released this year.
The musical is also currently at the Pantages, returning three years after a five month run in 2017. Performances were to begin March 12 though the Pantages closed for Coronavirus. Performances were scheduled for a six month run. As usual, tickets are in high demand with the lowest cost of one for an LA show being $253, according to SeatGeek.
It would appear that Miranda’s career and success from here on out will only continue to grow. The musical, being a cultural phenomenon, will finally be able to grace our screens for fans to enjoy around the world next year.
The Plaid Press 