After months of buzz, the highly anticipated off- Broadway hit musical Hamilton begins Broadway previews July 13. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit musical is set to officially open on August 6 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.
Under the direction of Thomas Kail and featuring a book, music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton is inspired by the book Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow.
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.
Miranda stars in the title role, the cast also includes Jonathan Groff as King George III, Christopher Jackson as George Washington, Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr, Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton, Anthony Ramos as John Laurens/Phillip Hamilton, Daveed Diggs as Marquis De Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson, Renée Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler and Javier Muñoz as Hamilton alternate.
The company will additionally feature Jasmine Cephas Jones, Okieriete Onaodowan, Carleigh Bettiol, Andrew Chappelle, Ariana DeBose, Alysha Deslorieux,Sydney James Harcourt, Neil Haskell, Sasha Hutchings, Thayne Jasperson, Stephanie Klemons, Morgan Marcell, Emmy Raver-Lampan, Jon Rua, Austin Smith, Seth Stewart, Betsy Struxness, Ephraim Sykes and Voltaire Wade-Greene.
Hamilton features set design by David Korins, costume design by Paul Tazewell, lighting design by Howell Binkley, sound design by Nevin Steinberg, and Alex Lacamoire as musical director.
Tickets are in high demand and are now available for show dates falling between Nov. 24 through Mar 27, 2016. Get them here or by calling 877-250-2929. Tickets are also sold at the Richard Rodgers Theatre Box Office from 10 am till 8 pm, Monday through Saturday.
As previously announcedtwo-and-half hours before each performance patrons may enter their name outside the theater for a chance to buy up to two $10 front row tickets. Winner’s names will be drawn two hours before show time. Entrants must present photo ID, and the winners must pay with cash at the box office.
Cynthia Erivo at Opening Night of the Color Purple. Photo by Drew Shade
Tony, Emmy, and Grammy Award-winning actress, Cynthia Erivo, known for her transformative performance as Celie in the 2015 Broadway revival of The Color Purple is now one of five actors nominated for the British Academy of Film’s 2019 Rising Star Awards.
Most recently seen alongside Viola Davis in Steve McQueen’s Widows, Erivo says:
“I’m ever grateful to BAFTA and the jury panel for nominating me for the 2019 EE Rising Star Award. It means the world to me to be acknowledged by the community that, for most of my life, I’ve known as home. Thank you for this incredible honour.” – Cynthia Erivo
The BAFTA Awards will take place on February 10th.
In the same line of thought as “innocent until proven guilty,” do we grant the assumption of positive intent in our expectations of our brothers and sister in regards to woke-ness, à la woke until proven problematic?
Now don’t get me wrong, there was no doubt in my heart that Tony and Grammy Award-winner, Billy Porter, was woke. Nope, none. What I wasn’t ready for, was the way he fixed his fingers to pen one of the greatest acceptance speeches of my lifetime, and how he turned the Gospel classic “I Don’t Feel No Ways Tired” into a battle song.
The 28th Annual GLAAD Media Awards honored Billy Porter with the Vito Russo Award, presented to an openly LGBTQ media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equality and acceptance.
He started by affirming the room full of members of marginalized communities, with my personal daily mantra: “You are enough. we are enough.”
Since the beginning of time artists are the folks who engage critically and encourage those who think they are powerless to question the status quo.
Brothers and sisters across the room leaned in.
The days of shut up and sing are over.
Alliteration informed and illustrated as Porter preached on remaining “vigilantly visual” as we tell our stories. Acknowledging the reality of our times, he spoke on Number 45:
Where they slipped up this time is in that declaration of war. It’s not only against Black and Brown people and Queer people anymore, it’s against ALL of us. And as a result, the good news is: white folk, and straight folk, and all those fierce women folk, are mad now. And NOW maybe something might get done!
Get. Your. War. Clothes. On.
From slavery to emancipation, to the 13th Amendment, to Jim Crow, to the Civil Rights Movement. From Stonewall to AIDS, to marriage equality— we gotta remember the shoulders who we stand on—the ones who fought and died for those freedoms that we hold so dear. Let’s use these historical strides we’ve made as a nation to empower us as warriors on this battlefield of equality.
Amen.
Until we can figure out how to love one another unconditionally, no one wins. Freedom. Equality. Justice. Have always come at a cost and evidently the always will.
If that’s not the truth.
Stay strong. Stay vigilante. Stay visible. Stay hopeful. Stay focused. Be brave. Be fierce.
Resist.
RESIST.
RESIST.
RESIST.
For a full list of this year’s winners, honorees, and guests, visit GLAAD.
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