Look out musical fans – the hit Broadway musical Hamilton is coming to Sydney!
The harbour city was declared the winner after an intense battle with Melbourne to stage the successful hip-hop musical, which follows the story of Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of the United States.
Set to open in 2021 at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre, the intervention of NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has reportedly been key to attract the producers to Sydney.
With the production set to start casting later this year, Premier advised “this is a highly successful, highly sought-after musical.
“Many cities we know in Australia put up their hands, but the producers could not resist the wonderful backdrop that Sydney offers.
“It does give me some pleasure to get one up on Melbourne, only because they bid very hard for it as well and we pipped them to the post.”
It hasn’t yet been revealed how much the State Government spent on securing the rights to Hamilton, but it was enough to fend off competition from both interstate and other cities in the Asia-Pacific region.
Following the announcement, the show’s writer, Lin-Manuel Miranda, sent a video message to local fans.
“Thank you to everyone in Australia who’s been asking for Hamilton. It’s on its way,” the message declared.
The musical has won a mass of awards, including a Pulitzer Prize, and has been described as a game changer in the musical theatre genre, particularly in its casting of performers from diverse backgrounds.
The Sydney production of Hamilton will be produced by Michael Cassel, the man behind the Melbourne production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
“It’s a huge deal,” Cassel commented.
“There’s no bigger musical in the world right now than Hamilton, so for Sydney to be able to host the Asia-Pacific premiere at the Lyric Theatre is very exciting.
“What’s so unique about this production is that it blends rap, hip-hop, R&B, jazz, blues and Broadway.
“For people who may not traditionally be fans of musical theatre, this is a great way to come and experience this incredible production and its incredible score.”
NSW Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres said the show is expected to draw in more than 130,000 visitors to the city, generating about $84 million in economic benefit for NSW.
“We think that this is right in the sweet spot of our return on investment benchmarks, based on the amount of people and their average spends,” Minister Ayres added.
“We think this will be a fantastic investment for the taxpayer.”
Are you excited about Hamilton finally coming to Australia? Is Sydney the best location for it? Let us know by commenting below.
Written by Jackson Miler
