Hamilton ‘Hits in Different Ways, Based on Where America Is’

“Hamilton” may have first debuted on Broadway back in 2015, but creator and original star, Lin-Manuel Miranda says the musical still resonates today, just in “different ways.”

In an interview with WSJ. Magazine published on Monday, Miranda, 40, reflected on the show’s legacy ahead of Disney+’s release of “Hamilton” the film, a stage recording of the Tony-winning production.

While the movie’s release was initially moved up by 15 months due to the coronavirus pandemic, the modern retelling of Alexander Hamilton’s story couldn’t be coming to the small screen at a more appropriate time as people continue to protest against police brutality and racial inequality sparked by the death of George Floyd.

When asked what song, in particular, he thinks best applies to the current state of unrest, Miranda mentioned a song performed by one of the diverse cast’s few white members.

“The one that resonates with me the most is ‘The Farmer Refuted,'” Miranda said of the song, which includes the lyrics, “chaos and bloodshed are not a solution.”

“That is, to me, the dialogue that’s happening now,” he continued. “There’s nothing new about what’s happening. It’s been interesting to see the different things that pop up, because I was trying to tell this specific story, but I was grabbing from the America I know. So it all hits in different ways, based on where America is.”

As for how he’s handling it all, Miranda explained, “I’m as OK and as fed up and as tired and as energized and as angry and….I’m where everybody else is.”

Miranda — who the magazine appropriately compared to Tom Hanks as a universal “force for good” — is known by fans to use his platform to speak out about important issues. However, when asked if he “enjoys the responsibility,” he admitted, “Not really.”

“You want to put your energy into the thing you feel like you have a calling to do,” Miranda explained. “I feel I’m much better at writing a show than I am writing a tweet. So you want to put all the energy there. But the world, in the shape it’s in, doesn’t allow for exclusively that. I don’t see a monastic way forward in which I can just quietly give you a musical every five years.”

Miranda’s interview with WSJ. Magazine was published less than a day after the first trailer for the upcoming “Hamilton” film was released.

Described by Disney as a “live capture,” the movie is a live production of the musical filmed at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City back in June 2016. The film features “Hamilton’s” original cast, including Miranda as Alexander Hamilton, Leslie Odom Jr. (Aaron Burr), Jonathan Groff (King George), Anthony Ramos (John Laurens/Philip Hamilton), Renée Elise Goldsberry (Angelica Schuyler), and more.

The “Hamilton” movie was originally slated for a theatrical release on October 15, 2021. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Mouse House decided to move up the release by 15 months.

The Broadway hit, which won 11 Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize back in 2016, follows the story of Alexander Hamilton, the nation’s first Treasury Secretary. It’s not a coincidence the film comes out one day before Independence Day as the musical takes place during the American Revolution.

“No other artistic work in the last decade has had the cultural impact of ‘Hamilton,” — an inspiring and captivating tale told and performed in a powerfully creative way,” Disney’s Executive Chairman Robert Iger said in a statement last month. “In light of the extraordinary challenges facing our world, this story about leadership, tenacity, hope, love and the power of people to unite against the forces of adversity is both relevant and impactful.”

“We are thrilled to bring this phenomenon to Disney+ on the eve of Independence Day,” he continued. “And we have the brilliant Lin-Manuel Miranda and the team behind ‘Hamilton’ to thank for allowing us to do so more than a year before planned.”

Watch the trailer, above.

“Hamilton” hits Disney+ on July 3.

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