Hamilton’s creator Lin-Manuel Miranda heading for Brisbane

Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel-Miranda has put an end to the rumours he might finally come to Australia to see his hit show, with his Australian producer confirming he is coming to Brisbane.

Hamilton’s creator Lin-Manuel Miranda will make his first visit Down Under next month to see the Australian production of his hit show.

The creator of the iconic production will come to Brisbane to meet with the Australian company of Hamilton including local rapper Sami Afuni who may well end up on Broadway when Miranda sees him strutting his stuff. Everyone agrees Afuni is killing it in his two roles on stage in his first musical.

Brisbane actor and rapper Sami Afuni will soon get to strut his stuff for Lin-Manuel Miranda: Pic by Lachie Millard

Miranda, The Tony, Grammy, Emmy, Olivier and Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of Hamilton is coming in March to meet the local company of the production in-person for the very first time.

Miranda has been working on the Australian version of his show remotely since pre-production began in 2019. He will travel to Brisbane to watch the show live for the first time in Australia and to participate in an exclusive fan event. Full details of the fan event will be released at a later date.

Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton in the Broadway production of his hit musical

“I have been waiting such a long time to come to Australia and I can’t wait to be with the company Down Under in-person for the first time,” Lin-Manuel Miranda said. “I have heard such great things from friends and fans in Australia, it is going to be fantastic to be able to meet them and watch them perform.”

We reported a couple of weeks ago that he might be on his way after American producer Jeffrey Seller let it slip in an interview with The Courier-Mail that Miranda was looking at his calendar to see if he could make it work.

Hamilton’s Australian producer, Michael Cassel, said Australian fans had “been so patient waiting for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s visit to Australia and we have something very special in store for them when he gets here.”.

“It will also be an enormous treat for our company, who have been connecting with Lin-Manuel via Zoom, to share their incredible performances with him,” Cassel said.

Hamilton’s Australian Producer Michael Cassel.

The Brisbane season at QPAC’s Lyric Theatre, which opened on January 31, marks the final season for the show in Australia before it begins its international tour in Auckland from May 26.

Following unprecedented demand and with well in excess of 120,000 tickets already sold three additional weeks of performances at QPAC on sale from 9am Monday February 13 for performances beginning on Tuesday, April 4. The season cannot be extended any further and the final Australian performance will be Sunday, April 23.

The Australian company is led by Jason Arrow as Alexander Hamilton, Martha Berhane as Eliza Hamilton, Callan Purcell as Aaron Burr, Akina Edmonds as Angelica Schuyler, Matu Ngaropo as George Washington, Victory Ndukwe as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson, Brisbane’s Sami Afuni as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison, Wern Mak as John Laurens/Philip Hamilton, Elandrah Eramiha as Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds and Brent Hill as King George.

The Australian cast of Hamilton

They are joined by Kirrah Amosa, Kyla Bartholomeusz, Shewit Belay, Justin Bryant, Olivia Carniato, Celine Cleveland, Lachlan Dearing, Simon Fairweather, Alexander Ferguson, Keanu Gonzalez, Winston Hillyer, Indigo Hunt, Julian Kuo, Iosefa Laga’aia, Stefan Lagoulis, Ashton Lash, HaNy Lee, Zelia Rose, Emmy Saheki, Trevor Santos, Tainga Savage, Terrance Spencer, Dayton Tavares, Romina Villafranca and Zachary Webster completing the Australian company.

Hamilton premiered on Broadway in August 2015 to wide critical and audience acclaim.

Featuring a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B and Broadway, Hamilton has taken the story of American founding father Alexander Hamilton and created a revolutionary moment in theatre – a musical that has had a profound impact on culture, politics and education.

With book, music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, direction by Thomas Kail, choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler and musical supervision and orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire, Hamilton is based on Ron Chernow’s acclaimed biography – an 800 page epic that inspired Lin-Manuel Miranda to create the what some say is the greatest musical of all time.

A filmed version of the original Broadway cast was released on Disney+ on 3 July 2020.

The Australian production of Hamilton is produced by Jeffrey Seller, Sander Jacobs, Jill Furman, The Public Theater and Michael Cassel.

qpac.com.au