‘No one wants to watch a three-hour musical about politics’

Jason Arrow will reprise his role as Alexander Hamilton in the hit Australian production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s founding-father musical one last time before it leaves the country.

Jason Arrow will don the wig again as Hamilton returns to the Sydney Lyric Theatre in July. Picture: Don Arnold

Australian actor Jason Arrow has all-but lived as Alexander Hamilton for three years, “I think it’s actually altered my brain chemistry,” he tells The Australian.

The 33-year-old Perth-raised star, who first assumed the role in the mega-buzzy Australian production of Hamilton in 2021, will once again don his curly wig when he reprises the character for the upcoming Sydney season in July.

The Michael Cassel Group’s production of Hamilton, which premiered in March 2021, and saw screen and stage stars like Rachel Griffiths, Keith Urban and Delta Goodrem rub shoulders with politicians such as Anthony Albanese and former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, was one of the first major entertainment events in Australia post-pandemic.

Michael Cassel. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

And, with the northern hemisphere still shut down at the time, it was the only active performance of Hamilton in the world. “We collectively pulled off some crazy shit for lack of a better word,” Arrow says, reflecting on the Sydney debut.

“For the first time ever both the audience and the people on stage had a shared excitement that was bigger than just celebrating a show. It was an indescribable moment of shared humanity.”

Arrow will live it all again, when Hamilton returns to the Sydney Lyric Theatre in July for an encore season, with a cast of fresh faces and returning favourites.

Hamilton cast Marty Alix, Jason Arrow, Victory Ndukwe, Shaka Cook. Picture: Daniel Boud

He will be joined by Callan Purcell will reprise his role as Aaron Burr, Akina Edmonds as Angelica Schulyer, Elandrah Eramiha as Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds, and Brent Hill as King George.

Those making their Hamilton debuts include Vidya Makan as Eliza Hamilton, Gerard-Luke Malgas as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson, Etuate Lutui as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison, and the Indigenous performer Googoorewon Knox, who played Warumpi Band frontman George Burarrwanga in Sydney Festival 2024 hit Big Name, No Blankets, as George Washington.

Penned by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Tony-, Grammy-, Olivier-, and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical debuted off-Broadway in 2015, and has since been seen by 22 million people worldwide. It is a hip-hop-telling of Alexander Hamilton, an orphan born on the Caribbean island of Nevis, who transcended his origins as “a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman,” to become one of the United States’ Founding Fathers.

Chloe Zuel and Jason Arrow in Hamilton. Picture: Daniel Boud

So why have Australian’s gone so nuts for this American with a capital A musical, with its New York City rap-rooted soundtrack, and references to Biggie Smalls, Mobb Deep, and DMX? “It focuses on the human emotion, and makes these people real,” muses Arrow. “We’re talking about politics here. No one wants to sit for three hours and watch a musical about that. Lin has made something digestible and accessible to everyone.”

“He’s [Miranda] amazing, a wealth of knowledge.” says Arrow, recalling the first time he met the Hamilton writer and former star, at one of the Brisbane performances. “You would assume someone who’s written something would be really protective over it. He’s not at all. He wants to see different takes on it. He wants to see what it’s like in different cultures.”

Lin-Manuel Miranda meeting the Australian company of Hamilton at QPAC. Picture: Supplied

Arrow brings up the Maori cast member Matu Ngaropo who played the “OG George Washington,” and would imbue his performance with moves from the haka. “Lin loved it.”

“It was a great way to share the show with him. At that point we had done it for two years, so it was less of a ‘Hey, dad, are we doing well?’ And more of a ‘This what we’ve got dad,’ thing.”

Arrow has held one of the longest-ever tenures in the role of Alexander Hamilton, having performed in almost 1000 shows across Australia, Manila, and Abu Dhabi. He was only a newcomer when he got the gig, and, he admits, the gravity of the role has only now started to sink in. “It’s Hamilton, for goodness sake!” he exclaims.

“There was a lot of information to digest, process, and think about for two years … I can say now that I’m proud to have been part of what was not only a groundbreaking show in Australia, but a groundbreaking thing internationally.”

Though he still doesn’t feel any closer to the truth of who his character is. “Just as I think I’ve gotten closer to the line, the line moves,” he says. “The more I understand the more questions there are.”

“I think the reason I’m still doing it three years later is because it’s still interesting. It’s still challenging, and it’s constantly shifting and changing.”

Hamilton will return to the Sydney Lyric Theatre on July 30. Sydney is the only Australian city the production will play before leaving Australia on October 31.