‘Musical theatre reborn’ with Hamilton, says producer Jeffrey Seller

Ahead of a highly anticipated Sydney premiere, the cast and crew of Hamilton celebrate the return of live theatre.

Hamilton cast members Chloe Zuel, Akina Edmonds and Elandrah Eramiha at the Lyric Theatre, Sydney, on Thursday. Picture: Getty Images

Broadway producer Jeffrey Seller has declared the “rebirth of musical theatre” in Sydney, as the city prepares for the opening of the Australian production of mega-musical Hamilton on Saturday.

Seller, producer of the show’s original New York production, is in Sydney for the local premiere at a time when other productions of Hamilton — from Broadway to London’s West End — remain in lockdown.

At the Lyric Theatre on Thursday, Seller introduced the Australian cast, led by Jason Arrow as Alexander Hamilton, the role originally played by the show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda.

He will be joined on stage by actors including Chloe Zuel, Matu Ngaropo, Elandrah Eramiha and Lyndon Watts.

“What we have here is a luminous, gorgeous, super-talented group of diverse young people from all over Australia,” Seller said. “It’s been my great privilege and pleasure to be in Sydney as we mount this magnificent production. I’m going to rewrite Lin-Manuel’s lyrics in the show and say, ‘In Sydney you can be a new man’.”

Members of the cast said they were thrilled to be performing in front of live audiences again after a year without work.

Jason Arrow as Alexander Hamilton in the Australian production of Hamilton. Picture: Daniel Boud

Arrow said the stakes were high, “but the cast is prepared and excited to go”.

“It’s just an honour to bring theatre back to this place, with these producers and this audience, and have this cast lead the way out of the last year,” said Akina Edmonds, who plays the role of Angelica Schuyler.

Hamilton will open at 100 per cent audience capacity in a theatre that seats about 2000.

Australian producer Michael Cassel said he felt confident that “the protocols and planning ­undertaken to make it a safe environment should give people great faith”.

The Tony Award-winning show is based on the life of Alexander Hamilton, first Treasury secretary of the US, and is notable for its mixture of musical theatre and hip-hop styles, as well as the diversity of its cast.

“We are ready to share a very important story and very important piece of history in a new way,” said Zuel. “It’s a very special ­statement about the past and the future.”

Asked where Hamilton sits in the pantheon of hit musicals, including The Lion King, Cats and The Phantom of the Opera, Seller said “it’s like comparing apples to apples”.

“Hamilton is No 1 right now, but we just don’t know what the future will bring,” he said.

“It’s not for me to say what Hamilton will be, it will be for history to tell.”