Sir Cameron Mackintosh on Hamilton, Lin Manuel Miranda and bringing the hit musical to Manchester
Hamilton's producer, Sir Cameron Mackintosh, says 'Hamilton and Manchester belong together'.
The musical, which tells the story of one of America's founding fathers, will be going on a UK tour with Manchester as its first stop.
Sir Cameron was an acting assistant stage manager in the Palace Theatre's Oliver in 1965 has said the reason he is bringing the beloved production to Manchester is because the city deserves the same experiences.
Sir Cameron said: "Hamilton and Manchester belong together, as far as I'm concerned, I've always brought the great musicals here.
"In fact the last musical I brought here was Les Miserables to Salford for the second time in its sold out national tour.
"There's not a show I've done in my life that I haven't wanted to bring to Manchester and give Manchester exactly the same experience as I've given audiences in London and Broadway."
Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton is based on a book written by Ron Chernow from 2004.
"It's truly original, and Lin-Manuel Miranda was born to do this," Sir Cameron said.
"Nobody else would have picked up that novel about Alexander Hamilton, a lesser known member of the founding fathers, and understood its resonance."
Sir Cameron Mackintosh has been its producer since December 2017 with his opening show at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London.
Hamilton itself has been running as a production since 2015 debuting in New York.
"It just sprouted out of him [Lin], the show, and I think that's the mark of all the great musicals," he said.
"Many of them could have been done by anybody because they're in the public domain, but only one writer has the inspiration that turns something into an extraordinary, extraordinary piece which is what Lin has done.
"He has created one of the great musicals of all time and it's thrilling for me, who didn't produce the show originally, to have been entrusted with doing the show in this country."
The show tells the story through rap and hip-hop with a cast of predominantly non-white actors.
"I think it's the complexity of the characters and yet the way it's been woven together, it's a very intricate story that Lin is telling.
"What's so wonderful and timely at the moment is he was brought up on hip hop as well as being brought up on all the classic musicals, he knows more about the history of musical theatre than I do, I mean he's extraordinary.
"He's assimilated all of that and used hip hop and rap to tell a lot of information in a brilliantly entertaining way...it's about words and Alexander Hamilton was an incredible wordsmith so it is completely natural that the way this show has been written and it's full of some great great tunes as well that that's why it's become such an extraordinary success.
"It's of the time but at the same time, it's a timeless classic and that rarely happens."
The show will be at Manchester's Palace Theatre from Saturday 11 November through to Saturday 25 February 2024.