Hamilton Cast: Who Will Appear In The Musical On Disney+?
The hit broadway musical is dancing it’s way onto our screens but who is in the original Hamilton cast that will perform on Disney+?
Written by Lin Manuel Miranda, the hip hop musical telling the story of American founding father Alexander Hamilton is hitting Disney on July 3 2020; a YEAR earlier than planned.
Winning countless awards, the musical casting receives praise for its diversity as well as its talent. Miranda explained:
“Our cast looks like America looks now, and that’s certainly intentional. It’s a way of pulling you into the story and allowing you to leave whatever cultural baggage you have about the founding fathers at the door.”
“We’re telling the story of old, dead white men but we’re using actors of color, and that makes the story more immediate and more accessible to a contemporary audience.”
So who are the original Broadway Hamilton Cast members that will appear on Disney Plus?
Alexander Hamilton – Lin Manuel Miranda
Previously to Hamilton, Lin Manuel Miranda created and starred in the musical Into The Heights which has also been made in a film set to be released in 2021.
It was whilst on vacation from performing in the musical that he read the 2004 biography Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. He had the vision of the story becoming a musical after reading a few chapters and did some research into whether the story of Hamilton’s life had been created. There had been a play on Broadway in 1917 and so the stage was open for him to create his own.
It was then that Lin started his project The Hamilton Mixtape. In 2009, when he was invited to the White House to perform music from Into The Heights, he ended up instead performing the now opening number “Alexander Hamilton”.
Video Source/ YouTube
Eliza Hamilton – Phillipa Soo
Phillipa Soo attended The Juilliard School’s acting programme where she graduated from in 2012. After seeing her perform in The Great Comet of 1812 (based on Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace) Miranda asked her to take part in an early reading of Hamilton as Eliza Hamilton.
Soo remained with the show through its Off-Broadway and Broadway debuts and she received a 2016 Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical.
Image Source/Philippa Soo Instagram
Aaron Burr – Leslie Odom Jr.
Studying musical theatre in college, Odom made his Broadway debut as Paul in Rent. In Hamilton, he takes on the role of Aaron Burr for which he was nominated for a 2015 Drama Desk Award For Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical.
In 2016, Soo collaborated with Miranda to voice various characters in the Disney film Moana.
Image Source/Instagram
Angelica Schuyler – Renée Elise Goldsberry
Goldsberry has previously played the role of Nala in the Broadway production of The Lion King and toured in the national tour of Dreamgirls.
Playing Alexander Hamilton’s sister-in-law, Angelica Schuyler, she won a 2015 Drama Desk Award, the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, and the 2016 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
Image Source/Instagram
George Washington – Christopher Jackson
Christopher Jackson made his Broadway debut in 1997 as an ensemble member in the Original Broadway Cast of Disney’s The Lion King. Remaining with the show for several years, he went on to portray the role of Simba.
Working with Miranda on several products, he played Benny in In the Heights, originated the role of George Washington (and was nominated for a Tony Award for the role) before later collaborating with Miranda on Moana where he voices Chief Tui.
Image Source/Instagram
Marquis de Lafayette / Thomas Jefferson – Daveed Diggs
Many of the main cast actually play more than one character. Lin Manuel Miranda invited Daveed Diggs to read early versions of Hamilton in 2012. Diggs’ passion for the project saw him go on to play Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson.
For his portrayal Diggs won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, as well as a 2016 Grammy Award for the cast album.
Image Source/Instagram
Hercules Mulligan / James Madison – Okieriete Onaodowan
With previous roles in Rocky the Musical and Cyrano de Bergerac, Onaodowan has plenty of experience on the stage and also acted in the first national tour of American Idiot.
Furthermore, he originated the roles of James Madison and Hercules Mulligan in Hamilton and later played the role of firefighter Dean Miller the the Grey’s Anatomy spin-off Station 19.
Image Source/Pinterest
John Laurens / Philip Hamilton – Anthony Ramos
Anthony Ramos performed the role of Sonny de la Vega in a 2012 production of Miranda’s In the Heights.
He later auditioned to be in the off-broadway Hamilton cast and continued to adopt the dual roles of John Laurens and Philip Hamilton.
Image Source/Instagram
Peggy Schuyler / Maria Reynolds – Jasmine Cephas Jones
Prior to Hamilton, Jones has appeared in some independent films and episodes of Blue Bloods and Unforgettable.
In 2018, Jasmine Cephas Jones and Anthony Ramos – who met during rehearsals for Off-Broadway Hamilton – got engaged.
Image Source/Instagram
King George III – Jonathan Groff
Groff has a seriously impressive resume from voicing Kristoff in Frozen to appearing in TV shows from Holden Ford in Mindhunter to Jesse in Glee.
Groff won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for appearing as a featured performer on the original Broadway cast recording. He was also nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.
Image Source/IMDb
Where Can I Watch The Hamilton Cast?
If you want to be in the room where it happens, Hamilton will be release on July 3 on Disney Plus. A Disney plus membership will cost you £5.99 a month or a one-ff payment of £59.99 for a year.
The streaming service features a whole range of Disney films, past and present as well as the Marvel Series, Star Wars, Pixar and National Geographic programmes in one place.
Watch on your TV, tablet, laptop, phone and more on up to four screens at once.