Come next year, King George III may finally be playing on his home turf.
The Broadway musical phenomenon Hamilton could open in October 2017 at London’s Victoria Palace Theatre, according to a tweet by U.K. theatre columnist Baz Bamigboye. He gave no source for the tweeted report, but also reported that co-producer Cameron Mackintosh is spending £30 million to refurbish the theatre for the show.
Bamigboye also teased that theatregoers could sign up for priority ticket info this coming Monday, with tickets to go on sale in October 2016, though the U.K. website he provided for Hamilton is not currently active. It is expected that the site will go live Monday, June 13 at noon BST.
It is speculated that the show’s star and creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, will transfer with the production when it arrives in the West End, though no official announcement has been made.
In August 2015, Miranda spoke of Hamilton’s West End bow in an interview with London’s Evening Standard, saying, “We’re hoping it will happen sooner rather than later. My wife is always trying to get me to other countries so I would be honored to open the show in London.”
Which leads to the questions, will the London audiences boo Hamilton and his rebellious friends, and cheer the songs sung by their famous son King George III? We shall see.
That London bow may be the best chance Americans have to see the show anytime soon at a decent price.
The new block of tickets for Hamilton that went on pre-sale June 7, available exclusively for AMEX Centurion/Platinum Card holders, apparently has sold out the regularly priced $179-$199 seats alotted to that group. Cardholders who called Ticketmaster late June 7 and June 8 were being told that the only tickets left were the premium seats, priced at—wait for it—$849.
That is a record high price for an official Broadway show premium ticket, and a tariff no scrappy patriot could afford, though scalpers are getting two and three times that much. The previous official records were $549 for Hamilton (earlier this year) and $477 for The Book of Mormon. (Well, Hamilton did found the first national bank, after all. So it’s perhaps appropriate that the musical named after him makes enough profit to start another.)
There was no official confirmation or denial from the Broadway production as of June 8. However, the New York Times reported June 9 that “about 200 seats at every Hamilton performance — mostly in the center orchestra — will be sold for $849. The rest of the house ... about 1,075 seats per show — will be sold for between $179 and $199.”
The new block of tickets covers January-May 21, 2017.
There is some good news for those who don’t have the ability to throw countless Franklins at Hamilton. The Times also reported that starting in January the number of $10 seats in the theatre’s first two rows, which are sold by lottery each day, will be doubled from 21 to 46.
The face on a $10 bill? Hamilton, of course.
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Nathan Lane, who will return to Broadway later this season in a revival of The Front Page, may also have a London gig in his future.
He is currently in negotiations to play the role of lawyer Roy Cohn in London's National Theatre revival of Tony Kushner's award-winning Angels in America, according to an unsourced report from the Daily Mail.
Marianne Elliott will direct the two-part epic. The first part of the drama, Millennium Approaches, is scheduled to begin previews April 20, 2017. Opening for Millennium and the second part of the saga, Perestroika, is scheduled for May 5.
The company will also feature Andrew Garfield, Russell Tovey as Joe Pitt and Denise Gough as Harper Pitt.
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Broadway has found plenty of reasons to revive the works of mid-20th-century playwrights like Eugene O’Neill, Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams in recent years. Their contemporary, Lillian Hellman, who was once as praised, has not been so lucky: Not a single Broadway revival of any of her works in nearly two decades.
Until now. Manhattan Theatre Club has announced that Laura Linney and Cynthia Nixon will star in its March 2017 revival of Hellman’s The Little Foxes.
The revival will be directed by Tony winner Daniel Sullivan.
And here’s a bit of fun: Linney and Nixon will alternate the roles of Regina Hubbard Giddens and Birdie Hubbard. For those with dim memories, Regina is the icy-veined meanie of the Southern Hubbard family, and Birdie is the good-hearted victim.
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New York theatregoers of the 1990s and ‘00s knew the name and work of Brian Murray well. The versatile character was seemingly everywhere for a long while, sometimes appearing in a few productions a season. Lately, however, sightings have been rare.
But following a four-year absence, Murray will return Off-Broadway in the thriller Simon Says, a new play by Mat Schaffer. Directed by Myriam Cyr, Simon Says is set to begin previews July 6 with an official opening night slated for July 9. The engagement will play The Culture Project’s Lynn Redgrave Theater through July 30.
The play follows the story of a young psychic who has been the subject of a scientific experiment on the soul.
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A new common-sense change in Broadway theatre policy came through this week.
For years taking a photograph inside a Broadway theatre was a huge no-no—forbidden, regardless of whether the performance had started or concluded, and sure to attract the furious attentions of admonitory ushers. It was all kind of silly when the scolding came before or after the performance, given absolutely zero was happening on the stage, and there was little reason to believe that scenic design espionage was afoot.
Moreover, productions were robbing themselves of plenty of free advertising via Facebook and Twitter.
Finally, the theatres have seen the light. Due to the changing times, the advent of social media and the ever-present cell phone, two of the three major owners of Broadway theatres—The Shubert Organization and Jujamcyn Theaters—have altered their photography rules.
In separate statements, the two organizations confirmed to Playbill.com that theatregoers are now generally permitted to photograph inside the theatre prior to and after the performance as well as during intermission.
Jordan Roth, the president and principal owner of Jujamcyn, stated, “Our culture has evolved to where taking and sharing photos has become a meaningful way in which we experience and process our lives. We want the theatre to be part of that vibrant, evolving culture so we welcome our theatregoers chronicling their experiences in our houses at any time except during the performance.”
Instagrammers, rejoice!
