“Hamilton” to be streamed on Disney Plus

Social distancing, self-isolation and quarantining have fueled the popularity of online streaming services. While some films set to be released during this time have been postponed, some have continued on schedule with streaming-only releases. Some have been pushed forward entirely. 

In February 2020, it was announced that the Tony Award-winning Broadway show “Hamilton” was being released as a film. Before the original cast members left the show in the summer of 2016, a film crew was hired to film the show on stage at the Richard Rogers Theatre in New York City over the course of several days. The film was set to be produced by Disney and released theatrically on Oct. 21, 2021. 

In light of all that has happened, however, Lin Manuel Miranda and Disney have decided to push forward this date. It was announced on Tuesday, May 12 across social media the “Hamilton” film will be released for streaming on Disney+ on July 3, 2020; just in time for the most patriotic day of the year. 

The decision to bypass the 2021 release date for a fifteen-month sooner one is in direct correlation to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Broadway has been shut down in NYC since March 12th and as of this past week, will be until September 6th. Beyond this, theatres across the US are closed so that no one is seeing Hamilton anytime soon, at least on stage.

The streaming release was announced as a way to give people opportunities to still enjoy theatre in these restricting times as well as assist Disney, who is currently losing a large amount of money due to their closed amusement parks. Disney executive, Robert Iger, expressed on Twitter his hope that the show’s themes of leadership, kinship and love through oppression would uplift people during these times, which it certainly has already.

The announcement was spread all over social media and Hamilton fans of all ages are now eagerly awaiting July 3rd.  

—dara.lusk@outlook.com

@dara_marie_