The worst kept Broadway secret is out. Hamilton star and Tony Award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda will leave the show on July 9 to be replaced by Javier Muñoz (presently the alternate as Alexander Hamilton in the show).
The news, which was first broken by Heat Street in two separate stories in April and May, was officially announced at a Hamilton breakfast this morning that took place four days after the musical phenomenon won 11 Tony Awards to go with its Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Awards success.
Muñoz will take over as the Founding Father from July 11 in Hamilton, which is performed at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in Times Square. One of his first performances as the permanent lead will be on the 212th anniversary of Hamilton’s death on July 12.
And the torch is officially passed @Lin_Manuel hands @HamiltonMusical to @JMunozActor July 11 pic.twitter.com/eot97P4FV6
— Blake Ross (@PlaybillBlake) June 16, 2016
Lin-Manuel meantime will turn his attention to composing the music for Moana, an animated Disney film, and completing an album of Hamilton covers and songs inspired by the show called Hamilton Mixtape. Following that, he will go to London where he will film Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns alongside Emily Blunt.
He will also be involved in Hamilton‘s West End opening in fall 2017. The show’s London producers had hoped Miranda would open in the show, and he still hopes to star in the musical for a four-month duration, but it remains to be confirmed exactly when he will star in the London production, which is happening at the Victoria Palace.
Miranda told reporters about his London involvement: “I don’t know, honestly. I know that I’ll be involved in the casting for London, and I will be going to London to help set it up with [director] Tommy [Kail] and the rest of the creative team, just like I’ll be spending time in Chicago this fall to just sort of be there.”
He added: “I kind of am getting to have the opportunity that I didn’t have on this show, which is to see the show and see how it works. So, I’m really looking forward to having that. I didn’t see Hamilton until the President came. He came to our sixth preview, and he saw Javier Muñoz play the role.”
3) I’m so thrilled for @JMunozActor. We created the role together. I’m still jealous he got to perform for Jay-Z & Beyonce.
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) June 16, 2016
Lin-Manuel added that before he leaves the cast, the current production of “Hamilton” would be filmed (as also first revealed by Heat Street). A documentary on“Hamilton” will air on PBS in the fall.
Miranda also added that he has permitted the sonnet he performed at the Tony Awards on Sunday to be printed on T-shirts with the proceeds going to Equality Florida, a a gay rights organization honoring victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting massacre.
Raised in New York city, Miranda is the son of Puerto Rican parents, and he said his ultimate ambition is for Hamilton to be staged in Puerto Rico.
