Broadway sensation ‘Hamilton’ arrives at Playhouse Square for a long run

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) -Thousands of Northeast Ohioans will be in the “room where it happens” as they take in the Broadway sensation “Hamilton.”

The historical musical by Lin Manuel-Miranda is at Playhouse Square through Jan. 15.

Pierre Jean Gonzalez, who plays Alexander Hamilton, says Cleveland is special to him because it’s where he first joined the production that’s become such a cultural phenomenon.

“It’s the music. It’s the story. You have the action you have the drama, the thrill, the scandal. You go through this ride. And not only that, you have beautiful black and brown people on stage singing their hearts out. It’s a show about American history, shown by America now,” Gonzalez said.

“I think the main thing is it hits different groups of people. So, you have the musical theater buffs who want to see the hot new thing on Broadway. You also have history buffs, interested to see how this interpretation of history is presented to them. And then you have the people who are interested in rap music,” said Nikisha Williams, who plays Eliza Hamilton.

“It’s the world’s biggest show. We’ve never seen anything like this before. Never seen rap and R&B at the forefront of a mainstage musical,” said Warren Egypt Franklin, who plays both Jefferson and Lafayette.

Franklin is from the Glenville neighborhood of Cleveland and is a graduate of both Cleveland School of the Arts, and Baldwin Wallace University.

“To be here at Playhouse Square means so much. I saw my very first show when I was six. In that theater I saw “Phantom of the Opera.” And the reason I wanted to do this was because as much as I was entranced by that show, I didn’t see any people who looked like me. So, it means so much to come with not only me, but so many other people who look like me. Our cast is so diverse. To be here and know that there are little children from the Glenville area, from all over Cleveland that can look on stage and say ‘wait, that’s me!’ and see themselves in me means so much,” he said.

While many of the performances are sold out, there are still tickets available for sale, and there is a lottery for ten-dollar tickets that you can enter each week. A limited number of tickets will be available for every performance for $10 each. Entry will begin on each Friday and close the following Thursday for the upcoming week’s performances.

To enter you need to use the official Hamilton app.

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