(upbeat music)
- The international stage blockbuster "Hamilton"
may be on pause around the world this summer,
but fans can stream the hit musical
exclusively on Disney+.
Even better, the filmed version
features the original Broadway cast
led by Lin-Manuel Miranda in the title role.
I recently got to chat with the stars
to find out how it feels to be bringing "Hamilton"
to a wide TV audience.
♪ What's your name man ♪
♪ ♪ Alexander Hamilton ♪
♪ My name is Alexander Hamilton ♪
♪ And there's a million things I haven't done ♪
♪ But just you wait ♪
♪ Just you wait ♪
- You know, there've been a lot of talk about
the price of "Hamilton" and access to "Hamilton."
this just must be an amazing feeling.
- It is because obviously
we struggled with that in our first year.
We had the thing that no one can ever predict or bottle,
which is everyone who left the show
told everyone they knew about the show.
There's only 1,300 seats in the Richard Rogers Theatre.
And so we made the front two rows $10.
We did the #Ham4Ham shows for the people outside
waiting for tickets.
We prioritized students through EduHam
and still couldn't serve the appetite.
So I'm really grateful to Jeffrey and Tommy
for having the foresight to independently finance
and make this movie while we were still doing
eight shows a week in that first year,
because it gives us,
it gives the world so much more access to not
a movie adaptation,
but actually the thing I spent six years writing.
- The fact that more people will see this
on July 3rd and July 4th,
probably than have seen the show live
is the power of this medium.
And we feel like those things work alongside each other.
It's not one or the other.
It's not binary.
♪ Always ♪
♪ Be satisfied ♪
♪ Rewind ♪
- How does it feel to know that
someone with a credit card and $6.99 a month
can watch you guys do "Hamilton"?
- That exclusive ticket that we were so famous for being
was actually not something that we were proud of.
We really believe very strongly
that theater should be accessible.
And also, shining, us refocusing
some of the light that was on us,
onto all of the other brilliant shows
that were also on Broadway.
I think we hope to do that again this time
with this experience streaming.
I think we hope that you love seeing "Hamilton."
We hope that you learn.
We hope that you're supported in the movement right now.
And we also hope that it reminds you
how desperately you need to buy a ticket
to see another show the minute you can leave your house.
- And here's the piece de resistance
♪ No one else was in the room where it happened ♪
♪ The room where it happened ♪
- Leslie, what does it mean for you?
Especially in this moment that
the whole world is going through with protests,
statues toppling?
I think people really need to see this story told this way.
- I'm not naive enough to think that the,
that the opinions about the show are gonna be
exactly the same as they were four years ago.
I will say, speak for myself,
I look at it and I still believe in it as much.
I'll tell you why.
There's a song early in the show.
The song is called "The Story of Tonight."
Four men of color singing about friendship and brotherhood,
singing about friendship and brotherhood.
And I'd never seen anything like it in my life.
The image changed my life.
That has value still in 2020.
♪ So what did I miss ♪
♪ What did I miss ♪
♪ Virginia my home sweet home I wanna give you a kiss ♪
- Daveed, actually, when I interviewed you
down at the off-Broadway opening,
I remember you telling me that it was so great
to be able to tell this story,
to have this group of actors tell this story.
And it feels like now it's just more than ever, right?
- There was a moment when we were on Broadway
where like Black Lives Matter protests
started popping up and that.
And we were, a lot of us in the community
were really wrapped up in that and really sort of
nervous about the value placed on our lives
just getting to the theater, right?
These are the kinds of parts of being black men
don't become part of the mainstream conversation at all.
Your implicit care about us actually showing up there
should require you to then take care of us
while we are on our way there, right?
That leap isn't always made.
And for now we are seeing some action towards that.
I think the value of "Hamilton" coming out right now
it allows the conversation to continue
for a lot more people than just the folks
that we get in the door.
- What is it like to witness
what we were all going crazy for?
I mean, I know you've seen the show,
but to see what the magic that you guys have,
what is it like?
What's it like for you, Chris?
- Spectacular.
Like everybody in this company is so special
and so specific.
And it's just like, that's the part that I marvel at.
And I can't, I go to sleep thinking about it,
and I wake up thinking about it.
It's like how in the world did we collect
this group of people in this moment
to do this thing for a relatively long period of time?
And here you are seeing it at the very end of it.
And it's the sharpest thing I've ever seen, laid my eyes on.
♪ I'm past patiently waitin' ♪
♪ I'm passionately smashin' every expectation ♪
♪ Every action's an act of creation ♪
♪ I'm laughin' in the face of casualties and sorrow ♪
♪ For the first time I'm thinkin' past tomorrow ♪
- Was there ever a moment where you doubted this project?
Or was it kind of blessed from the beginning?
- I think we always believed in the material
and we always knew that what Lin was presenting us
was so strong and so singular,
but I will be honest,
I was not sure that the show was going to be received
in the way it worked, 'cause I wasn't sure that people
were gonna be interested in American history
told through hip hop.
It goes to show that you can't worry about that kinda stuff.
All you can really do is try to make
the best work of art possible
and try to have fun with your friends along the way.
- It must be exciting to have this show
reach such a mass of people who
maybe couldn't afford to see it or couldn't get tickets,
or I mean, is that exciting for you, Andy?
- To know that we can play a part
in putting something in a world
that would be so much,
so easy to access for these young people
who have big dreams that are completely untapped,
that we're gonna be able to help them
tap things in a way that they wouldn't have.
That's a really big gift and a really big privilege.
- [Hercules] That's right.
♪ Hercules Mulligan ♪
- What was it like to know that
you were performing for these cameras?
- For me, I really wanted to remind myself,
don't try to make anything cuter or cooler or sexier,
just do the damn thing.
Like we've been doing it for a while.
These are people that I love.
We were so intertwined that it's like,
just trust all of that.
Just trust it.
Don't try to make it anything.
Don't try to do anything else with it.
For me, that was my personal journey.
Just be like, the thing works.
- What's it like for you to watch it?
- I was just so proud and happy for everyone
because those performances that I got to witness from
up and like behind on stage
and like see the backs of people's heads
and kind of get a sense of what was going on there,
I could feel that energetically,
but to be able to get the best seat in the house
at every single angle, at every single moment,
is such a gift because the work that is being done
is so good on everybody's part.
♪ I'm not throwin' away my ♪
♪ Not throwin' my shot ♪
- Is it fair to say that with closed captioning
I can also consider this sing along "Hamilton"?
Are you encouraging people to partake?
- However you wanna watch this movie, you watch this movie.
This is about you.
- This is about you.
And it is about the show coming to meet us
where we are in a time when we can't yet gathered.
And now we have,
now we have this moment.
and I'm just, I'm thrilled we are able to provide it.
(upbeat music)