After weeks of high-stakes deliberations, the producers and creators of the red-hot musical “Hamilton” announced on Tuesday that they have opted not to rush it to Broadway this spring and therefore will not compete in the 2015 Tony Awards. The somewhat surprising decision gambles the show’s current momentum — as a critically acclaimed, sold-out hit at Off Broadway’s Public Theater — on the belief that “Hamilton” needs more fine-tuning and will still become a long-lasting hit after moving in July to Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theater.
“Hamilton” emerged this winter as the most talked-about new American musical since “The Book of Mormon” opened on Broadway in 2011 and became a record-breaking phenom there as well as in London and on its national tour. “Hamilton” weaves rap and R&B ballads with musical-theater melody and structure to portray Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and the founding fathers as striving immigrants with resonance for today — partly by casting Hispanic and black actors as those characters.
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Tickets will go on sale on March 8, with previews starting on July 13 and opening night scheduled for Aug. 6 for the Broadway run of “Hamilton,” raising the possibility that the show could build a multimillion-dollar advance and cut into sales for new musicals opening this spring.
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