Hamilton finally arrives on Disney+

At a time where not only are we thinking about how lucky we are to be alive, while also re-examining our history and the societal structures that are leaving many people in society vulnerable – to Covid-19, to racism, to the classism that has impacted certain demographics of society much more harshly and dangerously during these trying times – it’s also important to find joy. Luckily, Disney+ has just released Hamilton available to watch in your own home, so you can enjoy incredible music, a representation of American history performed by mainly Black, Latinx and Asian-American actors, think about the political and racist history of our societies and how we need to change them – and listen to enough swelling anthems and heartbreaking songs to keep you singing all day.

Hamilton, Lin Manuel Miranda’s epic musical about founding father Alexander Hamilton, was an almost unprecedented success, proving a sell-out show from its opening in 2015. The show won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, eleven Tony Awards, seven Olivier Awards, reached number 1 on the Billboard rap albums charts and won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album. The show’s music blends rap, R&B, pop, soul and traditional show tunes for an irrepressible soundtrack, and cast members performed a selection of tracks to Barack and Michelle Obama in the White House in 2016.

Due to huge demand, Hamilton was a frequent sell-out and ticket prices were high, but thanks to Disney+, you can now experience the show in your own living room. This marks a hopefully trend-starting move, as theatre has often been an unattainable experience for many due to the cost or location of productions, and particularly on a platform like Disney+, can help show children how magical theatre can be.

This filmed version of Hamilton was captured at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway in June 2016 with the original cast, with stage director Thomas Kail also directing the movie. The filmed version’s use of close-ups, bird’s eye views of the whole stage and views from the side of stage give a more cinematic experience than you would get in a theatre – and thankfully the director cut the frequent ten-minute applause breaks that would happen in theatres when stars such as Lin Manuel Miranda, Daveed Diggs, Leslie Odom Jr. and Phillipa Soo appeared on stage.

This is a long experience, running two hours and forty minutes, but thanks to the nature of the show’s acts and punctuating soundtrack, it can easily be divided up into more bite-sized chapters for more episodic viewing. Also, parents of small children may be glad to hear that some small changes have been made, as Lin-Manuel Miranda confirmed two swear words had been cut to keep the show PG13, tweeting that the “MPAA has a hard rule about language: more than 1 utterance of ‘Fuck’ is an automatic R rating. We have 3 ‘Fucks’ in our show. So... I gave literally two 'f**ks' so the kids could see it."

Manuel also told reporters he was thrilled not only that the cast and production had the foresight to record the show in 2016 with the original cast, but that the show was now accessible to all.

“It means everything because accessibility was so important to us, from those live Ham for Ham shows to the whole front two rows being 10 bucks... That was really one of the reasons we wanted to film this. We wanted to capture this moment in time, capture this incredible company -- and we did it ourselves," Miranda explained.

Hamilton: The Musical is available on Disney+ now.