Brow Beat

What Comes Next? Everything We Know About the Future of Hamilton

Cast departures are just the beginning.

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This article originally appeared in Vulture.

After making a bunch of people very rich and winning a whopping 11 Tony Awards, what comes next for Hamilton? This summer marks the end of act one for the smash Broadway hit: Unlike Alexander Hamilton himself, many of the people involved are taking a break from the production now that their yearlong contracts are up. With the change in administration, we thought this would be a good time to check in on the future of Hamilton, from cast departures to filmed versions to non-Broadway productions. Take a look below to see what you missed.

CAST DEPARTURES

At the Tonys, Lin-Manuel Miranda confirmed all those rumors: The EGOT front-runner would indeed be leaving the show after the July 9 performance. However, Miranda says he’s not done with Alexander Hamilton for good: “I intend to drop in on this thing … Cut to like 20 years [in the future]; you’re going to be like, ‘When will you stop playing it?’” After his departure, the role of Hamilton will be played by a familiar face: Javier Muñoz, Miranda’s longtime understudy.

Joining Miranda out the door were Tony winner Leslie Odom Jr., who played Aaron Burr, and Tony nominee Philippa Soo, who played Eliza Hamilton. Soo has joined the upcoming musical adaptation of Amélie, but as far as news about Odom’s next project goes, we’ll just have to wait for it. Company member Ariana DeBose, who played the bullet that kills Hamilton, announced that she would be leaving as well. As with Miranda, the final performance for all three was July 9.

In the wake of those departures, Brandon Victor Dixon and Lexi Lawson will step into the roles of Burr and Eliza, respectively. Dixon, who received a Tony nomination for his role in Shuffle Along, but lost to Daveed Diggs, will begin performances in mid-August, after Shuffle Along closes on July 24. Lawson, who is making her Broadway debut in Hamilton after starring in touring productions of Rent and In the Heights, will join the Hamilton cast July 11. Michael Luwoye, meanwhile, will fill in as the new Hamilton understudy.

Jonathan Groff, of course, has already left the role of King George. Starting in April, he was replaced by Rory O’Malley, who will also take over hosting Ham4Ham once Miranda leaves.

The show’s other principals, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Christopher Jackson, Okieriete Onaodowan, Anthony Ramos, and Jasmine Cephas Jones have all renewed their contracts and will stay on for an unspecified time, according to the Hollywood Reporter. As Goldsberry, a Tony winner, put it at the ceremony, “I’m always listening for the moment [God] says it’s time to do something else. The moment he says that, I’m gone. But he hasn’t said it yet.” It seems that moment has indeed arrived for her, though: Goldsberry, who won a Tony award for her role of Angelica Schuyler, will be leaving the musical at an unspecified date in the fall to star in a new Netflix sci-fi series.

Tony winner Daveed Diggs was reportedly among the original cast members to renew his contract, but his departure will come sooner than most expected: Diggs’ last performance as the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson will come July 15. Hamilton publicist Sam Rudy told Vulture the initial report of his contract renewal was an error.

FILMED VERSIONS

A little bit of bad news: Any Hamilton movie is likely a decade or two away. Since Broadway producers are loath to put out a movie that might cannibalize their ticket sales, most film adaptations are only released years after the initial frenzy has died down. (The Wicked movie will hit theaters 15 years after the show opened; Les Miz took 25.) When pressed, Miranda himself says the movie is coming but ”probably not for, like, 20 years.”

Before the cast departs, though, Miranda has promised that the original production will be filmed for posterity. (Jonathan Groff is even coming back!) When and how you will be able to watch it is anyone’s guess: On Periscope, Miranda said that the footage is ”going to exist, but we don’t know what’s going to happen with it.”

While you’re waiting patiently, PBS will air the 90-minute documentary Hamilton’s America on Oct. 21. It’s not a filmed version of the play; instead, it’s part behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the musical—filmed by Miranda’s longtime friend Alex Horwitz, who has been shooting since 2013—and part talking-head doc, with appearances by Barack and Michelle Obama, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Sondheim, George W. Bush, and Nas.

THE MIXTAPE

Hamilton’s already got a cast recording and a book, and this fall, it will also have a mixtape. As Questlove, who’s producing the album, tells Vanity Fair, “Half the songs are cover versions of songs in the show, and the others are interpolations—we’ll take some of this, some of that, and make something new out of it.” Miranda also says the mixtape will feature some of the songs cut from the final version of the musical, including a third rap battle that centers around slavery. Busta Rhymes, Ben Folds, Regina Spektor, Queen Latifah, Common, and Chance the Rapper are all involved, as well a mystery artist whose cover of “Satisfied,” Miranda says, “is going to blow your fucking minds.” (After some speculation, he was forced to reveal that it is not Beyoncé.)

OTHER PRODUCTIONS

Just like Alexander Hamilton in the Whiskey Rebellion, Hamilton is putting on its finery and heading west: The show will launch a national tour in spring 2017. The tour will kick off at San Francisco’s SHN Orpheum Theatre in March and then head to Los Angeles’ Hollywood Pantages Theatre in August. The full list of other confirmed tour stops is below:

Atlanta / Fox Theatre
Boston / Boston Opera House
Charlotte, North Carolina / Blumenthal Performing Arts
Costa Mesa, California / Segerstrom Center For the Arts
Des Moines, Iowa / Des Moines Performing Arts
Houston / Hobby Center
Las Vegas / The Smith Center
Portland, Oregon / Keller Auditorium
Salt Lake City / Eccles Theater
San Diego / Civic Theatre
Seattle / The Paramount
Tempe, Arizona / ASU Gammage
Washington, D.C. / Kennedy Center

Tickets for the tour have not yet gone on sale, but many theaters are recommending fans become members to have a first shot at them.

Separate from the tour, Hamilton’s Chicago production opens Sept. 27 at the Private Bank Theatre. Like the New York version, it is already drawing extremely large crowds. Tickets are being sold for as much as $10,000 on the resale market. A few cast members for the Chicago Hamilton have been announced: Miguel Cervantes as Alexander Hamilton, Karen Olivo as Angelica Schuyler, and Alexander Gemignani as George III.

Next year, Hamilton will also make the jump across the pond, opening in London’s refurbished Victoria Palace Theater in October 2017, with productions in Europe and Australia expected to follow. Broadway smashes aren’t guaranteed hits in the West End—Rent and Spring Awakening both had short runs—but at the very least, British audiences are expected to get more of the jokes in “You’ll Be Back.”

See also: This Week’s Ham4Ham: Come for Rory O’Malley’s Emcee Debut, Stay for Daveed Diggs’ Dabbing Skills