HAMILTON, the Broadway musical, which won 11 Tony Awards last night including best musical, had its London premiere in October 2017. The critically acclaimed musical has broken box office records on Broadway and has become a cultural sensation. HAMILTON reopened the Victoria Palace Theatre.
“The support HAMILTON has received from our British fans has been incredible – I have been reminded of their love, which is just as our King George would want it to be! I’m thrilled the show will be shared with UK audiences starting in the fall of 2017 at the beautiful Victoria Palace Theatre,” said Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Jeffrey Seller said, “HAMILTON” is pure joy and I can’t wait to share it with London audiences. I’m delighted to be partnering again with Cameron, from whom I’ve been learning my entire career. And we couldn’t have a better home than the Victoria Palace Theatre, which will be a Palace, indeed, after its current renovation.”
HamiltonHAMILTON has book, music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, is directed by Thomas Kail, with choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler and musical direction and orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire, and is based on Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton.
HAMILTON is the story of America’s Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant from the West Indies who became George Washington’s right-hand man during the Revolutionary War and was the new nation’s first Treasury Secretary. HAMILTON’S score blends hip-hop, jazz, blues, rap, R&B and Broadway – the story of America then, as told by America now.
HAMILTON’S creative team previously collaborated on the 2008 Tony Award-winning Best Musical In the Heights, which is currently enjoying a very successful run at London’s Kings Cross Theatre.
HAMILTON is produced by Jeffrey Seller, Sander Jacobs, Jill Furman, The Public Theater and Cameron Mackintosh.
Tony Awards
Costume Design of a Musical – Paul Tazewell
Lighting Design of a Musical – Howell Binkley
Featured Actress in a Musical – Renée Elise Goldsberry
Featured Actor in a Musical – Daveed Diggs
Original Score – Lin-Manuel Miranda
Direction of a Musical – Thomas Kail
Orchestrations – Alex Lacamoire
Book of a Musical – Lin-Manuel Miranda
Choreography- Andy Blankenbuehler
Leading Actor in a Musical – Leslie Odom, Jr.
Best Musical
Victoria Palace Theatre London
Victoria Street, London, SW1E 5EA
Tube Lines: District, Circle, Victoria
Directions from nearest tube: The theatre is on the Wilton Road bend and can be seen from the station.
Railway Station: Victoria
Bus Numbers: (Victoria Street) 11, 24, 44, 52, 148, 211, 436, 507, C1; (Victoria Station) 2, 16, 36, 38, 73, 82, 170, 185, C2, C10
Night Bus Numbers: (Victoria Street) 24, 148, N2, N11, N16, N44, N52, N136; (Victoria Station) 36, N38, N73, C2
Car Park: Semley Place
Within Congestion Zone: Yes
Venue Facilities: Air conditioned, Bar, Disabled toilets, Infrared hearing loop, Toilets, Wheelchair accessible
Victoria Palace Theatre
The theatre began as a small concert room above the stables of the Royal Standard Hotel, a hotel and tavern constructed in 1832 at what was then 522 Stockbridge Terrace, on the site of the existing theatre. The proprietor, John Moy, enlarged the building, and by 1850 it was known as Moy’s Music Hall. Alfred Brown took over in 1863, refurbished it, and gave it the name of the Royal Standard Music Hall.
After Victoria Street and Victoria Station were constructed, in 1886 the Royal Standard Music Hall was “the most comfortable Hall of entertainment in London – no expense has been spared.”
The arrival of electricity and other new theatrical technology in the early 1900s meant that substantial changes were necessary, and London’s oldest licensed music-hall was demolished. Once more no expense was spared, and in 1910 Frank Matcham’s Victoria Palace cost the large sum of £12000 to build.
The Victoria Palace Theatre retains much of its initial character, in particular in the auditorium, front of house, together with the dressing rooms which have been renovated. The grey marble foyer with its gold mosaic and white Sicilian marble pillars is much the same as it was in 1911. On the outside, the facade, the canopy and cupola have been restored.
The auditorium seats 1550 and is air-conditioned. It features a sliding roof, a simple and still efficient precursor of air-conditioning. The Stalls, Dress Circle and Upper Circle Theatreoriginally each had their own entrance and their own box office selling pre-printed tickets from a paper seating-plan.
The Victoria Palace ventured into the new millennium with a significant building programme including enlarging the Foyer, toilet facilities and increasing the dressing room space, whilst preserving the historic building’s character.
A copy of the original statue of Pavlova, was in 2006 reinstated to its original place above the cupola of the Victoria Palace and her gold-leafed figure once again gleams above us.
Billy Elliot the Musical premiered in the at the Victoria Palace Theatre, opening for previews on Thursday 31st March 2005 and officially on Wednesday 11th May 2005. The show was nominated for nine Laurence Olivier Awards, and winning four, including Best New Musical.