Lin-Manuel Miranda confirms he'll leave 'Hamilton' July 9
Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of this story misidentified Javier Munoz’s role in his run on Hamilton so far. He is Lin-Manuel Miranda’s alternate. Also, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's name was misspelled in an earlier version of this story.
It's official: Lin-Manuel Miranda will hang up his riding breeches and boots on July 9.
That's when the Hamilton star and creator's contract expires, as do most of the main cast's.
The Tony winner confirmed his departure date to reporters at a breakfast event Thursday at Coogan's in New York's Washington Heights. Javier Muñoz, Manuel's alternate who already regularly plays the part one day a week, will take over starting July 11. (He's used to following Miranda — he also replaced him when he left In the Heights.)
Muñoz, who underwent cancer treatment during the show's first year (during which Miranda was his understudy) says he finished his medical regimen in January and says he's "fit and ready" to do seven shows per week.
But don't fret — Miranda will be back. "I think this is a role I'm going to be going back to again and again. I plan to revisit this role a lot," he said. (In other words, keep entering the lottery!)
Asked whether he knows his co-stars' plans, he demurred. "I don't know who's staying and who's going. I wouldn't begrudge anyone who moved on and I wouldn't begrudge anyone who chose to say."
As for himself, Miranda is "working on his accent" for Mary Poppins Returns, due Christmas 2018, in which he'll star opposite Emily Blunt. He's also putting the finishing touches on the music for Disney's animated film Moana, which arrives in theaters Nov. 23. And he's got a revelation for you: "Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson can sing! He was really incredible."
But before he packs up his Hamilton dressing room, or other original cast members exit, the production will film two performances, as well as shooting offstage cameos.
Meanwhile, producers are hard at work casting the actors for the open-ended Chicago run (opening Sept. 27), which Miranda says "will be a world-class production." And he hasn't ruled out showing up there himself. "I'd love to jump in, if only just for a day," he added.
One place he'd love to take his Pulitzer Prize-winning show? "God, If I could bring Hamilton to Puerto Rico," he said wistfully. There is precedent — his previous creation, In the Heights, did a week's worth of shows on the island where his parents grew up.
