Hamilton Celebrates Ten Years on Broadway with Historic Curtain Call and Block Party

Hamilton marked a historic moment on Wednesday 6 August, celebrating ten years on Broadway with a performance and street party that matched the musical’s revolutionary reputation. The anniversary fell exactly a decade after Lin Manuel Miranda’s production opened at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in 2015, and the milestone attracted a sold out crowd alongside a host of famous faces and alumni.

Performance number 3,535 concluded with an extraordinary curtain call when producer Jeffrey Seller invited 85 alumni and 23 original cast members to join the current company on stage. Original stars Leslie Odom Jr., Phillipa Soo, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Christopher Jackson, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Okieriete Onaodowan, Ariana DeBose and Javier Muñoz reunited with later cast members such as James Monroe Iglehart, Jordan Fisher, Rory O’Malley, Robin de Jesús, Denée Benton and Nicholas Christopher. Key creatives, including musical director and orchestrator Alex Lacamoire, choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler and director Thomas Kail, also took their bows, acknowledging the backstage teams who have kept the production running for a full decade.

After an on stage musical medley led by Miranda, celebrations spilled into Times Square, where West 46th Street was closed to traffic for a surprise block party. Theatre goers and past cast members enjoyed hot dogs, pizza slices, pretzels and themed cookies while collecting commemorative “Hamil-ten” tote bags. Questlove, drummer for The Roots and long-time supporter of the show, provided a soundtrack from the theatre’s balcony as fans danced in the street below.

The anniversary marks another high point in the story of a musical that has redefined modern theatre. Blending hip hop, R and B, pop and traditional show tunes, Hamilton casts performers of colour as America’s Founding Fathers, challenging conventional narratives and expanding who sees themselves reflected on stage. Since its Off Broadway debut at The Public Theater, the show has earned 11 Tony Awards from a record 16 nominations, a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album and more than one billion dollars in global sales. It has launched multiple national tours and international productions, played before presidents and royalty and even inspired a star studded mixtape.

During the pandemic in 2020, a filmed version of the original Broadway staging premiered on Disney Plus, broadening the audience at a time when theatres were closed. That film will return to cinemas across the United States and Puerto Rico on 5 September as part of this year’s celebrations. Other anniversary events include an original cast reunion at the 78th Tony Awards and the unveiling of Miranda’s first Madame Tussauds wax figure, introduced by Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show before appearing at the Richard Rodgers.

Tickets for Hamilton remain in high demand at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, where the production continues eight performances a week. Ten years on, the show’s message of resilience and reinvention, along with its genre shifting score, still resonates powerfully. Wednesday’s celebrations proved that its community of performers, creatives and devoted fans remains as vibrant as ever, ensuring the musical’s legacy will continue well beyond its first decade.

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