For Broadway musical producer Jeffrey Seller, Chicago is his kind of theater town.
In an interview with Billboard.com, the producer behind “Rent,” “In the Heights,” “Avenue Q” and Sting’s “The Last Ship,” says of his latest theatrical phenomenon, which goes by the name of “Hamilton”: “My job as a producer is to ensure that the quality we bring to [the Chicago] production is every bit as good as the quality that we bring to the Broadway production every night. So when a consumer sees the show in Chicago, we can say, this is as good if not better than the Broadway production.”
To that end, director Thomas Kail tells Billboard in the same article that the creative team wanted a Chicago cast that would create anew the show’s familiar roles. “We’re not interested in replicating in any way — it’s not fair to the original company, nor is it interesting to work on,” he says.
According to the story, the Chicago’s production’s set will also be “better.”
While to the naked eye, the design will look like a replica of the Broadway production, the PrivateBank Theatre in Chicago is six feet narrower than the Richard Rogers Theatre. Set designer David Korins says Chicago will also be the first time a brand-new version will be crafted for the stage, as the Broadway set is Frankensteined version of the one from the show’s Off-Broadway run at The Public Theater.
Read the full story here.
For tickets to the Chicago production of “Hamilton,” visit broadwayinchicago.com.
