How to Watch Hamilton Online
Tony Award-winning Broadway hit Hamilton arrives on Disney+ on July 3. Here’s everything you need to know about streaming the show in the comfort of your own home.
By PCMag Staff
Just in time for Independence Day, Tony Award-winning Broadway smash Hamilton will be streaming on Disney+ starting July 3.
If you already subscribe to Disney+, watching the live recording of the show is as easy as firing up the video-streaming service and pressing play. If you want to stay up late (or get up early), the stream should appear at 3 a.m. ET / midnight PT this Friday, according to the show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda.
If you’re not yet a Disney+ subscriber, you can’t game the system by signing up for a free trial and cancelling after watching the show. In anticipation of that move, Disney did away with its free trial last month. But at $6.99 per month, Disney+ is one of the more affordable streaming services, and $7 is a lot less than you’re going to pay if you catch the show live once Broadway returns from its COVID-19 hiatus.
Is Hamilton Only Streaming on July 3?
No, the show will remain on Disney+ indefinitely. “You will just have it for as many times as you like, right next to A Goofy Movie and Talespin and An Extremely Goofy Movie,” Miranda tweeted.
Is Hamilton Coming to Netflix or Amazon Video?
Sorry, this is a Disney+ exclusive; sign up here.
How Long Is Hamilton on Disney+?
The runtime of the show is 2 hours and 40 minutes, including a one-minute intermission countdown for a bathroom break, according to Miranda.
Who Stars in Hamilton?
The version appearing on Disney+ was filmed at The Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway in June 2016. It stars Miranda as Alexander Hamilton; Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson; Renée Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler; and Leslie Odom, Jr. as Aaron Burr.
Also appearing: Christopher Jackson as George Washington; Jonathan Groff as King George; Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton; and Jasmine Cephas Jones as Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds; Okieriete Onaodowan as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison; and Anthony Ramos as John Laurens/Philip Hamilton.
“I’m so proud of how beautifully [director Tommy Kail has brought ‘Hamilton’ to the screen. He’s given everyone who watches this film the best seat in the house,” Miranda said in a statement. “I’m so grateful to Disney and Disney+ for reimagining and moving up our release to July 4th weekend of this year, in light of the world turning upside down. I’m so grateful to all the fans who asked for this, and I’m so glad that we’re able to make it happen. I’m so proud of this show. I can’t wait for you to see it.”
Hamilton was initially supposed to hit theaters on Oct. 15, 2021, followed by a streaming release on Disney+, Deadline reports. But with people quarantining at home due to the coronavirus, Disney pushed up the release to July 3, 2020.
Disney did the same for the streaming launch of earlier this year, as well as the TV debut of the 10-part Michael Jordan docu-series The Last Dance.
Will Disney Censor Hamilton?
Hamilton isn’t exactly Natural Born Killers, but there are some curse words and mature themes, from infidelity to gun violence. So naturally, some Hamilton purists wondered if Disney would censor the show in any way to make it more palatable for viewers with small children.
While many young kids probably have Hamilton memorized from beginning to end, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has an f-bomb rule: say it more than once, and the movie gets an automatic R rating. So, as Miranda outlined on Twitter recently, they made adjustments to two of the three “fucks” uttered during the show.
“1. In Yorktown, there’s a mute over ‘I get the f___ back up again’ [and] 2. ‘Southern *record scratch*kin’ Democratic Republicans.’ You can sing whatEVER you like at home (even sync up the album)! Love you. Enjoy,” Miranda writes.
How’s the Show?
Our sister site Mashable got an early look at the show:
Director Thomas Kail, who also directed the stage show, favors an unfussy approach that emphasizes the individual performances, albeit sometimes at the expense of the show’s staging and choreography. Close-ups catch subtle gestures you might have missed even from the expensive seats, like Angelica’s pained expression as she seals her own romantic fate, but you may wonder if you’re missing the spectacular dance moves of “Rewind” behind her.
Tune in on July 3 to judge for yourself. Until then, check out 20 Patriotic Movies and Series to Stream on July 4th.
Originally published at https://www.pcmag.com.
