Lin-Manuel Miranda: ‘Hamilton’ Star Cuts Off Signature Long Hair And Passes The Torch To Javier Munoz
A huge mob appeared before the Richard Rodgers Theater on July 9 in New York City, just 90 minutes before showtime, to watch the final performance of the Broadway smash, Hamilton, with its original cast. After the last curtain call, star and musical creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, left his character, Alexander Hamilton, behind in the most dramatic way.
After the cast took a final curtain call, Miranda went backstage and took a pair of scissors to chop off his signature long hair, as reported on People. The Broadway star then posted an image on Twitter to show his 659,000 followers that he no longer sports a ponytail.
Miranda typed “Teach ’em how to say goodbye…” into the Twitter caption while showing a black and white photo of his now-cut tresses. Fans quickly dubbed his haircut the “Hamilcut.”
Teach 'em how to say goodbye… pic.twitter.com/dJ49jUYHlh
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) July 10, 2016
After doing the “Hamilcut,” Miranda attended his goodbye party with his newly cut hair and wore a white buttoned-down shirt that featured a black and white image of the late Muhammad Ali in the back. The actor happily posed for photographers on the red carpet while he showed off his short hair and shirt.
The 36-year-old Miranda specifically grew out his hair for his role in Hamilton. When the writer and actor first performed some of the material at the White House Poetry Jam in May, 2009, Miranda had a super short haircut as he performed a song from a piece that he labeled, “The Hamilton Mixtape,” back before he considered developing his work into an entire musical.
While Saturday night was Lin-Manuel Miranda’s final Hamilton performance for the time being, the musically talented actor does intend on returning to his most popular role in the future. At this year’s Tony Awards, Miranda joked that Alexander Hamilton is a role that he could always return to play for several years.
“I have written a role I can’t age out of. I intend to drop-in on this, over and over again. Cut to 20 years from now and you’ll be like ‘Lin, when will you stop playing Hamilton?'”
Miranda is one of the four actors that had their final performances last night. Recent Tony Award winner Leslie Odom, Jr., Phillipa Soo, and ensemble member Ariana DeBose are also departing their respective roles for other opportunities.
Miranda didn’t have to search far to look for his new replacement. Javier Munoz, who was Miranda’s understudy, will now play the title character seven times a week. Munoz officially takes over the Alexander Hamilton role on July 11.
Long live Javilton. https://t.co/MMOP6D1ZIx
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) July 10, 2016
Miranda, who received a Pulitzer Prize for Hamilton in earlier this year, is hardly taking a break after finishing his demanding Broadway role. The actor will perform with Jennifer Lopez on the Today show on Monday, July 11, to perform his charity single that benefits the Orlando victims.
.@Lin_Manuel & @JLo getting ready for tomorrow @TODAYshow pic.twitter.com/i4ZonsFPoI
— Luis A. Miranda, Jr. (@Vegalteno) July 10, 2016
The Broadway composer isn’t completely saying farewell to his much-loved musical. Miranda will oversee casting decisions for other Hamilton musical productions in other cities. Hamilton will debut in Chicago in an open-ended production in September, with other productions opening in San Francisco and London within the next year.
The Disney sequel will be Miranda’s first major role on the silver screen. The award-winning actor will play a new character called Jack from the Mary Poppins book series, and not the character, Bert, that was made famous by Dick Van Dyke in the 1964 movie with Julie Andrews.
While Lin-Manuel Miranda will be singing and dancing alongside the new Mary Poppins, played by Emily Blunt, he will not be writing any of the songs that will appear in the film.
[Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images]
