Lin-Manuel Miranda's race to get 'Hamilton' on Disney+

In this image released by Disney Plus, from left, Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr. and Anthony Ramos appear in a filmed version of the original Broadway production of "Hamilton." Picture: Disney Plus via AP

In this image released by Disney Plus, from left, Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr. and Anthony Ramos appear in a filmed version of the original Broadway production of "Hamilton." Picture: Disney Plus via AP

Published Jul 6, 2020

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Lin-Manuel Miranda admits that it was a rush editing "Hamilton" for its release on Disney+.

The acclaimed Broadway musical launched on the streaming service last week, but Lin-Manuel admitted that he had only submitted the final cut for the live recording a few weeks ago.

In an interview with GQ Hype, the 40-year-old composer said: "We didn't have a final edit. We didn't have a sound mix, which in a musical is pretty important. So we got to editing and then it just became like racing. We turned in the cut, like, two weeks ago."

Lin-Manuel - who wrote the award-winning musical inspired by the 2004 biography "Alexander Hamilton" by Ron Chernow - explained how he and the cast and crew were determined to release the film version as it became clear that theatres would remain closed for months due to the coronavirus crisis.

He said: "Once it became clear there was not going to be any theatre for the foreseeable future, we all kind of pivoted and said, 'Oh, this is actually an opportunity to remind people of the power of theatre when there is none.'"

Lin-Manuel, who also plays the titular American statesman Alexander Hamilton in the show, also revealed that he has started work on a new theatre project and is "writing the first three or four songs".

The "In the Heights creator said: "I'm writing the first three or four songs, which I'll rewrite once I find out what it's really about.

"You know, because you start thinking you know what it's about and then if you get lucky in a place, it starts to tell you what it's about. And you go, 'Oh s***, I thought I was writing it for this reason, but I'm really writing it for this reason."

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