PUERTO RICO (CelebrityAccess) “Hamilton,” preparing for a Puerto Rico residency, has switched venues amid protests at the college that was expected to host the hit Broadway production.
Less than three weeks before Lin-Manuel Miranda was expected to return in the lead role of Hamilton at the historic Teatro UPR on the University of Puerto Rico, it has been relocated to San Juan’s Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A Ferre because of continued protests on campus, the musical’s lead director, Jeffrey Seller, announced Friday night. Miranda’s father, Luis, is an alumni of UPR.
The production had already loaded its set into the theater.
The university reportedly has an established practice to restrict police presence on campus and the production was expected to be a persistent target of the the protests, which, along with student strikes, have been raging on various campuses since 2017, inspired by budget cuts.
.@HamiltonMusical Puerto Rico is moving to @CBASanturce leaving behind a renovated first class @UPRRP Theater, keeping our promise @Lin_Manuel to Puerto Rico & addressing security concerns.
— Luis A. Miranda, Jr. (@Vegalteno) December 22, 2018
Because of the venue change, the opening date has changed from Jan. 8 to Jan. 11.
Miranda announced last year that he would reprise his role of Alexander Hamilton for the Puerto Rico residency.
“When I last visited the island, a few weeks before Hurricane Maria, I had made a commitment to not only bring the show to Puerto Rico, but also return again to the title role,” Miranda said. “In the aftermath of Maria, we decided to expedite the announcement of the project to send a bold message that Puerto Rico will recover and be back in business, stronger than ever.”
