Hamilton in the West End forced to cancel first two weeks of previews
The London production of Hamilton has been forced to cancel two weeks of previews following the restoration of the Victoria Palace Theatre.
The theatre, which is a listed building, has undergone a multi-million pound expansion and restoration in recent months, and Cameron Mackintosh, producer of Hamilton and the building's owner, confirmed the work would not be completed in time.
In a statement he said: "The time constraints to access the land around the theatre to enable the rebuild and getting the show open to the public by the end of this year have been equally tight, not helped by the theatre being built over the huge King's Scholars' Pond Sewer, an active 200 year-old brick tunnel.
"Added to the usual unhelpful problems that always happen when doing up old buildings, this has put pressure on the time needed to commission the entirely new services that have been installed at the theatre and obtain the necessary licences to reopen to the public. We have therefore needed to take a pragmatic decision to reschedule the previews of 'Hamilton '..."
"I am, of course, sorry to amend the performance schedule but undertaking a private rebuilding project on this scale in Central London has no precedent."
The first preview of Hamilton will now take place on 6th December 2017, instead of the original 21st November date. The production will officially open on 21st December.
Hamilton is currently booking until 30th June 2018, and a new booking period is to be announced for the end of the year.
Anyone who has purchased tickets for Hamilton will be contacted by Ticketmaster to be reseated ('a large numbers of seats were held in reserve to be released at the time the building was nearing completion which will allow affected patrons to be re-seated'). Any tickets remaining once reseating has taken place will go on sale in October.
Producer Jeffrey Seller said: "We are extremely sorry to disappoint patrons who we know expended time, effort, and valuable resources to purchase tickets for our first performances. But they will be given immediate priority so that they can be re-seated as early as possible. "
Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical will star Jamael Westman (Alexander Hamilton), Michael Jibson (King George), Rachelle Ann Go (Eliza Hamilton) and Obioma Ugoala (George Washington).
For more information on Hamilton, click here.
Photo courtesy Disney/ABC Television Group (flickr)
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