Ten years after "Hamilton" revolutionized Broadway, Lin-Manuel Miranda is taking the show back to where it all began. During a joyful and chaotic appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" on Tuesday night (Aug. 5), Miranda donned his colonial coat and grabbed a kazoo to perform a classroom-style medley of Hamilton's most significant hits using toy instruments.
Miranda teamed up with Jimmy Fallon and The Roots for a spirited mashup of "Alexander Hamilton" and "My Shot," reimagined with tambourines, melodicas, triangles, and even plastic recorders. The segment was part of Fallon's long-running Classroom Instruments series, a fan-favorite that's featured everyone from Adele to BTS showing off their musical chops in elementary-school fashion.
This time, though, it felt especially full-circle. It's been a full decade since Hamilton first opened Off-Broadway in 2015, and the magic clearly hasn't worn off. If anything, it's evolved.
A Joyful Tribute and a Surprise Reveal
Dressed in full Revolutionary-era regalia, Miranda bounced through his lyrics with the same fire that made Hamilton a cultural phenomenon. Fallon chimed in on the melodica while The Roots held the beat on classroom percussion, turning two of the show's most iconic numbers into joyful chaos.
During his sit-down with Fallon, Miranda dropped news that's been years in the making: "Hamilton," the filmed version featuring the original cast, is finally hitting movie theaters. For one night only, on Sept. 5, the cinematic version of the show will screen in theaters nationwide and in Puerto Rico.
"We filmed most of the original cast performing Hamilton in 2016, and we always wanted to release it theatrically," Miranda explained. "But then the pandemic hit. We decided to release it on streaming so that everyone could see it at home… But Sept. 5, you'll be able to see Hamilton in movie theaters."
That original 2020 Disney+ release became a global hit, bringing the magic of Broadway into homes around the world. But fans have long hoped for the chance to see it larger than life, and now they finally can.
The FOMO of a Lifetime
Miranda also revealed one of the most painful stories of his Broadway run: the night Prince came to Hamilton, he wasn't even there. "I was DJing a friend's wedding," Miranda laughed. "The entire cast was up all night partying with Prince… It's the FOMO of my life."
He also missed his shot to perform for Beyoncé back in 2015. When the Grammy winner and her husband JAY-Z went to Broadway to enjoy the smash hit in New York City, they did not get the chance to see the original Alexander Hamilton. The actor recalled his “sad Beyoncé story” with Zane Lowe on Apple Music. He shared, “I’ll tell you my sad Beyoncé story, which is that the night Beyoncé and Jay Z came to Hamilton I had a 104 degree fever and I could not get to the theater to perform in the show.”
The episode also featured Chance the Rapper in a separate musical segment and an appearance from "The Daily Show's" Jordan Klepper. Still, the energy revolved around the return of "Hamilton" and its master storyteller.