'Hamilton' wows London's West End on opening night

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"Hamilton", a hip hop-inflected musical about the life of American founding father Alexander Hamilton, has opened in London's West End after its huge success on Broadway.

The much-hyped show received a rapturous reception from a star-studded, 1,500-strong audience at the official opening at the newly refurbished Victoria Palace theater on Thursday night.

The play, created by Lin-Manuel Miranda, is notable for casting black, Asian and Latin actors to play the roles of white historical figures in an unconventional take on the life of Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury in the US.

Though the show is rooted firmly in the 18th and 19th centuries, Miranda feels that its themes of legacy and how one spends time on earth still resonate with contemporary audiences.

"That's what Hamilton and (antagonist Vice President Aaron) Burr are wrestling with the whole time, and I think that's what people are responding to," Miranda said.

A poster of "Hamilton" /Photo via wikipedia.org

The title role, which was originally played by Miranda, who is of Puerto Rican descent, was filled by Londoner Jamael Westman, who has Irish and Jamaican heritage.

The London production is the show's first foray outside of the United States after successful runs in Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, as well as New York.

The Broadway production won 11 Tony awards and netted Miranda a Pulitzer Prize in 2016.

Any uncertainty about whether British audiences would share their American counterparts' enthusiasm for the show was quickly assuaged by a remarkable demand for tickets, which London's Guardian newspaper reported were being offered by resellers for up to 6,000 pounds (8,000 US dollars).

The show's depiction of an effete King George III, Britain's ruler during the US revolutionary war, also drew some of the biggest laughs of the night from the British crowd.

Source(s): Reuters