Hamilton stars revel in bringing musical to city

Marley Fenton (right) said the story of Alexander Hamilton was not something he learnt at school

Two leading cast members on the tour of Hamilton are revelling in bringing the award-winning musical and its history to a more intimate audience.

The show opened at the 1,300-seater Norwich Theatre Royal on Tuesday and runs until 25 October.

Marley Fenton, who stars as the title role, said it was "crazy" that the auditorium was due to be "packed out every night".

"It just shows the phenomenon of the show and it shows how global and worldwide it is," he said.

The musical, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, follows the story of Alexander Hamilton, a US founding father and right-hand man of first president George Washington.

It reimagines the history with an all non-white cast and draws heavily on hip hop, R&B, pop and soul.

"I think when they brought [Hamilton] over to this country for the first time in London, they were probably a bit sceptical because we talk about the actual separation of America from Britain and the Empire... we never learnt that in school.

"I think it's so cool we get to take it around the country and people can just get on a little bus to their local theatre and be able to watch such incredible American history we hadn't known about in this country before."

The cast have spent nine months on the UK and Ireland tour, and Norwich is their penultimate stop - and the only one in the East of England - before the final run in Glasgow.

Fenton previously performed in Norwich as Danny Zuko in Grease.

Hamilton first transferred to the West End in London in 2017 and featured on Strictly Come Dancing in 2024

Casey Al-Shaqsy, who joined the cast as Eliza Hamilton five months ago, said with a mixture of rap, melodic tunes, romance, action and dancing, the show had something for everyone.

"I saw my first musical when I was 16 years old and a lot of people in my family and in my life have never seen musical theatre before," she said.

"This is a show for people who just think all shows are jazz hands.

"I would bring them to watch Hamilton for the story and the spectacle it is."

Stephen Crocker says it is the loyalty of audiences which has made the run possible

Theatre chief executive Stephen Crocker said he was "staggered" knowing people from 23 countries had bought tickets and he expected about 50,000 to watch all the shows.

"About one quarter of our audience will be new to us and are coming to us for the first time," he explained.

Hamilton began its six-week residency at the Norwich Theatre Royal on Tuesday