Three stars leave musical Hamilton

The award-winning Broadway hip-hop musical Hamilton is to bid farewell to three of its stars, including creator and lead actor Lin-Manuel Miranda.

It will also be a good-bye to Leslie Odom Jr., who portrays Aaron Burr, and Phillipa Soo, who plays Eliza Schuyler.

Fans have queued for days to buy tickets, with the most expensive being sold at $20,000 (£15,400).

The hit show about the life of one of America’s founding fathers is described as “a landmark American musical”.

Miranda, who plays Alexander Hamilton, said he would work on other projects. Odom Jr. will focus on his career as a singer and Soo will take part in another musical.

• Hamilton to hit West End in October 2017

Image copyrightREUTERS

Leslie Odom Jr. will be replaced by Tony Award-nominee Brandon Victor Dixon

Phillipa Soo will be replaced by Lexie Lawson, who will be making her Broadway debut

Hamilton won 11 statuettes at the Tony Awards in New York last month – including one for Odom Jr. – and the Pulitzer Prize for drama earlier this year.

In addition to blockbuster ticket sales, the album of the show is the highest-selling cast recording for 50 years, picking up this year’s Grammy Award for best musical theatre album.

Caitlin Goddard, from Detroit, had been queuing from three nights and two days for a ticket.

“We wanted to see the show but we were OK to wait for a while. It was definitely finding out that so many of the principals were leaving that we were like, ‘OK, we have to do it now!'” she told the Associated Press news agency.

People have been queuing in the hope of buying a ticket for Saturday’s show

Rukkus, a secondary ticket marketplace, says the average price for this Saturday’s show is $3,391 (£2,618), AP reports.

For subsequent shows, the price drops substantially, with an average of $1,286 (£993).

Hamilton is expected to open at London’s Victoria Palace Theatre in October 2017.

BBC