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The Off-Broadway Production of Hamilton was the first fully-staged production of the musical. It is, in essence, the earliest version of the production that eventually made it to Broadway, with the same creative team, characters, most of the songs, and the overall production design. The previous major iteration, the Vassar Workshop Production, was not fully staged and included songs that were cut from this version.

The production was staged at the Public Theater in the East Village (incidentally, on Lafayette Street) in the building's Newman Theater. It was extended twice before closing on May 3, a few months prior to the Broadway production's opening.

Besides various lyric changes, the most notable difference between the Public Theater's production and the following Broadway production was the presence of an extended sequence covering the Whiskey Rebellion, documented in the song "One Last Ride". Additionally, the show's ending was tweaked during previews, originally featuring a final tableau of Alexander and Eliza standing in front of a reflecting pool that was revealed at the center of the turntable. This was cut after the first couple of previews and the pool was drained, although it remained underneath the set for the remainder of the run.

Contrary to some erroneous beliefs, no cast recording was ever made of this production: the leaked Soundboard Recording is actually a recording of a May 2014 lab of Hamilton (then still-known as The Hamilton Mixtape), and includes some songs that were already gone by the time the show opened at the Public. Due to the size of the theater, it is unlikely that a filmed bootleg was ever made of this production, although audio recordings have circulated over the years.

Official description[]

Lin-Manuel Miranda takes the stage as the unlikely founding father determined to make his mark on the new nation as hungry and ambitious as he is. From bastard orphan to Washington's right hand man, rebel to war hero, a loving husband caught in the country's first sex scandal, to the Treasury head who made an untrusting world believe in the American economy. George Washington, Eliza Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson and Hamilton's lifelong friend/foil Aaron Burr all make their mark in this astonishing new musical exploration of a political mastermind.
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