Broadway Access Review -
Hamilton

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ID: image of the Hamilton Playbill in front of the stage with the text "Access Review" on top

 

General Note

This is a review of the accessibility of the theater, of the lighting/sound/scent design of the show, and a list of content warnings as a way to prep folks with various needs before they go see it. 

This is not meant to scare anyone away from seeing the show. Most productions have about the same amount of content warnings and sensory warnings to go along with it, they’re just rarely explicitly written down. 

For some people, knowing these things ahead of time makes it easier to enjoy the show because they know what to expect. And, often, makes those people more likely to see it in the first place. I hope that it’s helpful!

I am also happy to clarify any specifics, just send me a message or an email and I will respond when I can.

Also please note that I make these while seeing a show for the first time, so I may miss some cues or be slightly off as to their placement/cue line!

Theater

Richard Rodgers Theatre

All comments on the accessibility of lighting are in reference to seats in the center front mezzanine

Bathrooms:

  • divided into the binary

  • located below the orchestra (stairs are on the right by the merch stand) with the women’s on the far side of the merch stand. The accessible restroom is in the main lobby

Other theater accessibility:

  • the theater has a step-free entrance

  • there is no elevator

  • the theatre offers closed captioning, assistive listening, loop receivers, and audio description devices

Click here for more information on the physical accessibility of this theater.

Light/Sound/Scent

General:

  • I would recommend earplugs for this show

  • the lighting design tends to favor slow fades between lighting or quick on/off pulses, as well as textured and/or expanding down lights which can become straining when on top of the moving turntable. Most numbers have about the same level of cues unless noted below, and Act II is flashier than Act I

  • the sensory accessibility is similar to that of Hadestown, Cabaret (the show, not the pre-show), Sweeney Todd, and Aladdin

Act I:

  • My Shot - lots of quick on/off light changes

  • The Schuyler Sisters - lots of quick on/off changes, primarily in blue/white so they feel more pronounced

  • after the king exits there is moving water texture for ~30 seconds that stops after the first “rise up”

  • Right Hand Man - single flash on each “boom” with a rumble feeling; there are two sections of this with quick transitions between each one that can feel flashy

  • Satisfied - during the “rewind” section (~15-20 sec), there is a quick moving expanding floor projection that speeds up

  • Wait For It - some loud transition moments (if you know this song you’ll know where they are!)

  • Ten Duel Commandments - on “fire”, it is not a real gunshot noise

  • Guns & Ships - quick white wash over the audience from bottom to top as Lafayette is announced

  • History Has Its Eyes On You - floor projection briefly spins after Hamilton/Washington salute each other

  • Yorktown - lighting transitions are very quick 

    • white wash over audience (top to bottom) after Mulligan is announced

    • “f–ck back up again” - wash (bottom to top)

    • ~10 sec of red/white alternating lights at the end of the post-Mulligan dance break, kind of strobey

  • Nonstop - a little heavy on the on/off changes (along the lines of My Shot)

Act II:

  • What’d I Miss - after the first “what’d I miss?”, alternating red/white like in Yorktown, then switches to blue and white (~45-55 seconds)

    • gets really blue briefly after the convo with Adams

  • Room Where It Happens - particularly quick transition after the table trick, followed by speeding up on/off projections (~10-15 sec, until the end of the song)

  • Washington On Your Side - quick moving light after “this kid is out”, with a quick expanding down light after each “oh!”

  • The Adams Administration - “Sit down, John, you fat motherf-” ~5 sec red strobe on Hamilton with loud beep

  • Hurricane - slightly spinny moving water projection that lasts the entire song (cue is Burr’s “we both know what we know”)

  • The Reynolds Pamphlet - boom/flash at the start, spinning textured downlights for “never gonna be president” bit and again after Angelica, and a blue wash over the audience at the end (bottom to top)

  • Blow Us All Away - gunshot is not a gunshot noise

  • The Election of 1800 - when Hamilton announces his endorsement, there is a moving orange wash over the audience (top to bottom)

  • The World Was Wide Enough - slightly louder not-gunshot noise right after he says goodbye to Eliza

Content Advisory

  • mention of suicide (single line in the opening song)

  • sexual content

  • death, child death, and grief

  • guns (note that the gunshot sounds are all made with percussion, they aren’t traditional theatrical gunshots)