Ten years after it first premiered on Broadway to adoring crowds and a record-setting number of Tony nominations, “Hamilton” returns to Boston. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip hop Founding Father musical hits the Citizens Opera House from Sept. 23 to Nov. 2, and according to Boston native Kai Thomani Tshikosi, the show is as timely as ever.
“The context in which ‘Hamilton’ came out is one defined by, for many, the optimism of the Obama era. Ten years on, how we open up conversations [about our history] is complicated,” said Thomani Tshikosi, who plays Hercules Mulligan and James Madison in the touring production.
Earlier this year, “Hamilton” producer Jeffrey Seller canceled upcoming performances of the musical at the Kennedy Center as a response to the “new culture that is being imposed” on the Center after President Trump was named the board chair in February.
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And Trump’s time in office is affecting the telling of American stories more generally. Last month, the U.S. government ordered a review of exhibits at the Smithsonian Institution to assess “historical framing.” A letter sent by the White House to the Smithsonian stated that part of its goal was to “ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism.”
“Hamilton” celebrates the well-known story of the American Revolution, but highlights the cultural and racial diversity of U.S. history through its casting and music. Thomani Tshikosi believes that the musical’s widespread popularity has broadened the conversation about what should be remembered in American history.
“There’s an impulse to locate a version of American history that people can feel proud of, in a time where consensus is only growing that our future needs to look different than our present,” he said. “Part of the story is being curious about what has come before to think about what comes next.”
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He believes that “Hamilton,” and works of media that highlight diverse voices, need a space to be created and shared as much as ever.
“I really believe that storytelling is a potent means of replicating our beliefs and values and teaching them to subsequent generations,” he said. “I learned so much of my outlook on the world from the stories that I grew up with: what I think is important, what’s worth fighting for, who gets seen as human and who doesn’t.”
Tshikosi moved to New York last year, but got his bachelor’s degree at Emerson and spent years performing with local theater companies, including the Huntington, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, and Actor’s Shakespeare Project. He said he was thrilled to be back in the city, and to visit some of his favorite spots.
“I’m incredibly excited to just be back in the city, to get on the Orange Line and be in Nubian Square, to be in the Public Garden, to get on the river in the sunlight and take in the beauty that is Boston in the fall,” Thomani Tshikosi said.
The actor, who has been touring around the country nonstop since last November, still feels excited about performing “Hamilton.”
“It’s probably the most famous musical of the last 10 years,” he said. “I’d argue it’s one of the best-constructed pieces of musical theater of all time.”
The show visits Boston for six weeks, but he thinks it might go on indefinitely. The live-recorded film of the original cast of “Hamilton,” which released theatrically earlier this month after debuting on Disney+ in 2020, made an estimated $9-10 million at the box office its opening weekend. With the National Tour set to continue with no end in sight, it seems “Hamilton” isn’t slowing down any time soon.
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“This North American Tour of ‘Hamilton’ will continue until folks stop buying tickets for it,” Thomani Tshikosi said. “I’m sure my time with the tour will end before the tour does.”
HAMILTON
Sept. 23-Nov. 2. Citizens Opera House, 539 Washington St. boston.broadway.com
Ryan Yau can be reached at ryan.yau@globe.com.