Lin-Manuel Miranda Will Not Play HAMILTON for President Obama

As previously reported, President Barack Obama will take a trip back in time to meet one of our nation's most famous Founding Fathers at Saturday's Broadway matinee of the hit musical HAMILTON, now in previews at the Richard Rodgers Theater. But, according to The New York Times, the show's regular star and creator Lin-Manuel Miranda will not be taking the stage as 'Alexander Hamilton.'

Miranda's press rep told the Times that the actor has decided to keep to his already planned absence -- one of three dates he'll be using to evaluate the show before it officially opens on August 6th.

Javier Muñoz, who is slated to play the role once a week after HAMILTON opens, will take over the part while Obama is in town and Miranda is in the audience.

Muñoz has been a part of many incarnations of HAMILTON, from its early development through the Public Theater engagement, where he played the title role numerous times during the run. Muñoz made his Broadway debut in the cast of IN THE HEIGHTS playing "Usnavi" for two years.

HAMILTON is inspired by the book Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow and features book, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler and direction byThomas Kail, who previously collaborated on IN THE HEIGHTS.

The new musical follows the scrappy young immigrant who forever changed America: Alexander Hamilton. Tony and Grammy Award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda wields his pen and takes the stage as the unlikely founding father determined to make his mark on a new nation as hungry and ambitious as he is. From bastard orphan to Washington's right hand man, rebel to war hero, loving husband caught in the country's first sex scandal to Treasury head who made an untrusting world believe in the American economy, Hamilton is an exploration of a political mastermind. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Eliza Hamilton, and lifelong Hamilton friend and foe, Aaron Burr, all attend this revolutionary tale of America's fiery past told through the sounds of the ever-changing nation we've become. Tony Award nominee Thomas Kail directs this new musical about taking your shot, speaking your mind, and turning the world upside down.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus