With Hamilton proving to be a cultural phenomenon, it seems to only be a matter of time before it inspires music and promotions at ballparks.
As it approaches its one year anniversary on Broadway, Hamilton continues to sellout virtually every performance and has received numerous accolades–including 11 Tony Awards, the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and the Grammy Award’s Best Musical Theater Album. While Broadway productions have not matched mediums such as television or film when it comes to crossover appeal for baseball, Hamilton may very well buck that trend.
Of course, while Hamilton‘s success is well established, it may take time for it spread into ballparks. As Broadway World found in the midst of its recent research, that time may be sooner rather than later:
Alas, a recent inquiry to the offices of all 30 MLB teams resulted in a collection of replies stating that no songs about the ten dollar founding father have been taken out at the ballgame.
However, a reply from Josh Rawitch, Senior Vice-President of Content and Communications for the Arizona Diamondbacks, suggests there may be hope for the future.
“To this point, we have not yet played Hamilton in the ballpark but that may change in the second half,” says Rawitch. “I recently rolled out a reorganization of my various departments and while I was presenting it to the staff, I used Lin Manuel Miranda as an example of the kind of creativity we are striving for and even pointed to him being named Fast Company’s most creative person in business. We certainly have a lot of fans over here of his work!”
The case for featuring Hamilton at the ballpark is pretty strong. For starters, the Hamilton album offers enough tracks to mix up the musical offerings at any ballpark, whether used for player walk-up songs or played before or in between the action.
Another area where Hamilton may infiltrate is theme nights, a trend that is more common in the minors. Theme nights have been increasingly prevalent in recent years, with a popular approach being to honor movie anniversaries, film franchises, and television shows.
That trend is working, but paying home a musical with the widespread appeal and success of Hamilton might be the perfect way to spice things up. And with Hamilton set to play in more theatres across the country–a Chicago production begins this fall, and a U.S. tour is scheduled to begin in 2017–the next few seasons might be when the musical starts infiltrating ballparks.