If you've seen Hamilton (and I haven't, not live anyway… I've only seen a bootleg on YouTube of it), you've probably marveled at its incredible stage and how they used it to propel the story. I was particularly impressed with the staging in the "Satisfied" scene when the floor's "turntables" started rotating — in coordination with the actors and music — to relay that the character's are "rewinding" to another place and time.
Well, in anticipation of the show's run at the Kennedy Center, The Washington Post talked with the Hamilton set designer David Korins to learn some secrets of its stage, including what inspired the circular, moving "turntables":
Built into the floor of the set is a spinning circle of wood, with another, independently spinning ring of wood around it. These "turntables" — which allow the actors to stand still and move at the same time — were inspired by the whirlwind of history that sweeps up Hamilton, as well as the literal hurricane that hits the Caribbean island where he was born. "There's also this cyclical relationship between Aaron Burr and Hamilton, where they were basically spiraling around each other their entire careers and lives," Korins says.
Head to the Post to learn more obscure facts about the Hamilton stage.
photo by Peter Dutton
