RISE UP

It’s midday and nudging 35 degrees at The Australian Botanic Garden in Sydney’s south west, where the 10 principal cast members of the Australian production of Hamilton are assembled for their Vogue photoshoot. There they are, gathered on the hilltop, the sun high in the sky above them: Matu Ngaropo, Brent Hill, Marty Alix, Shaka Cook, Elandrah Eramiha, Victory Ndukwe, Lyndon Watts, Akina Edmonds, Chloé Zuel and Jason Arrow, the man stepping into creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda’s shoes as Alexander Hamilton – young, scrappy and hungry, an American immigrant who rises through the ranks of the founding fathers to become an architect of the country’s fledgling government.

It sounds . The rap extravaganza moves at a thrilling speed, telling a story ripped from the history books with a diverse cast in a way that is all-consuming, all-engaging and endlessly electric. “It’s an experience like no other,” enthuses Arrow. “Everything from the costumes to the set to every single lyric and beat, it all means something.”