‘Hamilton’ actors’ photoshoot to close downtown Hamilton street tomorrow

Car lights are blurred during a 20-second exposure of The American Cape sculpture of Alexander Hamilton, by metal sculptor Kristen Visbal, as cars drive by on High Street in Hamilton Monday night, Dec. 5. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

Car lights are blurred during a 20-second exposure of The American Cape sculpture of Alexander Hamilton, by metal sculptor Kristen Visbal, as cars drive by on High Street in Hamilton Monday night, Dec. 5. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

George Washington and Alexander Hamilton will stop traffic on High Street in Hamilton on Wednesday for up to half an hour during a photo shoot, starting around 10:30 a.m.

The actors, that is, who are portraying Hamilton, for whom the Butler County seat is named, and the country’s first president will be the ones who halt the traffic for 15-30 minutes. They are performing in the smash hit “Hamilton,” which is playing at Cincinnati’s Aronoff Center.

The city and its advocates are using the musical to invite the nearly 63,000 who will be watching the musical to pay a visit to the city. That invitation is being extended through a two-page ad in the pamphlet, Playbill, that is handed out to audiences before performances.

During the photo shoot, which will be held at the Alexander Hamilton statue on High Street, traffic will be closed between 2nd and 3rd streets. Mayor Pat Moeller will issue a proclamation to the cast members, who will not be in costume, and who will not give interviews.

Fort Hamilton is generally believed to have been completed Sept. 20, 1791, and was named for Alexander Hamilton, who at the time was President George Washington’s treasury secretary. Hamilton also had been an important senior aide to Washington during the Revolutionary War.

Like some other cities, Hamilton uses the fort’s completion date as the date it celebrates as its founding, and the city celebrated the 225th anniversary of the date in 2016.

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