WSIU and local partners to present preview screenings of 'Hamilton’s America'

WSIU Public Broadcasting will present three preview screenings of Hamilton’s America, a Great Performances and PBS Fall Arts Festival special that takes viewers behind the scenes of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway phenomenon Hamilton, winner of 11 Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize.

The first screening event will be held on Thursday, Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. at Cedarhurst Center for the Arts, 2600 Richview Road in Mt. Vernon. 

Screening two will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. at the Carterville High School auditorium, 1415 West Grand in Carterville. 

The final screening event will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Carbondale Community High School auditorium, 1301 East Walnut in Carbondale. All three screenings are free and open to the public.

Thomas Kidd, department chair and associate professor of directing and acting in the SIU Department of Theater, will offer insights into the Hamilton Broadway show and share information about SIU Theater’s academic program and public events. 

WSIU executive director, Greg Petrowich, and WSIU assistant corporate support manager, Brian Flath, will host a prize drawing and will introduce both a short preview of an upcoming PBS special and the 40-minute Hamilton’s America screener.

The full Hamilton’s America broadcast from Great Performances will air on WSIU-TV on Friday, Oct. 21, at 8 p.m. 

The program includes footage of the New York production with its original cast, trips to historic locations and interviews with special guests, including President Barack Obama, President George W. Bush, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Questlove, Black Thought and Stephen Sondheim. 

Southern Illinois has a local connection to the Broadway production, as the character of George Washington is performed by Christopher Jackson, a native of Cairo, Illinois.