Lin-Manuel Miranda is set to return to Broadway with his first post-“Hamilton” musical beginning in 2027.
Broadway Journal reported that the title of the new musical is “The Warriors.” The musical is adapted from the Sol Yurick 1965 book of the same name and the cult-classic motion picture from 1979.
What is Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ‘The Warriors’ About?
The idea for “The Warriors” musical came from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s love for the 1979 film, which he first saw as a young child. The story of rival gangs and violence, told through the gritty lens of a New York of a different time, made a huge impact on the playwright.
In fact, he was so infatuated with the idea that he released a full-length LP of music in 2024 alongside Eisa Davis. They began the project in 2022.
He told The New York Times that the movie impacted him because “it’s a snapshot of a New York in our memories. It’s this Technicolor nightmare of New York that is genuinely beautiful.”
However, instead of the male-based gang movie, the musical will feature women Warriors. Casting has not yet been announced, but an open call for dancers was posted in Playbill in early May, 2026.
Broadway Journal wrote, “‘The Warriors’ is scheduled to open on Broadway in March 2027, contingent on theater availability, according to a person familiar with the show. It will be preceded by a private workshop presentation in late August and early September.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda Explains The Upcoming Musical’s Plot
To The New York Times, Lin-Manuel Miranda shared details of “The Warriors” plot.
“All the gangs of New York are meeting in the South Bronx for this unprecedented peace summit. Cyrus, the charismatic leader who has called the summit, is assassinated. The assassin blames the Warriors, and the Warriors have to fight their way home to Coney [Island], while every other gang in the city is trying to kill them,” he shared.
He said that he was inspired by a friend who emailed him in 2009 with a germ of an idea to turn the gang movie classic into a musical.
“I wrote him back and said, ‘I love ‘The Warriors.’ It’ll never work. Here’s why.'”
However, he was inspired. After playing Alexander Hamilton from 2015 through 2016 and working on “Moana,” he began writing again, and “The Warriors” was at the forefront of his mind. “‘Warriors’ had taken over. I knew that I wanted to figure out how to make it work.”
He told Playbill, “We landed at an everything against the wall strategy. Thinking of it initially as a concept album set us free.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda Hasn’t Written a Full-Length Musical Since ‘Hamilton’
Before becoming a global phenomenon, “Hamilton” began as “The Hamilton Mixtape,” reported The New York Theatre Guide. Subsequently, he performed an early version of the opening number “Alexander Hamilton” at the White House in 2009.
The performance was part of Barack and Michelle Obama’s White House Poetry Jam. Miranda was invited to perform a piece from his first musical, “In the Heights.” However, he surprised the audience by performing a song from a concept hip-hop album he was working on about the Founding Fathers.
“Hamilton” didn’t make its off-Broadway premiere until early 2015. The musical, currently playing at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, is running over 10 years.
