If You’ve Ever Wanted to Be in ‘Hamilton,’ You Can Now Do So — on Roblox 

This screengrab provided by Super League shows an Alexander Hamilton game avatar from the "Hamilton" simulator for Roblox. (Super League via AP)
This screengrab provided by Super League shows an Alexander Hamilton game avatar from the "Hamilton" simulator for Roblox. (Super League via AP)
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If You’ve Ever Wanted to Be in ‘Hamilton,’ You Can Now Do So — on Roblox 

This screengrab provided by Super League shows an Alexander Hamilton game avatar from the "Hamilton" simulator for Roblox. (Super League via AP)
This screengrab provided by Super League shows an Alexander Hamilton game avatar from the "Hamilton" simulator for Roblox. (Super League via AP)

The landmark Broadway musical “Hamilton” has landed on Roblox, turning the innovative stage show into an immersive online environment for a new generation.

“‘Hamilton’ has global recognition. Roblox has 66 million daily active users from all around the world. What a perfect match,” Matt Edelman, president and chief commercial officer for Super League, which designed and built the online experience in collaboration with Small World Games.

In the Hamilton Simulator, players use their own avatars as they rub shoulders with the musical’s characters and negotiate through 10 levels set during the Revolutionary War. It starts at the New York docks and the goal is to free the city from British yoke. Appropriately, the music-filled game requires no real money from players.

“The intent here was to create a fun experience for this community and by doing so, introduce them to ‘Hamilton’ if they don’t already know it, or to honor and inspire the passion that they have if they’re already fans,” says Edelman.

The game has the blessing of writer-composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, whose blockbuster musical charts the rise and fall of statesman Alexander Hamilton and stresses his orphan, immigrant roots as well as his near-Greek tragedy of a fall.

Roblox is the largest immersive gaming platform on the planet and businesses like Mattel, the NFL, Dave & Buster’s and Cirque du Soleil have all planted a flag there, as have fashion labels Vans, Ralph Lauren, Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Givenchy and Gucci.

“If you are an intellectual property owner and you want to connect to the younger generations — people really under 25 and particularly under 18 — that’s where they socialize, that’s where they learn. More than half of Gen Z expects to discover a brand for the first time in an immersive space,” Edelman says.

Hamilton Simulator players assemble a squad from characters in the musical — James Madison and Charles Lee, perhaps, to begin with, and more valuable characters like Maria Reynolds and Angelica Schuyler coming later — to confront Redcoats. Victories earn coins, which can be used to better arm companions as stronger enemies lurk.

The 10 settings include a tavern, George Washington’s office, town squares, the ballroom where Hamilton and Angelica fall in love and the Battle of Yorktown. Each level has songs from the musical, including “Guns and Ships,” “You’ll Be Back,” and “The Schuyler Sisters,” used as a sort of sonic laser to wear down and defeat enemies.

“For us, being able to allow the player to connect to the characters and the music was really important. And that really inspired the general approach to the gameplay,” Edelman says.

The simulator currently ends around the midpoint of the musical, with British rule defeated and a nascent country needing its Founding Fathers to guide them into becoming a nation of laws. Creators hope the simulator can also grow.

“We have plenty more in the future to expand on and we’re really excited about what we can do with this experience moving forward over the coming months to really be able to expand gameplay, expand the story and really be able to listen to our players and what are they doing,” Edelman says.

Each scene is carefully realized, with ceremonial swords, candles burning, flowers, artwork, sandbags and smoke. David Korins, who designed “Hamilton” for the stage, consulted on the look of the simulator and offered his tweaks. (There are also Easter eggs, like The Public theater, a nod to the off-Broadway space where “Hamilton” premiered.)

“‘Hamilton’ has achieved something that feels timeless. And if you can achieve that with an intellectual property, you can bring it into any channel and have success because it has that innate feel of belonging everywhere,” Edelman says.

The genesis of the idea came from Maggie Brohn, the executive producer for “Hamilton” worldwide and chief operating officer of Adventureland LCC, the lead producer for “Hamilton” and other Broadway shows.

She had been pondering a marriage between the musical and a gamemaker, eventually turning for advice to Edelman, her brother, who knew the perfect platform.

“My kids during COVID were glued to Roblox,” she says. “They became our our test group as we’ve been going through this.”

The hardest part was taking an award-winning linear narrative and turning it into an interactive experience. The breakthrough came when it was conceived as a simulator, one of the most popular Roblox genres.

“When you bring intellectual property to a medium where it did not originate, if it doesn’t have kind of some of the natural components to it already that belong in that new medium, it isn’t easy,” says Edelman.

Super League and “Hamilton” creators suspect their simulator will attract some visitors who have never heard of the musical, but will get caught in its gravitational force — much like the cast album became a hit by people who hadn’t yet seen the show.

“The music brought people to ‘Hamilton’ in some cases before the actual production of the show brought them there,” says Edelman. “I don’t think this will be any different if we achieve our primary goal, which is to make this a fun gameplay experience that attracts the Roblox community.”



Think You Know 'Jaws'? Test Your Knowledge with this Trivia Ahead of the Movie's 50th Anniversary

This image released by Peacock shows Roy Scheider in a scene from "Jaws." (Peacock/Universal Pictures via AP)
This image released by Peacock shows Roy Scheider in a scene from "Jaws." (Peacock/Universal Pictures via AP)
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Think You Know 'Jaws'? Test Your Knowledge with this Trivia Ahead of the Movie's 50th Anniversary

This image released by Peacock shows Roy Scheider in a scene from "Jaws." (Peacock/Universal Pictures via AP)
This image released by Peacock shows Roy Scheider in a scene from "Jaws." (Peacock/Universal Pictures via AP)

Friday marks the 50th anniversary of “Jaws.” It remains one of the most beloved and rewatched movies of all time. But how good is your knowledge of the some of lore surrounding Steven Spielberg's 1975 masterpiece?

Read on and see how much you know about “Jaws.”

What was the nickname given to the shark? Spielberg named his mechanical shark “Bruce,” after his attorney, Bruce Ramer.

Where did the title come from? When author Peter Benchley’s 1974 book was going to print, he needed to choose a title. He has juggled various titles — “Leviathan Rising,” “Silent Fall” — before, at the last minute, choosing “Jaws.”

What did it mean? Benchley, himself, wasn’t sure, he told his editor, but it was short.

What's the origin of the iconic movie poster? The image of the rising shark came from the cover of the novel’s paperback edition, illustrated by Roger Kastel. For his painting, Kastel went to the American Museum of Natural History to photograph a great white shark from a diorama that was laying on an easel.

What was the inspiration for Amity? Though Spielberg shot “Jaws” on Martha’s Vineyard, off Cape Cod, it was the neighboring island, Nantucket, that inspired Benchley’s novel. He has spent time fishing there with his father. In the book, the fictional Amity is on the south shore of Long Island.

Who was first attached to direct “Jaws”? Dick Richards was initially in line to direct the film, but producer Richard D. Zanuck said he lost the job after, in a meeting, repeatedly referring to the shark as a whale.

How old was Spielberg when he began the project? 26.

Who sought but was turned down the role of Brody? Charlton Heston wanted to play the Amity Island police chief, but Spielberg instead cast Roy Scheider.
What’s the name of Quint’s boat? The Orca. Not coincidentally, two years after the massive success of “Jaws,” a 1977 ripoff about a killer whale was released titled “Orca.”

What led to the shark often malfunctioning? Salt water. The shark, built by special effects artist Bob Mattey, would get corroded by the salt water of the Atlantic Ocean, leaving it unusable for times – particularly early in the filmmaking. Spielberg pivoted and instead doesn’t show the shark until well into the film, an approach that ultimately led to a far more suspenseful film.

Spielberg once estimated that Bruce’s mechanical delays added $175 million to the movie’s box office.

How long into “Jaws” does the shark fully appear on screen? It’s not until one hour and 21 minutes into the movie that we really see the shark.

Was the movie’s most iconic line scripted? No, Schieder adlibbed “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” Screenwriter Carl Gottlieb, though, has said the line had been percolating on set. The size of the barge carrying equipment and craft services was often slighted by the crew who felt producers weren’t spending enough. Gottlieb told The Hollywood Reporter in 2016: “It became a catchphrase for any time anything went wrong – if lunch was late or the swells were rocking the camera, someone would say, ‘You’re gonna need a bigger boat.’”

What disaster was Quint a survivor of? The sinking of the USS Indianapolis, the US Navy cruiser torpedoed by a Japanese submarine during World War II.

Quint’s lengthy and memorably speech in the film wasn’t in the novel but was, according to Spielberg, penned by the uncredited screenwriter John Milius.

Spielberg wanted a backstory to why Quint hated sharks so much. Though debate has continued over the years over who wrote the monologue, everyone has agreed Shaw synthesized it, and deserves most of the credit for the scene’s power.

Does Spielberg appear in “Jaws?” The director isn’t seen in the film but his voice is heard. During the finale of the film when Quint is readying the harpoon, it’s Spielberg’s voice on the radio. He says: “This is Amity point light-station to Orca. Orca, come in.” Spielberg shows up in a couple other ways, too. A clarinetist in high school, he plays briefly on Williams’ score. And Brody’s dogs were Spielberg’s cocker spaniels, Elmer and Zalman. (For his part, Benchley makes a cameo as a TV reporter during the July 4th beach scene.)

How far over schedule did “Jaws” run? The production was scheduled for 55 days but took 159 days to complete. The budget also nearly tripled, to $9 million, plus $3 million more in post-production. Though “Jaws” become the prototype summer movie, it was originally expected to open around Christmastime the year before.

What was “Jaws” rated? Though it caused some controversy, the Motion Picture Association of America gave “Jaws” a “PG” rating. At the time, there was no PG-13 rating. (That only began in 1984, with “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” after a handful of other Spielberg productions, including “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Gremlins” led to the new category.) Jack Valenti, then-president of the MPAA, defended the rating by arguing that “‘Jaws’ involved nature’s violence, rather than man’s violence against man,” Valenti said. “This is the same kind of violence as in ‘Hansel and Gretel.’ Children might imitate other kinds of violence, but not the kind seen in ‘Jaws.’”

The movie’s poster carried the warning: “MAY BE TOO INTENSE FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN.”

What did “Jaws” lose best picture to at the Academy Awards? “Jaws” was nominated for four Oscars and won three: best sound, best editing and best score for John Williams. The competition for best picture, though, was fierce.

The nominees, alongside “Jaws,” where “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Barry Lyndon,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Nashville.” The winner was “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”