Lin Manuel Miranda’s reprisal in the title role of Hamilton last month help raise more than $14 million for the arts on the island.
The Tony Award-winner partnered with the Flamboyan Foundation to create The Flamboyan Arts Fund, a fund to help support institutions, arts groups, and independent artists on the island, particularly helping those groups rebuild after the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria.
Early beneficiaries of the Arts Fund include, amongst others, the Puerto Rico Art Museum, theater company Y No Habia Luz, and Música pa’ Culebra, which offers music classes to Culebra’s children and youth. Recipients are selected by a board which the Mirandas are a part of.
To date, The Flamboyan Organization says that the limited-term fund has raised $14 million through ticket sales, corporate sponsorships, and individual foundation donations. Beyond just the musical, where some tickets went for as a high as $5,000 each, the fund received large donations of more than $200,000 from a number of organizations including Marriott International, Banco Popular, Jet Blue, Evertech, Wend Ventures, Churches Chicken, AirBnB, and Warner Brothers.
Marriott also offered a portion of the proceeds from room bookings at its Puerto Rico hotels to the fund.
“This island especially deserved this show and they also deserve all the things that are going to come from it,” Donald Webber, Jr, who played Aaron Burr in the Puerto Rico production of the musical, told Fortune. “The people here are incredible.”
Hamilton has been one of the most successful productions in recent theatrical history. In 2017, early investors in the musical said they had seen a 600% return on their investment since the musical’s debut in mid-2015.
Miranda performed as Alexander Hamilton in the musical from January 6 to 27. In addition to the seats that were sold at high prices to tourists, 10,000 seats (25% of the tickets sold) were offered to residents of Puerto Rico for $10 each.
