You can walk into a cinema today and watch Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe, and Lindsay Mendez perform Merrily We Roll Along. Not a film adaptation. The actual Broadway production, captured at the Hudson Theatre, projected onto a screen near you.

Five years ago, this was remarkable. Hamilton's pandemic-accelerated Disney+ release felt like a one-off gesture. Now, pro-shots (professionally filmed stage productions) are everywhere. Frozen is heading to Disney+. Hadestown was filmed in the West End earlier this year. Hamilton just got a theatrical cinema release for its 10th anniversary. SIX has a pro-shot in development.

National Theatre Live has some of London's top performances beamed live into cinemas around the world. These performances are often of limited run shows starring big names. And if you can't make the live broadcast, don't worry. Chances are your local arthouse cinema will do encore screenings.

Something has shifted. Broadway and the West End are finally embracing what the music industry learned decades ago: recorded versions don't replace live experiences. They create demand for them.

What Actually Is a Pro-Shot?

A pro-shot sits somewhere between a bootleg recording and a film adaptation.

Unlike amateur recordings (which range from shaky iPhone captures to high-quality professional bootlegs that circulate among theatre obsessives), pro-shots are officially produced with proper equipment, multiple camera angles, and full creative involvement from the production team.

Unlike film adaptations (Wicked, Les Misérables, Into the Woods), pro-shots preserve the stage production. Same staging, same set, same costumes, same theatrical conventions. When characters address the audience, they're addressing a live audience. When the lights go down for scene changes, that's captured too.

The result feels like sitting in the best seat in the house - if that seat could somehow be simultaneously in row D centre, the front mezzanine, and close enough to see every tear rolling down a performer's face.

The Hamilton Effect

The modern pro-shot era began with a single decision: filming Hamilton's original Broadway cast before they left.

In June 2016, with the production at peak cultural ubiquity and most of the original cast about to depart, producers captured three performances at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Daveed Diggs, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Phillipa Soo, Jonathan Groff - all preserved in their roles.

Disney acquired the rights for $75 million in 2020, planning a theatrical release for October 2021. Then the pandemic hit. Broadway went dark. Suddenly, a theatrical release seemed both impossible and besides the point.

Hamilton premiered on Disney+ on July 4, 2020 - and became one of the most-streamed films of that year. The question everyone expected - would streaming kill demand for the live show? - was answered decisively when Broadway reopened. Hamilton was still selling out. The filmed version hadn't replaced the live experience; it had created millions of new fans who now wanted to see it in person.

"When Hamilton first streamed, it didn't cannibalize ticket sales, it fueled them," observed one industry analyst. "It built a global audience that still lines up in person years later, despite having access to the film from their couch."

What's Coming Next

The pipeline of announced and rumoured pro-shots is now substantial:

Merrily We Roll Along - In cinemas now through December 18. The Tony-winning 2023-2024 Broadway revival starring Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe, and Lindsay Mendez. Directed by Maria Friedman.

Frozen - Came to Disney+ in 2025. The West End production was filmed featuring Samantha Barks as Elsa. The hit will join Hamilton and Newsies in Disney's Broadway library.

Hadestown - Filmed in February-March 2025 at the Lyric Theatre in London with original Broadway cast members Reeve Carney, André De Shields, Amber Gray, and Eva Noblezada. Release details TBA.

SIX - Pro-shot confirmed in development. The pop-concert format makes it particularly suited to filming.

Hamilton (theatrical) - Already released September 5, 2025 in US cinemas, with UK/Ireland release September 26 and Australia/New Zealand November 13. Includes new "Reuniting the Revolution" prologue with cast interviews.

Why Now?

Several factors converged to make pro-shots viable:

Technology improvements - Multi-camera HD filming can now capture stage productions without compromising theatrical lighting. The equipment has become smaller, less intrusive, and dramatically cheaper.

Streaming infrastructure - Disney+, Netflix, Apple TV+, and others provide ready distribution platforms. A pro-shot that would have required physical media distribution in 2010 can now reach global audiences immediately.

COVID's lesson - The pandemic proved that theatre audiences will pay for filmed content when they can't access live performances. It also demonstrated that filmed versions don't cannibalize live sales - if anything, they build anticipation.

The economics work - Filming a production costs a fraction of mounting a touring version. The potential returns from global cinematic events, streaming deals, and digital rentals can be substantial. And it preserves performances for history.

Fan demand is deafening - Social media is flooded with requests for pro-shots of everything from Beetlejuice to Death Becomes Her. Producers can see the appetite clearly.

The Economics for Producers

Let's be frank about why this is happening: it makes money.

A typical Broadway production might play to 1,000-1,500 people per performance, eight times a week. Even a multi-year run reaches perhaps 3-4 million people total. A streaming release can reach tens of millions in a single weekend.

Hamilton's Disney+ release was watched by an estimated 2.7 million households in its first weekend alone - more than the total Broadway audience for its entire run to that point.

For producers, pro-shots create multiple revenue streams:

• Initial theatrical release (Fathom Events, limited runs)

• Streaming platform licensing

• Digital purchase and rental

• Physical media (Blu-ray, special editions)

• International distribution

• Educational licensing

The filming investment is relatively modest against these returns. And unlike a traditional film adaptation, there's no need to recast, rebuild sets, or reconceptualise the staging.

The Economics for Audiences

Pro-shots solve Broadway and West End theatre's persistent accessibility problem.

Premium tickets to Hamilton in London or New York can exceed £300. And while well worth it, it's certainly not an experience most can afford as often as they'd like.

A cinema ticket to watch the same production costs £15-20. A streaming rental costs less. This isn't just about price; it's about geography. Theatre lovers in Aberdeen, Adelaide, or Albuquerque can now access productions that would require transcontinental travel to see live.

Does this democratise theatre? Partially. The filmed experience isn't identical to the live one. There's no substitute for shared breath with performers, interval drinks and physical presence in a historic building. But it's far closer to the real thing than no access at all.

What Gets Lost in Translation

Pro-shots aren't perfect substitutes for live theatre. Some elements don't translate:

The communal experience - Theatre happens collectively. The held breath of 1,200 people at a plot twist, the wave of laughter, the standing ovation - these create a feedback loop between performers and audience that no filming captures fully.

The accident of liveness - Every live performance is slightly different. Mistakes happen. Actors have good nights and less-good nights. A pro-shot captures one specific performance forever, losing the electric uncertainty of live theatre.

The physical environment - Historic venues contribute enormously to theatrical experiences. Watching Phantom in His Majesty's Theatre, or Hamilton in the Victoria Palace, or The Mousetrap in St Martin's - the building is part of the show. That's lost entirely in filmed versions.

Scale and perspective - Cameras create intimacy but lose scale. The Lion King's opening procession through the audience, Starlight Express's trains surrounding viewers, the sheer height of a proscenium arch - these translate poorly to screens.

Critics of pro-shots argue they flatten the experience, removing everything that makes theatre different from film. There's something to this. But it's also true that most people will never see most productions live. A flattened experience beats no experience.

The Broadway Hesitation

Despite the evidence, Broadway has been slower to embrace pro-shots than the economics would suggest.

Part of this is structural. Broadway's business model depends on scarcity. Shows play limited engagements or aim for years-long runs; either way, the message is "see it now, because you might not be able to later." Filming potentially undermines that urgency.

There's also union complexity. Capturing a production requires negotiating with multiple unions representing performers, musicians, stagehands, and crews. The agreements that govern theatrical employment don't automatically extend to filmed versions.

And there's a philosophical resistance. Theatre professionals often believe that live performance's magic comes from ephemerality - you have to be there, in that moment, to fully experience it. Filming feels like a betrayal of that principle to some.

But the resistance is eroding. When Hamilton's pro-shot demonstrably increased rather than decreased ticket demand, the scaremongering about cannibalization lost credibility. When Merrily sold out its entire run before the filming was even announced, it became clear that pro-shots don't prevent commercial success.

What This Means for Theatregoers

If you love theatre, the pro-shot phenomenon is almost entirely good news.

More access - Shows you couldn't see will become available. Productions that closed before you could get tickets may be preserved.

Preserved performances - Great theatrical productions disappear when they close. Olivier's Richard III, the original Company, countless landmark performances exist only in memory and description. Pro-shots change that equation for future generations.

Better informed choices - Wondering whether a show is worth the ticket price? Being able to watch a filmed version helps you decide - and often builds excitement rather than reducing it.

The live experience remains special - Nothing suggests pro-shots reduce the value of seeing shows in person. If anything, they demonstrate why live theatre matters by showing both what filming captures and what it can't.

The Future: Will Everything Be Filmed?

Probably not everything. But the trajectory seems clear.

Major musicals with original casts will increasingly be filmed before those casts depart. Long-running shows will get filmed eventually. Limited engagements with star casts will be captured. The default assumption is shifting from "why film it?" to "why not film it?"

The opera world provides a model. The Met has broadcast live performances to cinemas worldwide since 2006. National Theatre Live has done the same for British theatre since 2009. These haven't killed live attendance - they've expanded audiences and created new fans who become in-person attendees.

Broadway and the West End are catching up. The question isn't whether pro-shots will become standard but how quickly, and how the business models will evolve.

For theatre lovers, this is the best of both worlds: more access to filmed productions, while live theatre retains its irreplaceable magic. The stage and the screen aren't competing. They're reinforcing each other.

What to Watch Now

If you want to catch up on the pro-shot phenomenon:

On Disney+: Hamilton, Newsies, Trevor: The Musical (Frozen coming 2025)

On streaming: Various National Theatre Live productions, RSC recordings

Coming soon: Hadestown (date TBA), SIX (date TBA), Merrily We Roll Along (rumoured to be coming to Netflix this year)

And If You Want the Real Thing...

There's still no substitute for being there. Browse London theatre tickets or New York experiences on tickadoo and see what's playing live.

• Hamilton

• Wicked

• The Lion King

• Les Misérables

• The Phantom of the Opera

The best films remind us why the live experience matters. Book London theatre tickets on tickadoo and be there in person.