Elysa Gardner

@elysagardner, USA TODAY

Musical theater is coming back to the Grammy Awards this year — or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the Grammys will visit Broadway.

The ceremony, set to air live from Los Angeles' Staples Center on Feb. 15, will feature a performance from the critically celebrated smash hit Hamilton, live from the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York.

Says Lin-Manuel Miranda, the musical's creator and star: "We're going to do the opening number, scream with joy, and then celebrate the fact that we were just on the Grammys. Best night ever."

Like the majority of Broadway productions, Hamilton — also a nominee, through its original cast recording, for best musical theater album — is generally dark Monday nights. But a live audience will be at the Richard Rodgers for the special occasion, the first time a Broadway performance will be broadcast via satellite. This is the eighth time a musical-theater production has been featured on the Grammys, but in the past the performers joined the Grammy broadcasts onstage. (American Idiot was the most recent showcased, in 2010.)

"We've never done any live performances in front of a televised audience," notes Hamilton producer Jeffrey Seller. "It's always been important for us to perform in context. Once (Grammy executives) said, 'We'll come to you,' we knew it would work." Seller also credits Atlantic Records, which in September released the cast recording of Hamilton: "Our friends at Atlantic have lobbied the folks at the Grammys since day one."

Neil Portnow, president of the Recording Academy, had spoken with friends at the label about Hamilton, which incorporates hip-hop, musical theater and other distinctly American influences in its account of our founding fathers. "I suspended all thoughts before seeing the show," Portnow says, "but of course I was blown away. It's a transformative, groundbreaking project that has the potential to bring a whole new audience in. I thought to myself, a little selfishly, 'I wonder if this will get a nomination.'"

Grammy Awards executive producer Ken Ehrlich recalls that "both Neil and I came to have feelings about the show independently. I called him to talk about it and he said, 'Funny, I've been meaning to talk to you about it, too.'"

Ehrlich has fond memories of musical-theater performances on the Grammys: "Perhaps my favorite until now was the year we did the show from Radio City Music Hall and Patti LuPone sang Don't Cry For Me Argentina. But Hamilton had a buzz that was unique and, musically, the idea of a hip-hop musical about early American history was something we just had to explore."

For his part, Miranda was drawn by the "once-in-a-lifetime moments" the Grammys have delivered through the years. "I think of Elton John and Eminem, Ricky Martin basically ushering in an ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) with his Cup of Life performance and Jennifer Hudson's incredible Whitney Houston tribute. It's an honor to be a part of this amazing legacy."