“Hamilton” celebrates the 10th anniversary of its Broadway opening on Aug. 6. As part of the birthday festivities, a quartet of actors who have starred in the show gathered to talk about what it’s like being part of the enduring legacy of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s megahit musical.
Listen to this week’s “Stagecraft” podcast below:
“I’ve never felt so much pressure,” recalled actor Hannah Cruz on the latest episode of “Stagecraft,” Variety’s theater podcast. Speaking during a panel discussion with fellow “Hamilton” alums Miguel Cervantes, Thayne Jasperson and Edred Utomi (and recorded live as part of the Backyard at Hudson Yards series), Cruz (“Suffs”) remembered her early days in the cast of the “Hamilton” national tour, in which she played Eliza.
“It was honestly scary and tough to take on a show like this, because everyone has an expectation of what the cast album sounds like and what these new people are gonna sound like,” Cruz explained.
As the sole original Broadway cast member who’s still in the show, Jasperson remembers the musical’s earliest days before superfans knew every single lyric.
“I miss the time when were Off Broadway at the Public Theater and nobody knew the words,” he admitted. “People sat in the audience and literally they sat just staring and soaking up every word. But I’m not gonna lie, I think I’m one of the few who now loves looking out and seeing people just sing the whole thing!”
Utomi said he also felt the pressure when he joined the show, playing Alexander Hamilton on tour and, earlier this summer, making his Broadway debut in the role in New York. (He’s also married to Cruz, whom he met when they were both starring in “Hamilton” on tour.)
Utomi noted that new actors in “Hamilton” are encouraged to put their own stamp on a role. “My parents are Nigerian immigrants,” he said. “As Lin-Manuel Miranda draws on the Puerto Rican immigrant experience when he played Hamilton, I think I draw more on the Nigerian immigrant experience. I filtered it through the experiences of my parents and my siblings, and people in my life who had maybe gone through things that Hamilton has gone through.”
Cervantes, meanwhile, has played the role of Alexander Hamilton in Chicago and on Broadway for a total of 2,013 performances — more than any other actor. He’s seen how the show’s political themes and its depiction of America’s founding fathers have resonated with audiences in different ways as the political landscape of the country has changed.
“‘Hamilton’ is about these real human beings in a moment of unbelievable stress and creativity,” Cervantes said. “And they were not perfect people! To see the political world and the creation of the constitution and the country through the lens of imperfect humans, trying to figure out what was right and wrong — you can place that into our own political life now. The people that are in charge now, they are flawed humans and they are creating in real time. We’re watching the consequences all happening right in front of us.”
Also on the new episode of Stagecraft, the “Hamilton” quartet dished about celebrity visits, onstage flubs, pratfalls and ripped trousers. “Mess-ups are our favorite!” Jasperson laughed.
To hear the entire conversation, listen at the link above or download and subscribe to “Stagecraft” on podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and the Broadway Podcast Network. New episodes of “Stagecraft” are released every other week.
variety.com
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