The genius behind “Mr. Burr, sir,” made his first late night appearance Monday night on the NBC talk show.  There has been chatter that the Carnegie Mellon graduate is a shoo-in for a Tony nomination for his fascinating portrayal of an “80-year-old white guy.”

One of the audience’s favorite numbers is Odom’s show-stopping, banjo-fueled, vaudeville-styled “The Room Where It Happens.”  When Meyers asked if this solo number was his favorite moment of the night, Odom simply replied, “God, no.”

“What’s your favorite moment,” Meyers countered.  “The end,” Odom responded casually.  “It’s such a  formidable task ahead of us each night doing this show.  Lin really laid down the gauntlet with this show. One of the things that’s so exciting about it is that it asks everything of you every single night and so that number… I never know if I’m gonna survive, if I’m gonna make it through. So when we reach the end, it’s a miracle.”

The musical about America’s Founding Fathers portrayed predominantly by a cast of color to the tune of hip hop and r&b is successfully breaking records across the board, leaving fans and critics wondering, why does it work?

“I think it’s because there’s a part of the audience that the whole time they’re kind of marveling at the fact that it works too,” Odom said with a chuckle.  “It’s something that shouldn’t work. The genius is in the incongruence.”

The sold out for YEARS Hamilton has already garnered dozens of celebrity visitors including Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey and President Obama.  (The night I was there I walked by Barbara Streisand *SQUEAL*).  A couple of Odom’s favorites?  Broadway royalty Joel Grey and Liza Minelli.

“Liza shows up in a cloud of medicinal marijuana smoke, which only makes her cooler in my book,” Odom quipped with a smirk.  “And I thanked her and Joel and she asks me ‘Well, have you ever seen me live?’ and I said ‘No’ and she said ‘Well then, you still have something to look forward to.’ …. GANGSTA!  Liza is straight GANGSTA!”

I saw the show last week and to say that Odom’s performance was brilliant is an understatement.  His approach is ingeniously subtle, and his skill is mesmerizing.  You may have to sell your first born, but get tickets to see his amazing performance in Hamilton as soon as you can!

The post Leslie Odom Jr. Visits Late Night with Seth Meyers appeared first on Broadway Black.

However, this time things ended just a little bit differently. President Obama took to the stage and gave a quite comical speech to top off the special performance. The president gave a crowd of over 1,300 people more than a few laughs last night in a theatre that is home to a musical about the “Founding Father,” Alexander Hamilton. Fitting, right? Watch the entire speech below.

The show, which tells its story mostly to a hip hop score, has received rave reviews. Hamilton debuted off-Broadway at The Public Theater in January. It started Broadway previews July 13 and opened on August 6 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. In addition to President Obama, other political figures have attended the performance, including former President Bill Clinton, former Senator Hillary Clinton, and former Vice President Dick Cheney. First lady Michelle Obama has seen the hit musical three times now.

We also got a couple of clips from behind the stage before the President began his speech thanks to Leslie Odom Jr., who stars in the revolutionary musical as “Aaron Burr.”

POTUS @hamiltonmusical Part 1 via @leslieodomjr: Stage left. Rapt. Honored to have POTUS back in our midst. #HamiltonBway #HeGaveUsThePoint

A video posted by BroadwayBlack (@broadwayblack) on Nov 2, 2015 at 7:45pm PST

Below are some of his statements that made us laugh. Watch the video for context!:

“According to them, everything was really good in 2008, when we were going through the worst economic crisis in our lifetimes. This, apparently, was the golden age that I messed up.”

“All 99 of those doctors got together — with Obama — to try to prevent me from having bacon and doughnuts.”

“It’s cray!”

“And then it turns out they can’t handle a bunch of CNBC moderators. If you can’t handle those guys, I don’t think the Chinese and the Russians are going to be too worried about you.”

The fundraiser was held on a Monday, which is typically a night that cast members have off. However, the Democratic National Committee paid the costs for the special Monday night performance. Seats sold for up to $10,000 each which benefitted the Democratic Hope Fund. The Fund raises money to help retire Mr. Obama’s campaign debt.

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