“How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean, by providence impoverished, in squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar?”

These are the words that start it all and we’re surprised that they were allowed on the telecast but we’re glad that they didn’t change that. They delivered such a powerful performance for the world to see & the impact of the opening lines are needed to draw in the masses. We were surely standing on our feet by the end of it.

Now, we know it’s already hard to get tickets for the show & once The Tony Awards come in June it’s going to be even harder but it’s the performances that air like this that make it even more special once you actually do get the chance.

Hamilton is the highly acclaimed, hip hop-infused story about America’s first treasurer, Alexander Hamilton. It has topped rap charts. It has beat out the almighty Lion King as top grossing musical TWICE. It’s members have appeared on a cypher on BET. And it has welcomed thousands of public school students into the theater to give the gift of the arts. Based on the biography of Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, Miranda has penned what has come to be one of the most influential and talked about shows of our generation. 

It also didn’t stop after the performance. Hamilton, the musical received more airtime when the musical won Best Musical Theatre Album & the award, as well as the acceptance speech, aired on the main telecast. Watch Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of Hamilton, give a clever acceptance speech in the form a rap. He’s truly a remarkable genius with words.

The post Hamilton The Musical Performs & Wins on The Grammy Awards 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.

The post President Barack Obama On Broadway In One Man Show For Democratic Fundraiser appeared first on Broadway Black.

The fundraiser will be held on a Monday, which is typically a night that cast members have off. However, the Democratic National Committee is paying the costs for the special Monday night performance. Seats are selling for up to $5,000 each which will benefit the Democratic Hope Fund. The Fund raises money to help retire Mr. Obama’s campaign debt.

Margo Lion, a Broadway producer and an investor in Hamilton, is organizing the event. She also organized Broadway fundraisers in 2007 and 2012 for Mr. Obama’s presidential campaigns.

The show, which tells the story of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton 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 Mr. Obama, other political figures have attended the performance, including former President Bill and former Senator Hilary Clinton, and former Vice President Dick Cheney. First lady Michelle Obama has seen the hit musical twice.

Other early guests have included comedian Jimmy Fallon and actresses Julia Roberts, Whoopi Goldberg, Laverne Cox and Olivia Wilde.

The post President Obama Set to See Hamilton Again appeared first on Broadway Black.

Odom debuted during the four month sold-out stint at The Public Theatre in “a role that fits (him) like a glove,” according to Miranda. Odom’s performances gained him a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical.

Alongside Miranda as “Alexander Hamilton,” Odom portrays “Aaron Burr” – the third Vice President of the United States during Thomas Jefferson’s first term as President. Burr is known for his political rivalry with one-time friend Hamilton – a Founding Father and the first Secretary of the Treasury – which resulted in an illegal duel that claimed the life of Hamilton and the political career of Burr.

Burr is “like all of us” Odom said of the character during an appearance on the “Charlie Rose” show, which aired Aug. 12. The emotional and passionate Odom sat at “The Table” and talked about the impact of Hamilton and his role, along with the nuances of 21st century politics and race relations.

For Odom, it began when he attended a July 2013 workshop production of Hamilton – then titled The Hamilton Mixtape – at Vassar College Reading Festival. Utkarsh Ambudkar, a former VJ for MTV Desi, portrayed “Aaron Burr.” When Odom was invited to attend a reading for the part, he arrived fully prepared – knowing all of his music and understanding the direction of the excerpt that “blew him away.” He said of the music: “I recognized the rhythms and the syncopation and the pulse of the piece. I recognized that. It’s been in my ear since I was born.”

The Queens, NY native said he recalled watching “Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry Jam” on HBO and described the poets as having “blood in the pen” and “an urgency and a fire in the belly” for listeners to grasp the power of their words. After reviewing a rehearsal tape, Odom realized that the cast sounded very much like those poets who have appeared on the five-year long series.

That music and sound were of a hip hop generation. A sound filled with a need to be heard.

Miranda said “Aaron Burr” gets all the great songs when he appeared on Charlie Rose’s “The Table” along with director Thomas Kail.

Odom said he hasn’t found a demographic that doesn’t appreciate the show. No doubt because it is comprised of a cast “like America looks now,” according to Miranda. Yet, Odom acknowledged the care of Miranda to find “all the places where we are alike.” Beyond the creative team and cast, however, Odom said there is “something else that happens” to generate the show’s impact. “Whatever happens between me saying it on stage and how it affects you and what it does to you, that’s the part that none of us have any control over.”

Everything he had done prior to Hamilton – which includes a self-titled album released last August on Borderlight Entertainment – prepared him for his current role. “Not just the work,” the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama graduate told Charlie Rose. “It’s also life, the disappointments I’ve had, the fighting through depression, the points you’re not working in the business and you’re trying to understand why. (Hamilton) was the right moment. It couldn’t have happened at any other time.”

His 1998 Broadway debut was as a “Paul” replacement in the long-running Rent. His entrance into television began in 2004 (“The Big House”) with several years of episode work, numerous re-occurring roles and some TV movies. He appeared in the 2012 feature film Red Tails, then returned to the stage as “Isaiah Sturdevant” in Leap of Faith that same year. After a lead role in “Smash” (2013), Odom’s most recent re-occurring role was on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” – a role he turned down to take the leap of faith on Hamilton.

While Odom studied musical theatre during college, he noted during the interview that he truly majored in empathy. “In its purest form…we are stepping inside these people’s shoes, and we are learning about ourselves by talking about them. That is, I think one of the most powerful elixirs for healing in the land.” He said this ability is what is needed amid the panorama of pain caused by racism. “What’s really going to bring healing is empathy, sitting down and talking with one another and finding where you’re coming from, where I’m coming from.” He continued: “That’s what Lin’s done with “Aaron Burr.” (Lin-Manuel Miranda) got inside this man’s head and his heart, and he found out what made him tick. In that way you can take a villain and turn him into a human being, which is what he was.”

Odom, who is contracted for a year with the musical, has been forever changed by the humanity of Burr and the healing of Hamilton. He talked about his favorite part of show time is when he briefly watches the audience from a specific place in the theatre at the top of the show. It is a time he gets to know his audience, he said. Even more magical moments has been when he begins to sense the members of the audience leaning forward.

“I feed on that response. I need them with me,” Odom said of the Hamilton audiences.

The gift of Hamilton has been the opportunity to have art be a lightning rod for life. To celebrate his 35 years of life, Odom captured behind-the-scenes footage of the musical’s opening night and produced a video (released Aug. 26) that he dedicated to his fellow cast members. The video ended with his quote: “I’m a better man for having known you. Let’s never forget this night or this time.”

Ultimately, American theatre is better for Hamilton. Click HERE for tickets.

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