important those words are to Hamilton fans, many of whom listen to the soundtrack on repeat but have not yet had an opportunity to see the show. He was once in the same category. “I don’t think it’s necessarily pressure that we feel, going to these cities where people haven’t had the opportunity to go to New York or Chicago and see this show that they fell in love with,” Choi said, “but there’s certainly a responsibility to just kind of bring it every night, and really kind of put on the best show possible for people who have paid a lot of money to see this piece that they hold so dearly and have such a connection to.”
This show is a musical for people who love musicals. It’s also a show for people who love hip-hop and a show for people who love history. Marcus Choi Though the cast wants to give the audience the caliber of performance they expect, Choi said Lacamoire and director Thomas Kail encouraged the touring per-
formers to make the production their own. “They’ve definitely instilled in us the freedom to find our own path through the narrative because, by default, there’s absolutely no way that I can do what [original Washington] Chris Jackson did,” Choi said. “I’m not Chris Jackson, so it’s really nice that they don’t put that expectation on you. I think it would be a disservice to the actor if they did that, so they give us the freedom to find our own moments and carve our own path through the show. And when people see that, I think they enjoy it,because even though it’s the same show that they know, it’s a different take. A lot of times people get so locked into what they heard on the album, that even when we were learning it, Alex would remind us not to do what the recording did because they recorded it as an album, not as a live show. So as far as making it our own, I don’t want
to say it was easy, but it wasn’t as bad of an experience as one might think.”
American immortals
Jackson’s portrayal of Washington might have set a challenging precedent for the supporting role, but the first president of the United States and “Father of His Country” has been revered as an almost superhuman character since at least the 1750s. According to an article on the website for Washington’s home Mount Vernon, the Founding Father had “two horses shot out from under him and four bullet holes shot through his coat” at the Battle of the Monongahela during the French and Indian War in 1755, and during the American Revolution at the Battle of Princeton in 1777, he risked his life to lead troops to a decisive victory: “Despite the widespread fears that he would be shot down at any moment, Washington was heard to say to his troops, ‘Parade with me, my fine fellows, we will have them soon!’” “He became a bit of a mythical figure, where people thought that Washington was kind of larger than life,” Choi said. “Maybe this is the wrong way of putting it, but kind of like a supernatural Jesus type where he could escape death. I think that just kind of lends itself to his story and why people loved him so much and followed him so much.” Or, as Washington raps in “Right Hand Man,” “I’m the model of a modern major general/The venerated Virginian veteran whose men are all/Lining up to put me up on a pedestal.” One of the challenges of the role, Choi said, is portraying a mythic figure as a mortal man. “I think I try to bring the humanity to
Hamilton: An American Musical is based a biography by Ron Chernow. | Photo Joan Marcus / provided
it,” Choi said. “For me, I think the most important thing is maintaining the integrity of who he was, and it’s a challenge any way you look at it. Washington, at the end of the day, was a person, and I think that it’s important to show that he did struggle with the responsibility and the choices that he made and the failures in battle and how it took a toll on him.” While the musical is based on America’s past, Choi said the themes it explores and its unconventional multicultural recasting of the Founding Fathers and their contemporaries resonate in the present day. “It’s definitely a historical piece, but there are so many correlations with what’s happening in the country right now,” Choi said. “The design of the show, I think is very intentional, with immigrants telling the story and people of color playing these characters.” Or, as Hamilton raps in “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)”: “Finally on the field/We’ve had quite a run/ Immigrants, we get the job done.” Tickets are $106-$404. Visit okcbroadway.com.
Hamilton: An American Musical July 30-Aug. 18
Shoba Narayan as Eliza Schuyler Hamilton and Joseph Morales as Alexander Hamilton in Hamilton: An American Musical | Photo Joan Marcus / provided
Civic Center Music Hall’s Thelma Gaylord Performing Arts Theatre 201 N. Walker Ave. okcciviccenter.com | 405-594-8300 $106-$404
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