Edred Utomi as Alexander Hamilton and Josh Tower as Aaron Burr. Photo by Joan Marcus.
"Legacy, what is a legacy? It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see," is Edred Utomi’s favorite lyric from Hamilton. He notes it serves as a reminder that we never know how we’re going to be remembered and to do the best we can to treat people with kindness, respect, and love.
As little kids with Hamilton lyric shirts look on mesmerized while he sings “My Shot,” Utomi is already creating a legacy, portraying Alexander Hamilton in the Angelica Tour. He recalls being a young kid in the audience watching actors who looked like him perform and feeling inspired.
“It’s important in ways that I’d always hoped I would be able to do work like this.I am here today because of a cast that I saw like ours. It’s never lost on me the honor that it is to be performing in this way,” he said.
Utomi is thankful to take part in telling a story which he hopes inspires the next generation of young actors of color.
Growing up, Lion King was the show he loved because he saw representation on stage. His love for performing started in high school after a teacher convinced his class to audition for the school play. However, the solidifying moment was when he saw the touring production of In the Heights after his freshman year of college in 2010.
Utomi saw Hamilton right after he booked the role. The main thing that stood out to him was that the musical was as good as people had said it was. He remembers at the time the hype was in full effect. He was familiar with the words, themes, and metaphors of the show having heard the cast recording multiple times.
“The Yorktown moment where all the spotlights hit everyone blew me away. I was really blown away by how the lighting really was like its own character in a sense. The way it was used was very beautiful and it really stood out to me. Rest in peace to Howell Binkley, the lighting director who created it,” he said.
Utomi auditioned five times over the course of two weeks singing three songs from each character. Eventually, auditioning for Alex Lacamoire, Tommy Kail and the recordings were sent to Lin Manuel Miranda. He rehearsed for three weeks in New York, flew out to join the tour, rehearsed for two weeks on tour and then debuted.
When he joined the company in 2018, he was an offstage standby covering Hamilton, Washington, and Burr. Later on, adding the track for Lafayette/Jefferson.
His craziest experience as a standby was shortly after he made his debut for Burr. Although he was given a heads up that he would be performing as Burr for the night show, Utomi was asked to step in for the matinee show during intermission and was ready to kick off Act 2.
Occasionally, choreographer Andy Blakenbuehler will visit and give informative notes.
It can be a lengthy process with the cast spending about three hours on just Act 1 because the material is so dense. He describes Blakenbueler as a genius similar to Hamilton creatives Tommy Kail, Alex Lacamoire, and Lin Manuel Miranda.
“Hearing Andy talk about every single move with such clarity and intention was amazing. Even though I don't do a lot of dancing, it really inspired me to dive deeper into my character. I’ll listen to him talk about dance moves I don't even do and I have to start reevaluating my approach to the material,” he said.
Hamilton: An American Musical is playing at the Broward Center until December 11. Photo by Joan Marcus.
A quality he admires of Alexander Hamilton is his ambition. Although it became Hamilton's downfall, he believes a healthy amount of ambition is a good thing. Since without it, we wouldn’t know about Hamilton.
“That idea that you’re willing to work for what you want and do whatever it takes to get that can be bad and good. I choose to look at it for most of the show as good,” Utomi said.
Many Hamilton fans have theories about Eliza’s reaction at the end of the show and what it means.
While it is ‘dealer's choice’ and everyone has their own interpretation of the moment, Utomi said the most commonly accepted idea is that she sees the audience for the first time. Eliza reaches the understanding that the story was told and made it out to thousands of people. Everyone else on the stage has already passed away and has already seen the truth of it all in Utomi’s take of the scene.
”I’m kind of leading her to that…then as she comes down she sees all these people who are moved by the story she was able to tell and that is overwhelming for her,” she said.
The Angelica tour cast is very close knit and as a result a lot of backstage shenanigans and pre-show rituals ensue.
For instance, Edred and Stephanie Umoh who portrays Angelica Schuyler find different places to scare each other backstage. With Carvens Lissaint who plays George Washington, they like to circle up and say a prayer before the show. There's also a pre-show ritual If a new person joins the cast or a swing performs a new role.
Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard is a quote Utomi lives by. Having started musical theater after college, he committed to the work and learning the craft. He was eager to learn and remembers watching YouTube videos of masterclasses before he slept and after waking up.
He advises students pursuing a career in the arts to be relentless like Hamilton. He also cites a Steve Martin quote: “be so good that they can’t deny you.”
“When Lin first did the opening number for Obama in 2008, everybody laughed like this could never be a musical. Now it’s one of the biggest musicals of all time. It’s because he worked very hard on it. He was like I’m going to make the musical so good that they can’t deny it” he said.
Lana Zoe Jensen as Eliza Schuyler, Edred Utomi as Alexander Hamilton, Stephanie Umoh as Angelica Schuyler. Photo by Joan Marcus.
Portraying Alexander Hamilton is a huge undertaking and discipline is a big factor for Utomi. In order to do the entirety of the role, he is mindful of his daily routine including vocal rest, stretching, and fitness.
“It is a monster of a role and it's everything. It’s the fast rapping, the high intensity, but it’s also the emotionality and sobbing on stage. It's every part of the human experience, so it’s really important to pace yourself for the role and tour as a whole,” he said.
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