Being an original cast member of Hamilton is the Broadway break of a lifetime. The cultural impact of the genre-busting hip-hop smash has given the originals cache and created a springboard to bigger platforms. That can’t mean more Broadway, seeing as Hamilton is the biggest, best thing on that popular but extraordinarily narrow block.
If you’re looking for writer-star Lin-Manuel Miranda and his original co-stars of the blockbuster that now has two U.S. touring companies, in addition to the companies on Broadway, in Chicago and even in London, you’ll find them mostly in movies and television (like Christopher Jackson, Hamilton’s George Washington, a fixture on the CBS legal drama Bull). Here’s a rundown of where they are now.
The Hamilton mastermind has dramatically expanded his activist role, most recently announcing from Puerto Rico in late July that he was spearheading a $15 million Flamboyan Arts Fund for the country still reeling from last year’s Hurricane Maria. He also is part of Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote initiative.
Does Miranda’s voice matter? Enough that in October, Random House will publish a book of his tweets (2.45 million followers on Twitter) called Gmorning, Gnight: Little Pep Talks for Me & You.
Creatively, Miranda’s Hollywood migration includes writing songs for the animated hit Moana, playing lamplighter Jack in Disney’s all-star Mary Poppins Returns (slated for movie theaters this December) and directing a film adaptation of Tick, Tick … Boom!, the semi-autobiographical musical from Rent composer Jonathan Larson. He’ll be in the cast of the BBC’s TV series His Dark Materials, based on Phillip Pullman’s novels and directed by Tom Hooper, and he’s an executive producer of a Bob Fosse TV series for FX with Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams as Broadway legends Fosse and Gwen Verdon – a project that involves Hamilton director Thomas Kail and choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler.
In January, Miranda will step back into the title role as a Hamilton production opens in San Juan, Puerto Rico. And a film version of In the Heights, Miranda’s 2008 Tony-winning musical, has been announced for 2020.
At the moment, Odom – who won the Tony as best actor in a musical for his portrayal of Aaron Burr – is probably most visible as the suave-looking, mellow-voiced crooner of the Nationwide insurance jingle in TV ads. On screen, look for him among the featured cast in One Dollar, a thriller that begins streaming Aug. 30 on CBS All Access, and this summer, he has been filming writer-director John Ridley’s sci-fi film Needle in a Timestack with Freida Pinto, Orlando Bloom and Cynthia Erivo.