'Hamilton' Original Cast: Who Leaves Broadway Smash with Lin-Manuel Miranda?
Fresh off winning 11 Tony Awards days back, some of the members of the original cast of Hamilton are already making plans to manage their rising careers after the Broadway smash. After the announcement that creator Lin-Manuel Miranda would be leaving the role of Alexander Hamilton, a few other actors are leaving the show -- but who?
Not long after Miranda confirmed he'd take his last bow as the $10 Founding Father when his one-year contract ends on July 9, the first person to announce her departure was his onstage wife. According to The New York Daily News, Phillipa Soo, who was recently nominated for a Tony Award for her performance as Eliza Schuyler-Hamilton in the musical, is leaving 19th century Manhattan for early 21st century Paris: she's playing the title role in the Broadway musical adaptation of Amélie.
Right after the Tony Award escaped her in favor of Cynthia Erivo's performance as Celie in The Color Purple, Soo is giving a beloved work another try. It's not the only project she has on the horizon: she's also voicing an unnamed role in this year's Disney animated film Moana, which Hamilton creator and co-star Miranda wrote songs for. Hopefully, he wrote at least one tune for her -- all the better if it's anything like "Helpless" or "The Schuyler Sisters."
Soo isn't the only one stepping down from the period clothes, however. Leslie Odom Jr., who recently beat out Miranda in the Best Leading Actor in a Musical category at the Tonys for his performance as third U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr, is also leaving Hamilton in the early days of July.
While no immediate future projects have been announced on his part, Odom Jr. did recently relaunch his first album, and he's had a recurrent role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit for a couple of years.
"I am indeed leaving on July 9. It has just been the most completely wonderful, totally healing and inspiring experience from beginning to end," Odom said on Facebook Live when announcing his departure from Hamilton.
That means about half the main original cast is stepping down once their year on Broadway has ended. So far, it remains unclear whether Tony winners Daveed Diggs (who plays the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in the musical) and Renée Elise Goldsberry (who plays Angelica Schuyler) will extend their roles.
Right now, the players in Hamilton already sound different than they do on the cast recording. Since the show's off-Broadway début last year, King George III has been played by three different actors: Brian d'Arcy James, Jonathan Groff (who was nominated for a Tony), Andrew Rannells and currently Rory O'Malley.