Another 'Hamilton' Original Cast Member Leaves Broadway: Tony Winner Daveed Diggs
Fans of smash Broadway musical Hamilton are barely recovering from its three main stars leaving, as they took their last bow on the Richard Rodgers last weekend, but there is some more bad news ahead: Tony Award-winning Daveed Diggs, who originated the roles of the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson, is saying goodbye.
According to Broadway.com, Diggs will also be saying goodbye to the hottest show on Broadway this month, following the exit of creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, Aaron Burr actor Leslie Odom Jr. and Eliza Schuyler Hamilton actress Phillipa Soo. It would seem Diggs, much like his co-stars, will also leave once his one-year contract at the Rodgers is up.
Diggs will take his surprising last bow on the show on Friday the 15th, and he'll be replaced for now by his three understudies: Andrew Chappelle, Austin Smith and Seth Stewart. So far, no official replacement has been announced.
Diggs made his Broadway début on Hamilton, and he's turned into one of the most beloved actors from the musical, grabbing the most prestigious award in American theater for his first time on the medium. In the first act, the actor plays French revolutionary Lafayette, and goes from struggling with the English language to having the fastest rap in the history of Broadway, "Guns and Ships."
In Hamilton's second act, Diggs plays another Founding Father and the third President of the United States, Jefferson, Hamilton's biggest political enemy and the source of some of the most fun raps in the entire show, including the two "Cabinet Battles."
It'll be tough to replace Diggs on the stage, as, again, he's the person behind the fastest lyrics in Broadway history. The New York Post (an outlet coincidentally founded by Alexander Hamilton himself) puts forward five possible rappers who could take up Diggs' two roles: Chance the Rapper, Joey Bada$, A$AP Rocky, DJ Khaled and, of course, Kanye West.
Outside of Hamilton, Diggs has a pretty busy working life: he's the vocalist of Los Angeles-based hip hop group clipping., has his own web series based on the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, and is also a member of Lin-Manuel Miranda and Thomas Kail's freestyle rap group, Freestyle Love Supreme.
A few hours after Diggs' announcement, one of his Tony Award-winning co-stars from the show also revealed she will be departing Hamilton soon: Renée Elise Goldsberry, who originated the role of Angelica Schuyler Church.