Hamiltonâs RenĂŠe Elise Goldsberry is Living-and Making-Musical History (Resident):
PJ: The show is so relevant today, socially, and politically. Are there certain themes that resonate especially with you?
REG: There are things to come to mind, politically, but really itâs the universal truths that are most relevant now and always, that move me the most. Forgiveness, love, the choices that a woman has to makeâthese are always relevant and interesting.
Whether itâs battling over immigration laws, the lines drawn between personal and political lives, controversies, conflictsâall these things that existed then are relevant and poignant now.
PJ: Youâve had quite a few distinguished people in the audience; you performed in front of the Obamas, for instance. Are you thinking about that while performing?
REG: I typically donât want to know that a particular person is there, because I feel, in theory, Iâm more free if Iâm not wondering what theyâre thinking. I want to know at the end, when Iâm walking offstageâthen I can be like âyay,â or âoh well!â [laughs].
In this case, of course we had to know he was going to be there because we had to make sure it was safe for him to be there. It had been a dream of mineâthe idea of performing for a president, in particular that president. I remember when he first became president and went to see Joe Turnerâs Come and Gone, I thought, âOh my God, can you imagine what itâs like to be those actors?â I thought it was the biggest thing that could happen to any performer doing any show ever, so the fact that it happened to me is an example of what God can do in your life in terms of dreams coming true.
As a company we were so excited about telling him this story, that honor and responsibility trumped nerves and anxiety. Everything else was insignificant to showing this particular story to a sitting presidentâand this sitting president. We had the honor of performing it for Michelle Obama first, which was also a dream come true. She came backstage after and she was as lovely and gracious and beautiful as I hope Angelica Schuyler could beâthe perfect example of what this woman Iâm playing would aspire to be.
Weâve had Joe Biden, Dick Cheney, de Blasio, Bloomberg. Oh, and the Clintonsâthey were like our first royalty. Chelsea came and then came back a few weeks later with her parents. But whether youâre the leader of the free world or a high school kid from the Bronx, thereâs no difference in terms of how important we feel it is to share this story with you. Not only does it need to be told because of the things that Hamilton made that we inherited, the seeds he planted, but also we tell stories because it helps us lead better lives, and we need to hear about what other people suffered and overcame, how they failed, sacrificed, struggled, and won, and why we have this. We need to hear about how these young people fought for their legacy so we donât stay complacent. Thatâs the power of history, which the show is making sexy again. History isnât boring, itâs a soap opera; thereâs nobodyâs life that isnât dramatic, funny, tragicâitâs just how you tell the story.
another super in-depth interview â thereâs a lot more in this article!
snowghoul
stormborns
blakekathryn
2087
discoholicmusic
prguitarman
jacobvanloon
kaledo-art
romaincrisis
