The Hamilton Cast Answers Hamilton Questions From Twitter

I remember walking in that rehearsal room

for the first time never having

rehearsed a musical ever in my life,

and there's Lack sitting at piano

and you and Anika Noni Rose are in the room

just warming up, and I was like, I'm [beep],

I'm actually [beep], I don't know

what the hell I'm doing here. [laughing]

My name is Lin-Manuel Miranda.

My name is Thomas Kail.

I'm Daveed Diggs.

Christopher Jackson.

I'm Renee Elise Goldsbury.

I'm Leslie Odom Jr.

I'm Jasmine Cephas Jones.

My name is Oke.

I'm Anthony Ramos.

I'm Philippa.

And this is-

[All] Hamilton Support.

[energetic music]

From @marie_rebeccaaa.

What are some of your favorite backstage moments

from 'Hamilton' and why?

Man, it's a lot.

My favorite backstage moments are always sort of

moments of connection that the audience doesn't see.

The wig moment was my fave, the wig moment is hands down

one of the best moments of my life.

Anthony had to wear a wig 'cause he had cut his hair,

and he had this wonderfully hilarious wig that-

It was Renee's wig from Off-Broadway.

I wasn't trying to do him dirty like that, Anthony,

but yes, it was Renee's wig.

They cut Renee's wig from Off-Broadway

and just fluffed it up and they were like

Yo, put that on your head until you you leave the stage.

And no one knew, I didn't see it until I got onstage,

and then I was like, What's happening?

And we just laughed hysterically and had so much fun.

Our stage manager came out of the shadows,

and I'm talking like, whoosh!

She's like, Get it together.

[laughing]

One of my favorite moments is with you, Leslie,

at one time, we would start gadding.

We would, you would!

You would.

Well, it started with me.

I would just have these like, improv scatting sessions.

Oh, it got me through,

those were beautiful and rough months

at the public theater, yo.

We were making no money.

You know, things start to grow.

One of my favorite moments backstage always

was in The Room Where It Happens,

there was a moment where Daveed and I

were both offstage stage left,

and we would freestyle together just until

the moment where he had to emerge as Jefferson,

and we would always just fit in

at least two or four bars,

and it was our little moment of connection,

at a moment when our characters are

as adversarial as they can be.

I kinda walked around mad all the time,

'cause George Washington was kinda mad all the time.

Because Chris was in angry mode all the time,

here's Chris, and Anthony Ramos. [laughing]

Just going at it, just like, backstage,

like, going at it, just like screaming matches.

If I never hear Anthony Ramos, I know he's thinking,

Chris, would you just stop talking?

I'm over here talking to Daveed,

I don't, I didn't ask you for your opinion, man.

I didn't ask you for your opinion.

I didn't ask you. [laughing]

Just around and around and around and around.

@ali_luv_39.

What was the most surprising thing

when you read 'Hamilton' script for the first time?

#AskLeslieSu.

First thing I did was I saw the very first meeting

of The Hamilton Mixtape in Poughkeepsie, New York.

I saw the very first meeting in a 99-seat black box theater.

I saw the most, the boldest, freshest,

most literate, exciting piece of theater

I had ever been given the gift of seeing that early.

I tell you the song that I left,

that left the biggest impression on me,

was not a song you might expect.

It was The Story of Tonight.

As a fan of the theater, as a casual fan of the theater,

of the genre of this form,

I had never in my life, you see,

seen four men of color on a stage singing together

about friendship and brotherhood in my life.

And so to me, that was the revolution,

the image of that packed such power

that I committed in that moment to like,

being the first Hamil fan that there was.

I was like, I was gonna bring everybody in my life

to see this thing, because it was worthy.

This is a question from Sam Middleton via Twitter,

and he is @ImSmammy.

@ Lin_Manuel If you had finished writing #Hamilton

after viewing the events that have unfolded

in the US in 2020 so far,

would you have written it any differently?

Any guess at how it may differ?

That's a fantastic question.

One of the sort of great surprises of Hamilton

is that it doesn't change.

We haven't changed the text of this show since 2015,

and yet it feels like it changes because

the world around it changes so fast.

Things that popped out when Obama was president

may not be the things that get a reaction

when Trump is president.

Immigrants, we get the job done

certainly gets a different reaction.

If there's anything political about the show Hamilton,

its thesis is everything good or bad

that was present at the founding,

at the roots of the birth of this country,

are still present.

The fights we had then are the fights we are having now.

Conversations we're having about systemic racism

and abuse and police brutality, and about revolution,

those are all still present.

I'm gratified and humbled when I see lyrics

from the show at Black Lives Matter protests,

but because we are dealing with the origins of this country

and how it's based on ideals that we fell short of

the moment we wrote them down,

I'm well aware that every single one of these characters,

even though they sing songs you love,

are complicit in the original sin of slavery,

whose legacies are still being felt to this day.

The lyrics about that in the show I think hit differently

in this conversation than they may have in 2017,

or 2016, or 2015.

I think one of the biggest themes of the show is,

you don't get to control how you're remembered.

You don't get to control

how you're remembered or who survives you,

and the show doesn't escape that fate either.

And so different things within it will rise or fall

based on where we are.

@RealTboneGaming asks,

I have a question about 'Hamilton'.

When you're Lafayette singing in the ensemble

did you sing with a French accent?

[laughing]

The answer is yes, to the degree that I did anything

actually with a French accent.

My best approximation, yes.

You know, the real reason is because

anything I can do to act through singing

is gonna be helpful for me,

because I am so uncomfortable singing.

Alex Lacamoire gave me a note one time that was

to stop worrying about the singing

and just act with the right pitch.

As soon as he said that,

I did everything from there on out with the French accent.

This is a question via Twitter from Kristen Queen.

Saw @HamiltonMusical in Chicago and can't help but wonder

what happened to Peggy Schuyler?

Surely @Lin_Manuel, oh, are you on Twitter?

Is planning a sequel, 'Hamilton 2: Peggy's Revenge.'

#youknowyouwonderedthesamething

#whathappenedtopeggy #Hamilton.

Lin, you're all over this thing.

I'm not planning a sequel to Hamilton.

I don't know on Earth how I could follow that up.

It's good that you wonder what happened to Peggy.

She doesn't continue in our story into the second act

because sadly, Peggy didn't live that long.

The broad outline of Peggy's story is

she married a very rich young man and died pretty young.

And as you can tell with Hamilton,

we have so little time to tell a lot of story.

And so if you don't survive the act,

you're not getting to go to the second act.

We're keenly aware that we only have

a limited amount of time with you in our theater,

and so things that happen are things like

you don't find out where Peggy ended up.

But it's just a Google click away.

@TarynStickrath.

Man.

Sometimes I think about

the OG cast members of 'Hamilton', like-

How did they even get involved?

Talk about a cultural reset!

How did we get involved?

From all different angles, I think.

It's a long and winding path to how

we find ourselves in these positions.

I think Lin and Tommy came to see me

in Natasha, Pierre, which was my first gig

out of drama school, and I did a reading of Act II

that Tommy asked me to be a part of.

And I met Daveed then, I met Leslie then.

I auditioned as well, and I do a lot,

I audition a lot and I don't get

most of the jobs I audition for.

To this day.

You get what you're supposed to have.

So I hope people realize that and remember,

you know, you keep showing up,

and know that if you're, you know,

if you stay prayerful, that which is yours

will be called to you.

Can I get a amen?

Amen.

I was one of the last people to get cast.

I didn't do the workshop.

I did theater before,

I was very involved with the theater world,

but not the musical theater world.

So it was a very, like, new process to enter

and I was kind of one of the new kids at school.

So I was like, extremely nervous our first day of rehearsal.

My involvement in Hamilton came through

my involvement with Freestyle Love Supreme.

Freestyle Love Supreme is a hip-hop

improv comedy theatrical experience.

We are kind of like a jazz band,

using jazz and hip-hop and R&B and just

whatever form comes to mind.

And I am only in Freestyle Love Supreme because,

due to a clerical error, I was substitute teaching

the same class with Anthony Veneziale, our friend Anthony,

who was one of the founders of Freestyle Love Supreme.

So we met teaching kids, substitute teaching kids,

which is just making sure kids don't die while you're there.

Yeah, which is a scary prospect

that you and Anthony were substitute teachers.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

The two of us were like-

That's a whole other question.

And we were doing a show in New Orleans

when I found out about the existence of Hamilton.

We were doing a freestyle show, and Tommy was like,

Hey, Lin is writing this rap musical

about Alexander Hamilton.

I was like, That's a terrible idea.

And he said, Do you wanna do it?

And I said, Are you gonna pay me?

And he said Yeah, and I said Yeah.

Yeah. [laughing]

As far as cultural resets is concerned, time will tell us.

@advodude.

How many other Hamiltons have you seen perform?

And do they intentionally cast them to sound like you?

Saw it in Denver and if I closed my eyes,

I would've thought it was you on stage.

Tommy, do you wanna speak to your ethos

when it comes to casting subsequent Hamiltons

and other cast members?

We cast Hamilton looking for essential qualities,

not as any sort of replication process.

Lin played Hamilton the way that he played Hamilton,

just like Michael Luwoye played Hamilton

the way that he did, or Miguel Cervantes, or Jamael Westman.

Joseph Morales, and on and on and on.

So the idea is to try to make sure that

each cast member in every role is able

to bring all that they are,

and find out where that intersects with the character,

but that's the only thing that guides us.

This question is from @mingarla.

What was the most difficult part of-

The rehearsal process for 'Hamilton'?

All of it?

[laughing]

Learning Helpless and Satisfied.

Right about to say that.

On the turntable, on a moving floor.

There's a big part of the show where the floor moves,

and it's in a circle.

We learned Helpless, and then they said,

Oh, can you do what you just did in that last song,

but backwards, in this next one?

And we were like, Excuse me?

And like, my brain hurt.

When I tell you that my brain hurt for weeks.

It messed us up on twofold,

'cause the first time we did it,

we didn't have a turntable.

Remember that, and then we got to the theater,

and then got the turntable.

Right.

So we figured it out without the spinning thing,

and then we get to the spinning thing, and it's like,

Why are you doing this to us?

[laughing]

After that first day on the turntable,

I literally felt like I had been on a treadmill

for like 24 hours, and every time I took a step,

I just felt like I was moving.

I used to be so emotional

through the number of Satisfied,

it was always really hard for me to sing the end.

I was trying to figure out how I could kind of

ride the waves of the emotion, and I think just in general,

like, I was just kind of so flabbergasted,

I was just kind of so dumbfounded by

so many of the moments that were happening,

it was always hard to come in afterwards and follow them.

Especially if you had to sing after somebody died.

I really wanna do that number again now,

like, I want us all to go together right now,

no prep, no rehearsal, no refreshing.

You're gonna be by yourself on that one, brother.

[laughing]

That's a solo.

That's a solo for you, Oke.

I'll be like this with my popcorn.

It's the most frightened I've ever been in the theater.

For me, I was sort of like the last principle to join,

so when we started rehearsals,

I felt like I didn't have a clue as to what was happening.

When we were Off-Broadway, I had literal blocking sheets

posted at every entrance and exits,

and then like, three downstairs,

so every time I would come offstage

I would frantically look at a list, like,

every time I moved through the theater,

through the pass-through underneath,

to make sure that I was going

to the right side of the theater.

I had to constantly ask folks like Daveed.

Daveed, am I in the right spot?

'Cause I really don't know.

Right, man, I'm definitely the right person

to ask that question.

No, he was really not, but I asked anyways.

Desperation makes you do a lot of crazy things.

Our next question is from Sarah Lichtblau,

hashtag at exactly the same name.

Good for you for using your own name.

Hamilton question that I need the answer to,

all caps for need.

What does Eliza's gasp at the end of the musical mean?

Please answer!

I wish I could give you a simple answer,

but that would be like telling you where Godot has been

the whole time they're waiting for Godot.

I think it's different for each Eliza.

I've had different conversations.

It's heart-stopping, isn't it?

And I do think that it traverses time in some way.

Whether that thing she's seeing is Hamilton,

whether that thing she's seeing is heaven,

whether that thing she's seeing is the world now.

I think those are all valid and all fair.

I do think she is seeing

across a span of time in that moment.

Tommy, what do you think? You staged it.

Again, that conversation,

which is distinct with each Eliza,

as I'm not answering the question because I'm not going to

because I feel like that is actually

between Eliza and Eliza.

It just was something that came out of a very natural,

organic process in rehearsal, and in performance,

and Lin was one of our greatest advocates

for that moment existing.

And it's a testament to Lin and the generosity of spirit

that that's not written in the script.

The show ends with both the final lyric that he has written

and the final notes, and yet he had the understanding

that there maybe was another moment

that could extend beyond that.

It's something that a lot of folks talk about,

and I'm happy that there's a dot dot dot

at the end of our show, as opposed to

some sort of definitive statement.

#notananswer.

From @katcheshire.

I think that's how that's pronounced, or Cheshire,

or, anyway, you know who you are.

How does the 'Hamilton' cast perform that show

every night without crying because I cried like five times

just watching today I'm just curious please let me know.

We do cry.

I cried almost every night.

I cried during Quiet Uptown pretty much every night.

I remember the first time I heard Quiet Uptown,

I was like, a mess.

And then like, we kept being a mess.

And then after a while, I don't mean to ruin anything,

but then it's work, you know?

We go to work, we do the show, we enjoy it.

The play moves!

There's no time for pauses or, really, the thing moves.

You have to move with it, you have to keep up with it.

When you do a show as a theater actor

over a long period of time,

it's beautiful to see how the show changes,

the things you hear, the things that move you,

the things that motivate you.

I literally some nights would say Please, God,

let there be a tear!

Let there be something in there tonight!

[laughing]

Because you know, everybody's like,

♪ Never gonna be president now ♪

Having a good time, running around, like,

My shot, woo woo woo!

And I'm like.

[humming]

Like just so sad.

[sighing] Poor Eliza.

@bfaythe, because, oh, Bethany!

After seeing the show, my biggest question is-

How does the 'Hamilton' cast have time

to snap/tweet/make videos during the show?

#superpowers

All caps.

All caps.

All caps.

I don't mean to spoil the Broadway experience,

but if you ever wonder what people are doing backstage,

they are texting their friends back,

they are making business calls between scenes.

They're figuring out what they're gonna get for dinner.

If the show's about to end and they know

that the order is gonna take about 36 to 45 minutes

to get to their home, and they will be home in 30,

they know that at this particular song,

I'm gonna make my dinner order.

Some people are even doing it onstage.

Some people. [laughing]

I know some people, Oke,

who had no problem having their phones onstage.

Oh, snap.

You won't even know it,

but they're going through their grocery list

while they're like, straight up like.

All that stuff, it's like, dinner.

I wasn't even on social media before I started the show.

I think Philippa Soo put me on Instagram,

and Lin grabbed my phone one day and put me on Twitter.

Fortunately with Hamilton, you know,

the leader, Lin, he really, I just used to joke

he texts the world, that's what he does with Twitter.

He texts the world.

He's in a constant conversation with the world,

and so he really, he's a very interesting genius

in that he's extroverted in that way,

he feeds off of that energy, and so we were really

encouraged in a unique way to,

and we needed to, 'cause we were desperately trying

to find a way to give people access to the show.

So the way that we made it not exclusive,

because we hated the exclusivity of it,

was to use social media to share as much of the show

as we possibly could with as many people as possible.

#falsefakefaux says,

Does 'Say No To This' from 'Hamilton'

belong on a sexy playlist?

Debate.

Yes, yes!

What's the debate?

I mean, yes.

Yeah, deny that like, bass that comes in,

and the way that Lin wrote it,

it's like a slowed down kinda like R&B jam.

Controversial.

I loved singing that song, because it was such a jam.

It was such a jam.

So yeah! Why not?

@chrisgeidner.

OK, serious #Hamilton question. Ooh!

Can 'Dear Theodosia' be just an incredibly loving,

sweet song, or do we have to think about their fates?

I never think about their fates in that moment.

I'm always thinking about their motivation.

And now when I watch the movie,

I'm thinking about the fact that these two young men

have each had a daughter and another son.

There is no better answer than that.

I will say that watching the movie gave me probably

one of the most special memories to me of that time

that I hadn't thought about in a long time,

'cause I had never seen it.

I remember the 52nd Street Project,

that was one of the early workshops

that we did of the show and we were just

putting the whole thing up for the first time.

There was no lights or anything like that,

so in Dear Theodosia now, the way it's staged,

the light goes down on Burr and the light comes up

on Hamilton when it's his section.

And you know, at 52nd Street,

I had to figure out what am I going to do,

literally, 'cause I'm here on stage,

and so what am I gonna do while Lin sings?

We're not in the same space.

And I bowed my head one day,

and I was like, Oh, he can pray.

Burr can pray for his daughter.

And I didn't have any kids yet,

but I was able to find the connection with it,

because I said I believe my daughter

can hear me somewhere,

which, she's not here yet, she's not here yet,

but I'm singing to her still.

And so I said, by the end of that show,

I had said over 500 prayers for my little girl

before she ever got here.

And you see that in this movie,

I had never seen it before.

I bow my head and I say a prayer for my little girl.

Thank you for joining us for Tech Support.

Thank you for your incredible questions.

Thank you guys so much for always supporting us

since day one.

Keeping us honest, keeping us inspired,

always showing your love for the show

and being a part of this family.

Thank you for introducing me to Twitter.

Didn't know I could tweet.

Thank you guys for sending your questions.

I can't wait for you to see this movie.

I just got a chance to see it.

Hamilton, July 3rd.

It's on Disney+.

It's streaming in your living room,

however you wanna watch it.

Hopefully you feel even more inside of this family

than you already do.

I'm really excited to hear from people on places

such as Twitter their experience watching the film.

Make art.

Let's use this to fuel us.

Make sure that they're registered to vote

and their friends are registered to vote,

and that they, if they are of age,

to participate in the upcoming elections,

because it's very important not only for the world at large

but also for yourself.

In our current climate today,

after we've all watched George Floyd murdered

for eight minutes and 46 seconds,

I think it's very, very important for people

who are seeing that, especially young,

all the younger folks who are watching it,

the importance of utilizing your voice

in the way that Pippa said.

Registering to vote.

Hamilton's platform was he wasn't just yelling it

in the streets, he then went home and like, drafted.

He drafted how he thought the country should change.

He not only pointed out what was wrong with it,

but he went home and he said

This is what I think is wrong with it,

this is how I think we can change it,

and then he went out and shouted it for everyone to hear.

And I think that is a message that every human being,

regardless of your race, needs to do right now.

That's what's up.

Same.

Love you all.

Thanks for being with us on this journey.

Black lives matter.