Speaking of that passage of time, do you see the character of Burr differently at all now, at 44, than you did at 34?
Well, I’m looking at a Hamilton that’s quite a bit younger than I. And there’s this thing, as a performer, that becomes a practice: invent nothing, deny nothing. If I feel something, I’m supposed to not deny that. So I had this experience yesterday when I was watching this kid. I was just thinking that this is how Burr, my Burr, remembers his Hamilton. This whole evening is a conjuring of his, and so he conjures the kid that he met. So, it works. It works for me. We’ll see how it feels for the audience. And then I also have the memories rushing back of all my compatriots, all the people that I did the show with—they’re still there. There’s a lot of ghosts on that stage, which is fabulous. If you’re playing Burr, the haunting of his soul, I think, is really rich for an audience to watch.
You’ve also changed, I assume, in the last decade. What are you bringing to Burr now that’s different?
Ten years ago, I was still grappling with hoping that I was enough. I just remember none of us had any real evidence that we were good enough, that we were acceptable. The business certainly hadn’t shown me that, and I hadn’t really been embraced by any kind of audience, not really. And so there was still an awful lot that I wondered about, just about my own value and worthiness. Thank goodness those questions are behind me. I think I owe a great debt to this show because it helped me answer those questions. It’s not professional achievement or hardware that helps you answer those questions. It was those 500 performances. I was good enough for me.
What about the rigorousness of this show and being back on Broadway? How are you approaching that this time around?
I’m going to be good to myself this time. A mentor told me, I think it was really good advice, she said, “Do not forget that it’s not the same body that it was 10 years ago.” While I don’t quite feel that yet, I’m going to act on that wisdom. I’m just making sure that I take a lot better care of myself with my warm-ups and all that self-care stuff—hot baths and massages. The first time, I didn’t give any care to that at all. What body?
#Hamilton #Star #Leslie #Odom #Returning #Room #Broadway
