At their Manila stop, The Hamilton International Tour cast shares the lines that they connect with and what these lyrics mean to them beyond their roles
Outside their stage costumes and character personas, the main cast of the Hamilton International Tour still brings the play’s politics into their personal lives. The Pulitzer Prize, Grammy, Olivier, and Tony-awarded production has made history for a number of reasons, with social reality at the core of the story, multigenre sound, and outstanding performances. The main ensemble, composed of Jason Arrow, DeAundre’ Woods, Akina Edmonds, Darnell Abraham, and Rachelle Ann Go, take the revolutionary matter of theater into their own hands by going beyond their favorite lines and sharing their personal meanings to them.
RELATED: More Than a Musical, Hamilton is a Tale of Diversity, Purpose, and History
On seeing spaces and shaping them
For a number of Filipinos, the country’s leg of the tour is a dream come true. With this, Akina and Jason shed light on theater as an avenue to influence reality, and vice-versa. In the production’s grand media conference, the actress who plays Angelica Schuyler started the conversation with, “The world was wide enough for both Hamilton and me.” The actress elaborated on her chosen line, emphasizing how different voices matter. “We see all humans striving for success and thinking that [it] is only for a few. But the world is big enough for all of us, and we all have something to say, we all have something to share. Some of us are still working on what that is, but the world is wide enough for us.”
Meanwhile, the actor taking on the lead role as Alexander Hamilton expounded on what we can leave in these said spaces. “For me, it would be ‘Legacy, what is a legacy?’ It is a good attempt to answer what it actually is. What you give [for] the future and what you leave behind when we leave the world. You can get lost in that for a while, and I have gotten lost [in that] for a while, and I’ll probably get lost in that for a while. That was just so profound for me.”
On honoring humane emotions
When talking about history, there lies a tendency to see actual realities as mere timeline points and actual human beings as memorized textbook facts. Our very own Rachelle Ann Go, who reprises her West End role as Eliza Schuyler, emphasizes on the human emotion of forgiveness [in “It’s Quiet Uptown”]. She said, “[That part] is such a big thing. I want to preach that to everyone, also to myself. Everytime we hit that scene, it just gets me.”
On the other hand, Deaundre’, playing Aaron Burr, added more on Go’s answers. “We fall in love with all these characters because they’re flawed. I think a lot of the times we watch them do good things for the world, but sometimes that is messy.”
Mentioning “Love does not discriminate” as another line that struck him as an actor, he explained his choice. “I just visited Intramuros, the St. Augustine Chapel, and it’s all about love. It just makes sense. I think in all of the complexity of what it is in becoming a human being, if you just stick to love, you’re going to be alright.”
On humanizing history
Darnell concluded the responses with a line close to him and the play’s core:
“History has its eyes on you.”
“I love the line because it reminds us that we are all actively participating in history. There is beauty, there’s an irony in me being a Black American, a descendant of enslaved African-Americans playing George Washington, who enslaved African-Americans.
“This line has always hit very deep and very hard for me because I’d like to think of my ancestors witnessing their offspring, if you would, playing such an active part in the history, in telling the story in the show that’s making history, and continuously making history in Asia, by premiering here in Manila. There were [a lot of] moments where it’s hard for people’s words [to come] out because we’re so moved, so that’s mine.”
The Hamilton International Tour will run until November. Get your tickets here.
Photography KIERAN PUNAY
