When Hamilton: An American Musical It first opened on Broadway in 2015, became an instant phenomenon, and was greeted with critical acclaim. Five years later, the exaggeration by Hamilton has continued and a stage performance filmed with the original Broadway cast is available to stream on Disney +. On July 3, the day the film was released on the streaming platform, Showbiz Cheat Sheet met with actor Sydney James Harcourt to discuss her time as an original cast member on the Make History show.
How Sydney James Harcourt joined the cast
Hamilton It tells the story of the Founding Fathers of the United States, and Alexander Hamilton is the main protagonist and main character. Non-white actors are chosen as the Founding Fathers and other important historical figures. In doing so, the musical is a story “about America then, told by America now.”
Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the musical started a workshop with director Thomas Kail and musical director Alex Lacamoire. Harcourt was asked to audition for the workshop, and at his second audition he had the opportunity to sing the show “History Has His Eyes on You” right after Miranda finished writing it.
“I sang ‘History has its eyes on you.’ Lin had just finished writing it. And she came in with the sheet music and said, ‘I’ve never heard this before. I’m looking forward to it, ‘”Harcourt told the Showbiz Cheat Sheet in a video call.
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The actor was soon included in the set and as James Reynolds, Phillip Schuyler and the Doctor. After the workshop, he went on to originate the roles in the off-Broadway and Broadway productions of Hamilton.
He studied for the main characters in ‘Hamilton’
Throughout his career on the show, the actor also underestimated for almost every male lead role, especially Aaron Burr. While Hamilton is the main character, Burr is the narrator of the entire show. Written as a sympathetic villain, Burr tries to explain the choices he made to the audience as a way to absolve himself while also telling Hamilton’s story.
“Burr had lived his entire life and died and is now back as this narrator to present his case in this murder trial for this audience, who are the jury here,” said Harcourt. “And in my opinion, it is his kind of sisifan penance that he has to go out every night and has to try to find where it went wrong. You have to try to explain to the public how all this happened. ”
The first time Burr played on Broadway, Harcourt only found out an hour and a half before the performance.
“You always know as a substitute that he’s coming and you just hope to be as prepared as possible … I did the show and I had a stage manager on the right wing of the stage and a stage manager on the left wing of the stage with computers,” he said. said. “He would come out of a scene very calmly, run to the side and say: ‘What is my next entry? And which one do I come from?
Despite the short notice, his first Broadway performance as Burr “went smoothly.”
Sydney James Harcourt brought LGBTQ representation to ‘Hamilton’
As one of the only members of the openly gay original cast, Harcourt found a way to include even more representation when Hamilton Choreographer Andy Blakenbuehler allowed her to improvise at certain points throughout the show.
“The way I got closer to finding inclusion and visibility for LGBTQ actors and audience members was in my joint ability to make all those little characters that you believe in all the uptown citizen, the soldiers, the revolutionaries Harcourt said. “You can make them gay. There were gay people in the Revolutionary War, whether we knew they were out or documented or not. ”
After a show, an usher at the Richard Rodgers Theater thanked Harcourt for his performance, showing how powerful his acting choices were. If you pay close attention to the filmed version of HamiltonOne can see Harcourt in vogue during “Guns and Ships” and “go off” in “The Reynolds Pamphlet”.
“You wonder if you can be seen as a member of the ensemble, if the choices you are making make a difference,” he said. “And if even a person can see that and then see themselves and feel that they have a connection now to this show where they previously could have felt that it was this macho version of revolutionary America, then that has paid off.”
The impact of ‘Hamilton’
Hamilton Not only does it have a diverse cast, but it also alludes to timely topics such as oppression, racial tension and immigration. With Hamilton Now more accessible, Harcourt expects viewers to take the musical’s idealistic attitude seriously in trying to create positive change.
“I know there are many divisions in this country,” said Harcourt. “But there is a feeling that the show has always given me that we as Americans are one … And I want them to realize that that’s real and that we have that power.” If you love Hamilton… I expect as many people as clock Hamilton go and vote and feel, ‘Oh, I can make a difference in this process with my vote.’ “
One of the most important topics in Hamilton It is the concept of time and that tomorrow is not promised. In the future, Harcourt hopes this motif will encourage viewers of the musical to use their voices to combat systematic racism.
“You have to use your time wisely in this life. It is finite, the time we have, although it seems that we have infinite time. So use your voice, “said Harcourt. “I think every voice makes a difference. And if this movement has taught us anything, it is that. “
