Just days after Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator and star of the Broadway megahit "Hamilton," took his final bow, Chicago has learned who will star as the new Alexander Hamilton when the production makes its debut in the Windy City in September.
Hamilton will be played by Miguel Cervantes, Angelica Schuyler will be played by Karen Olivo and (former) King George III will be played by Alexander Gemignani, according to Broadway in Chicago.
Cervantes has been a part of casts in the Broadway shows “If/Then,” “American Idiot,” and “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”
Olivo, a Tony Award-winning actress, appeared in “West Side Story” and “In the Heights.” Prior to her role in “Hamilton,” Olivo taught musical theater performance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her most recent Broadway performance was in 2014.
The son of famed Broadway musical director Paul Gemignani, Gemignani has performed in iconic shows such as "Les Miserables," "Sweeney Todd" and more.
Other “Hamilton” cast members reportedly include:
- Ari Afsar (Eliza Hamilton)
- Chris Lee (Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson)
- Joseph Morales (Alexander Hamilton alternate)
- Jose Ramos (John Laurens/Phillip Hamilton)
- Wallace Smith (Hercules Mulligan/James Madison)
- Samantha Marie Ware (Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds)
The roles of Aaron Burr and the ensemble cast have not yet been announced.
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Miranda performed his last show Saturday alongside two other departing stars in the show that has become a cultural phenomenon. The performance was also the last for Leslie Odom Jr., who won a Tony Award as Aaron Burr, and Phillipa Soo, a Tony nominee who portrayed Eliza Schuyler. The three — plus an ensemble member — took their bows together but none said anything.
"Hamilton," which won 11 Tony Awards last month, has been praised by politicians and rap stars, influenced the debate over the nation's currency and burst through the Broadway bubble like none other.
This year, it has won the Pulitzer Prize for drama, a Grammy, the Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History and Miranda earned a MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant.
The Chicago production of "Hamilton" opens this fall and a touring production begins a 21-week run in San Francisco in 2017 before moving to Los Angeles. A London production is slated for 2017.
