Since its Broadway debut in 2015 and streaming premiere in 2020 during the height of the pandemic, Hamilton has become a musical theatre favorite among audiences. Permeating in our popular culture through movies and TV, and as seen most passionately in CBS’s , the Lin-Manuel Miranda play has spawned a phenomenon with a new wave of interest in theatre. With the cast leaving behind roles that have since solidified their careers, Leslie Odom Jr. — best known for playing Aaron Burr — admits to PopCulture.com that he is not only grateful for his character but would be up for reprising him given the chance.
“There’s a great deal of that story that I still have yet to tell with the whole — the show kind of ends — Hamilton kind of ends really where Burr’s intermission is,” he told PopCulture. “I think the intermission for Burr is we go out right after that dual and Act Two would start on that rowboat, going back across the Hudson. So there was quite a bit of that story that I’ve yet to tell and if there was an interesting enough venue to tell that part of the story I’d be open to it, that’s for sure. I invested so much in the first act.”
Further adding how if there was “good enough writing and collaborators,” Odom admits he’d be “happy to” return in some way if provided the opportunity. The 40-year-old goes on to express his gratitude for the role, revealing he was one of the “first fans” of the show. “I really get why people feel about the material the way they do because I felt that first, it’s what made me, it’s what drew me to it. It’s what made me so desperate to be a part of it,” he said. “It’s just foundational and there’s something about, the thing that puts you on as an artist, the thing that feels in a way like it’s your introduction to the world, the way in which the world meets you, that it’s if you’re lucky enough, the way all of us were to be a part of something that people, really adore and feel so personally connected to. There’s gratitude in it every time. I’m just so happy to sing stuff. I’m so happy to have found my way to something so brilliant. I’m so grateful for that. I love singing the Hamilton stuff. I don’t mind it, I’m not sick of it. It’s a real treat.”
While fans eagerly await some sort of sequel to Hamilton, they can catch the Grammy and Tony Award-winning performer in Nashville where he will perform hits from the musical along with a plethora of other tracks, including classics from Louis Armstrong, Sam Cooke, Cab Calloway, and many more. Getting to perform these songs with the Nashville Symphony alongside a full orchestra is one that will be incredibly unique as it’s done in a “way that you people have not heard the music before because the orchestra” is going to be “bigger than the orchestra [they] had even on Broadway.”
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The dynamic entertainer goes on to share his excitement in performing some of the greatest songs ever sung at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville, Tennessee. “It’s a concert that first and foremost is designed to make sure people leave with a smile on their faces. But it’s a special thing because it would be cost-prohibitive for me to travel with an orchestra of my own,” he said of the three-night event. “We’ll do Hamilton stuff, stuff from the records at some Sam Cooke stuff, really everything and anything I’m known for, and some stuff that I hope to be known for someday.”
Tickets to Leslie Odom Jr. with the Nashville Symphony are now on sale — get them here. Be there for his first-ever appearance at Schermerhorn Symphony Center as he sings favorite songs, including Hamilton favorites, classics from Rent, “Sunny Side of the Street,” “Autumn Leaves,” “You Send Me,” “Minnie the Moocher” and many more. For the latest on Leslie Odom Jr. and all things Nashville, Hamilton, and music, keep it locked to PopCulture.com for more.
