Playing immigrant founding father Alexander Hamilton, the nation’s first Treasury secretary, in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop musical phenomenon can be challenge enough.
“First of all, ‘Hamilton’ has the most words of any musical ever. And the character himself says the most words ever said on the American stage,” according to Blaine Krauss, who will be playing the role when Hamilton arrives at the Kravis Center on April 10 for a three-week run.
But when Krauss first joined the tour five years ago, he understudied Hamilton, his nemesis Aaron Burr and King George III of England.
“Getting ready for that audition, where I had to learn five songs for each character, I thought my head was going to explode,” says the veteran Broadway performer (The Lion King, Kinky Boots, The Cher Show), who grew up in the Tampa area.
Assuming the role that Miranda originated can be intimidating, but Krauss emphasizes that he was encouraged to make the character his own.
“I think that’s what makes ‘Hamilton’ a unique piece of theater. And I also think that’s what makes ‘Hamilton’ so beloved by audiences,” says Krauss. “Unlike the other large, long-running musicals, ‘Hamilton’ really sees itself as a living, breathing show. There are very, very minute differences between the productions, in the blocking, in the choreo and the staging that allow each production to have its own identity.
“It prevents the show from falling into the trap of it becoming this repetitive thing that delivers the same thing, every time, everywhere. And then on top of that, ‘Hamilton’ really encourages us to bring our own version of Ham.”
Initially, he thought he would be a better fit for Burr than Hamilton.
“One of the reasons I didn’t think I was quite a Hamilton, when I first saw the production, I thought he was so raw, so rough around the edges,” Krauss notes. “I took the term ‘young, scrappy and hungry’ as being kind of an identity thing, having to do with him being this little guy, and I’m 6-1.
“But there’ so much in ‘Hamilton’ that I identify with, that I wasn’t understanding quite yet when I first saw the show. Now, that’s how I approach him – very political, very brainy guy who has a lot to say and is sometimes speaking faster than he can talk.”
Krauss first saw the show in 2015, soon after it moved to Broadway from The Public Theatre. Tickets were going for as much as $1,000 then, and hard to come by, but he scored an unexpensive seat in the
front row through Hamilton ’s daily lottery.
“I remember two things,” he says of the experience. “I remember being blown away and utterly confused by what was happening because it goes by so fast. The lights, the music, the dancing, the storytelling is so layered. And then I also remember sobbing like a baby in the second act, and I don’t remember why. I just remember being crazily, emotionally affected, which was so so thrilling. And feeling like I needed to go back, because I had so much more that I needed to catch.”
One thing was clear to Krauss. Whatever this show was, he wanted to be a part of it. “As an actor, I love dramas and I love epics. I love history. This covers the lifetime of somebody in two hours, which is damn near impossible and exhausting. But that’s something I carry well. And I do well with characters that have something a little bit darker and painful churning them and keeping them going. ‘Hamilton’ definitely has experienced so much loss in his life and that’s what’s steeling him to create. He’s seen so much taken away that he feels he wants to add.”
Asked what the key is to delivering all those densely packed hip-hop lyrics clearly, Krauss says without hesitation, “A prayer, a double shot of espresso and staying very present. The show is a train that just goes, and once it goes, you’re either on it or you’re off it. If you slip off of it, it’s not going to stop. You’ve got to catch up and hop back on.
“I would be lying to you if I said I didn’t have a tiny word slip or rhythm slip every show. It’s just too fast. There’s too much happening for you to be perfect. But staying really present and connecting with my other actors, connecting with my Burr, connecting with my Eliza, knowing what Hamilton wants at any given moment, because he’s got a thousand things he wants to say. If I’m thinking ahead and not being present, that’s when things go wrong. That’s when the train will go off the tracks.
“If I’m not tired by the end of the show, I’ll know I haven’t done my job well. Hamilton should be exhausted by everything that happens onstage. And it’s fun, it’s a fun exhaustion, but that’s the name of the game.”
His career goal is to originate a lead role in a new musical, but currently he has no plans to leave Hamilton “for the foreseeable future. I’m going to ride it out for as long as they think I’m doing a good job.”
Similarly thrilled to be a part of this tour is Emmanuel Schvartzman, the show’s musical director, conductor and pit pianist. The job is quite a step up from when he handled the same chores for Fort Lauderdale’s Slow Burn Theatre and other South Florida regional companies.
Schvartzman joined the Hamilton company in 2019, after a stint as musical director on Gloria Estefan’s biographical musical, On Your Feet! But like Krauss, he was laid off a few months later when the pandemic struck.
Explaining his part in the Hamilton machine, Schvartzman says, “Being the music director, anything that involves music is my responsibility. It’s always the same, no matter what show you go into. The thing about ‘Hamilton,’ it’s a three-hour show with 17-and-a-half million details. Catching all those details is like grabbing rain in a rainforest with your bare hands. Eventually, you move on to a bigger bucket and then to a pool.
“In my job I wear a lot of different hats. I’m a manager, in terms of keeping unity within the group, calling people into rehearsals, teaching brand-new people, maintaining people that have been around for years with us, maintaining the band,” he explains. “And at the end of the day, I’m still the conductor and pianist of the show.”
As the show’s music director, Schvartzman is particularly impressed by the quality of Miranda’s score. “What I think is such a masterpiece about the show is every sixteenth note to every lyric has been so carefully crafted to sound improvised. But at the same time, it’s at such a high level of intellect and musicianship to be carefully thought out to be the right lyric on the right vowel on the right rhyme on the right note. Every night I play it, I think ‘How can I honor this material?’”
He has a metaphor for his work on Hamilton. “I visualize that I’m parking a cruise ship every night and I don’t want anybody to get hurt,” says Schvartzman. “And I want to take you on a journey. A small shift can have a greater effect down the line. Parking that cruise ship in the right place takes a lot of skill, but it also can be a lot of fun and be very rewarding.
“Playing the same score every night over a number of years can become dull, but it is my job as the conductor to try to create an environment that feels really friendly and really creative, so that people don’t become bored. We’re creating a live experience that will only survive that night and tomorrow will be very different. I try to inspire that in my band and in the cast.”
Five years into the job, Schvartzman’s enthusiasm for Hamilton has not waned.
“It is just such an experience. ‘Hamilton’ is so relatable in so many facets of life. Between the immigrant story, between how the country came to be what it is. The monetary system, how we were liberated from Great Britain, the story of Hamilton doing everything he can to survive, the affair that Hamilton had, the loss of his son, there are so many element of the show that feel so personable and so relatable,” he says, “because it is told through a cast of what America looks like today versus what America might have been in the late 1700s.
“Besides the masterpiece of what ‘Hamilton’ is both musically and lyrically, there’s something for everyone to say, ‘Wow, what must that have felt like.’ I think it becomes a very personal story for everyone.”
On why theatergoers need to see Hamilton, Krauss gets the last word. “If you haven’t seen it at all, you need to see it because I know you have a fear of missing out. And I know that everyone’s been talking about this phenomenon. So get in on the conversation.
“I can’t think of another entertainment piece, whether it’s movie, music, art, whatever, that can bring together history buffs and nerds, lovers of hip-hop and rap culture, lovers of Rodgers and Hammerstein and musical theater. Kids, who probably don’t know half of what’s being talked about onstage, are so enthralled with the music and the characters, I can’t think or another entertainment piece that does all that. So if that thrills you, I say come see it.”
If you go
HAMILTON, Kravis Center Dreyfoos Hall, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach. From Wednesday, April 10, through Sunday, April 21. $49-$249. Call 561-832-7469 or visit www.kravis.org.