Daveed Diggs Sets Hamilton Exit Date; Karen Olivo, Miguel Cervantes & Alexander Gemignani to Lead Chicago Company

Non-stop Hamilton casting news lately. Daveed Diggs, the 2016 Tony Award winner for his performance as Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson, will play his final performance on Broadway on July 15. While the roles are being recast, Lafayette/Jefferson will be portrayed on the Main Stem by long-time understudies Andrew Chappelle, Austin Smith and Seth Stewart.

Meanwhile, Tony winner Karen Olivo, Miguel Cervantes and Alexander Gemignani will headline the Chicago company of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tony-winning tuner. The trio take on the roles of Angelica Schuyler, Alexander Hamilton and King George III, respectively. Performances begin September 27 at the PrivateBank Theatre in Chicago.

Olivo won the Tony for her portrayal of Anita in the 2009 Broadway revival of West Side Story and created the role of Vanessa both on and off-Broadway in Miranda’s Tony-winning In the Heights. Cervantes’ Great White Way credits include If/Then, American Idiot and 25th Putnam County Spelling Bee. Gemignani starred as Jean Valjean in the 2006 revival of Les Miz, and performed in Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins, Sweeney Todd and Sunday in the Park with George, all on Broadway.

Other principal roles in Hamilton in Chicago will be played by Ari Afsar as Eliza Hamilton, Chris Lee as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson, Joseph Morales as Cervantes’ alternate, Jose Ramos as John Laurens/Phillip Hamilton, Wallace Smith as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison and Samantha Marie Ware as Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds.

The current Broadway cast also includes Javier Muñoz as Alexander Hamilton, Lexi Lawson as Eliza Hamilton, Christopher Jackson as George Washington, Rory O’Malley as King George, Anthony Ramos as John Laurens/Phillip Hamilton and Tony winner Renée Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler. Michael Luwoye takes on the titular role on the Main Stem once a week. Brandon Victor Dixon will begin performances as Aaron Burr in mid-August; he is currently completing his run in Shuffle Along, which will close prematurely on July 24.

In preparation for his Chicago debut as Alexander Hamilton, Cervantes will play the role on Broadway on July 13 matinee, July 18 and July 25.

Directed by Thomas Kail and featuring a book, music and lyrics by Miranda, Hamilton is inspired by the book Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow and is running at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.