Hamilton’s Michael Luwoye on His Geeky Obsession & How New York Made Him a New Man

History has its eyes on Michael Luwoye. In the summer of 2016, soon after Hamilton swept that year's Tony Awards, he made his Broadway debut in the company. From there, he went on to understudy Aaron Burr on Broadway, famously play both leads in one day, take on the title role in the first national tour and live to tell the tale. Now, the 26-year-old is taking on the ultimate musical theater dream role of Alexander Hamilton fulltime at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. Luwoye didn't just make it into Broadway's room where it happens: he's commanding it. We caught up with the young talent to talk about being Leslie Odom Jr.-adjacent during his early days in New York, and the best advice he's received during these whirlwind 19 months as the 10-dollar founding father.



Late Bloomer
Late-night cast recording listening sessions and waiting for autrographs at stagedoors were not rituals during Luwoye's childhood. In fact, taking his shot at the lights of Broadway isn't something that crossed Luwoye's mind until later on in life. “The theater bug didn’t bite me until college, to be really honest. When I decided to actually do it and actively be a part of it, it was my junior year. I played everything from Queequeg in Moby Dick to Othello to Hud in Hair, Joe in Show Boat, a wide range of things that I never thought I’d be a part of.”

Dodging the Hamil-Hype
In the summer of 2016, it was hard not to be out of earshot of "My Shot" and the rest of the cast recording, but Luwoye learned the joys of Hamil-fandom at his own pace. “I was doing a show off-Broadway called Invisible Thread with Nicolette Robinson, Leslie Odom Jr.’s wife. I sort of heard things about it because Leslie was Burr, but I actively abstained from Hamilton because of the hype factor. I wanted to have my own experience with it. I didn’t listen to the album or really consume a lot of the material until about February 2016, after they had already started on Broadway.”

New York: State of Grind
Every time he steps onto the Richard Rodgers stage, Luwoye is surrounded by a resounding chorus that dubs New York the greatest city in the world. According to Luwoye, while he's come to heart New York, it took "a lot of convincing" for him to move to the Big Apple. “I was born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama. I graduated from the University of Alabama in 2013. A couple months after I graduated, I moved to New York on September 1, 2013. I didn’t really know what people who wanted to do theater did. When I got here, I was sort of floating around and taking in all the experiences. There’s a much faster tempo here in New York than there is in Alabama, and it took me about two years to get used to it, just the speed of the people, the drive, the discipline, that grind.”



Zeldork
Not unlike the musical he's starring in, Luwoye makes geek look straight-up chic. True—he wasn't a theater dork growing up; he preferred fantasizing about the symphonies he could create for video games. “I’m obsessed with The Legend of Zelda. I think that in another life I wanted to be a composer. I had an affinity with the music of that game when I was really young, and I wanted to compose for them.”

Luwoye's Legacy
Here's a story Hamil-fans know by heart: Luwoye unbelievably played Hamilton at a matinee and Burr in the evening on the same day. “I joined Hamilton a couple days after the Tonys back in 2016. I was hired as the new alternate for Alexander Hamilton. A couple of months into the run, I also acquired the understudy position for Aaron Burr. There was a specific show on November 16, 2016, when I played Hamilton for the matinee and Burr for the evening show, which was insane. I don’t remember a lot of it, but it was fun to do.”

Mr. Non-Stop Says "Slow Down"
Unlike his character, who is "Non-Stop," Luwoye says doing the opposite has helped him flourish. “The best advice I’ve received throughout this experience is ‘slow down.’ I’ve been doing this for almost 19 months now. There’s been a lot of attention on to the show and this role and me. There have been many times where it’s felt like it’s too much, and I didn’t know how I was actually going to be able to find any sort of piece or stasis with it. Speaking with various people and strangers and friends and mentors, the general advice has been to slow down. When I listen to that, I’ve really been able to focus and do the show and actually have a balance with my professional life and my personal life.”



Photos: Caitlin McNaney | Makeup and Hair: Rachel Estabrook