Billy Nevers is currently in the UK/Ireland tour of Hamilton playing Lafayette/Jefferson. He’s also in the very rare position of being a principal who covers another principal - he’s the second standby for Aaron Burr, which is pretty unprecedented!
Billy grew up in London in a very theatrical family, so he was surrounded by it from a super young age: music was always on, he was always going to see shows, his mom was a drama teacher. His talent and passion were undeniably there from the start but Billy learned early on about the gatekeeping people of color have to deal with when trying to break into this industry.
In this episode Billy talks about the BIPOC experience in the arts and education world, how doing what you love is really hard work (and that's a good thing!), and doing Jesus Christ Superstar at an outdoor theater in the summer of 2020.
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Rubén J. Carbajal (John Laurens/Philip Hamilton on Broadway) is wrapping up his three episode series and we are kicking it off with his punk rock version of The Story of Tonight! Plus, he’s taking questions from the Patreon Peeps which includes (but is not limited to!) his favorite LA food spots, adjusting to the East Coast, living life “heart-forward”, his love of Spanish music, and punking Pitbull on MTV.
Rubén recently made his Broadway debut as John Laurens and Philip Hamilton, but not before over 1,000 performances on the road including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Puerto Rico with Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Rubén has always been so present in his journey to this point and one of the greatest parts about his journey is that he always let his personality come through no matter what.
Rubén J. Carbajal on Instagram
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Rubén J. Carbajal (John Laurens/Philip Hamilton on Broadway) is back for another round! This week, he talks about his multiple Hamilton auditions and explains his process: the flights, the preparation, the importance of always showing his personality, and the beauty of staying curious. Rubén talks about his experience on tour, the full circle moment of bringing Hamilton home to Los Angeles, and what it was like performing with Lin-Manuel Miranda in Puerto Rico.
And then… Rubén thought he was done with Hamilton in 2022 but some time away, a writers’ strike, and a very supportive partner led him to Broadway.
Rubén J. Carbajal on Instagram
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Rubén J. Carbajal is finally on the podcast after all this time, but honestly, the timing could not have been better. Rubén recently made his Broadway debut as John Laurens and Philip Hamilton, but not before doing over one thousand performances across the country including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and performing alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda in Puerto Rico.
Rubén has been performing since he was five years old, but it wasn’t until he did In the Heights for the first time that he felt truly connected to a role. He wants to do that show forever (that’s a quote) and so far he’s done it three times: once as Sonny and twice as Usnavi.
When Hamilton came along Rubén was a superfan just like the rest of us, and we have a lot of fun revisiting those early days of the Hamilton fervor. What’s more exciting than being a fan of something and then actually being a part of it?! And for years, at that! It wasn’t an easy process and this episode ends with one of the busiest and most important days of Rubén’s life: an audition, the news about a call back, a Mets game, and standing on the turntable at the Richard Rodgers Theatre for the very first time.
Rubén J. Carbajal on Instagram
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Vincent Jamal Hooper is back for round two! Vinny’s Hamilton experience took him to Puerto Rico, California, Texas, and Australia playing the roles of Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, Lafayette/Jefferson, George Washington, and KGIII.
This week, Vinny talks about going from Hamilton to White Girl in Danger to making his Broadway debut as Simba in The Lion King. Plus, Vinny explains the responsibility of tone setting in a production, tells us about all the playlists he made to get in character for his multiple Hamilton roles, all the "animal work" he did to prepare for Hamilton and Burr, and why video games are a parable life.
Vincent Jamal Hooper on Instagram
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