Hamilton at The Landmark Theater
By Isabella Galan
The Landmark Theatre plays host to many iconic productions and shows each year, and this year is no different. The national tour of the Tony Award winning musical Hamilton is kicking off the season with their almost two week run. With the tenth anniversary of the original production on Broadway being celebrated this fall, their arrival to Central New York was highly anticipated and has drawn in massive crowds every single night.
The cast includes Syracuse native Deon’te Goodman who is taking on the role of Aaron Burr. For him, being back performing means more to him than he even imagined.
“It’s really full circle honestly, the longer I’m here the more emotional I get about it just because my journey with musical theater started here,” Goodman said.
While in Syracuse for the national tour, he stopped by to talk to the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders at Huntington Pre-K-8 school– the place where he first found his love for musical theater through his music teachers. During his visit, he spoke to students about his journey in professional theater and how it all started for him.
“During my time here, I didn’t have anyone from the artistic realm that I could look up to who was doing the things that I’m doing now. To be able to be that person for hopefully someone else is really rewarding.”
As Aaron Burr, Goodman’s main message was helping the audience feel a sense of empathy for Burr– looking at his character as more of a tragic figure rather than the antagonist.
“When I first heard Burr’s story I just remember listening to the music and listening to the show from start to finish and being like ‘Wow, I feel so bad for this person. This person is so misunderstood, and I want to play this role one day and I want to portray a character that isn’t a villain.’ I think that a lot of it has to do with my upbringing and where I came from. My upbringing, I think, allows me to exist in multiple spaces for Burr and also understand him in a way that can hopefully allow the audience to understand him in a different way as well,” Goodman said.
However, Goodman isn’t the only member of the cast making their return to Syracuse. Tyler Fauntleroy, who plays Alexander Hamilton, performed at The Syracuse Stage in 2018-2019 during their production of Next to Normal. This was his first professional role out of college. Arjaye Johnson, a swing in the production, also has ties to the area as a recent graduate of Ithaca College.
The cast as a whole brought a unique flair to this beloved show, making each moment their own. Whether it was through a riff, a dance move, or even a glance, this production of Hamilton continues to move audiences ten years since it first was brought to the stage.
