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Say it ain’t so!
Leslie Odom Jr. is leaving Hamilton.
The 34-year-old actor, who recently won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical, announced his impending departure via Facebook Live Sunday. Odom will play Aaron Burr for the last time July 9, the same night the show’s star and creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, will take his final bow. “I am indeed leaving on July 9. It has just been the most completely wonderful, totally healing, and inspiring experience from beginning to end,” Odom said in the video, which was filmed in his dressing room. “I will never forget the people that I’ve met here. I’ll never forget all of you.” The news came exactly one week after Hamilton picked up 11 Tony Awards.
Miranda recently announced that the original cast will film the production before he leaves the show. To fans’ dismay, however, Odom is not scheduled to participate. “As of right now, I am not a part of that film,” he said. “I’ll let you know if anything changes. I would love to be a part of it. There’s a small chance I won’t be, and if I’m not, I’m sure they’ll find somebody great.”
Odom didn’t reveal his future plans, but he did admit that he’s eager to take new chances. “I’m excited to have a blank page,” he shared, “and I’m excited to go out and find something new.”
Phillipa Soo, who plays Eliza Hamilton, is also leaving Hamilton. She will star in the title role in the Broadway musical Amélie, scheduled to open in spring 2017. “She is joyous, complex, and determined, in her own small way, to change the world for the better,” the actress said in a statement released June 17. Tony winner Pam MacKinnon will direct the production, which will have a limited engagement at L.A.’s Ahmanson Theatre from Dec. 4, 2016 through Jan. 15, 2017.
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