(upbeat music)
- Broadway's biggest shows, Broadway's hottest tickets.
They're all right here along with Broadway's hottest stars.
I'm Tamsen Fadal.
This is The Broadway Show.
Let's get going.
He's not throwing away his shot at telling dad jokes,
anyway.
I had a chance to catch up with Broadway's
Alexander Hamilton this time, Miguel Cervantes
to talk about his corny sense of humor,
his family, and a whole lot more.
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Well, let's start with your jokes anyway.
- Okay. Yes.
- 'Cause so you got, you got a book of jokes.
- My wife gave me a book of jokes last Christmas.
Like two years ago.
And I started bringing it in
and telling some people some jokes.
And then it kind of became a thing where
I found different places
during the show to tell, you know, some wardrobe folks,
folks in the cast.
And then it became sort of like a part
of the track, you know, part of the Hamilton track is like
first you do "My Shot," then you tell a joke, then you do.
- I don't think you should tell Lin that,
I'm suggesting.
- Well, maybe we're gonna write it into the, into the track.
And then one of our wardrobe gals, Lisa, came down
with a medical situation.
So she had to, she had to sort of step away
for a little while, and she told the folks down
in the wardrobe, she said, you know, one
of the biggest things that I miss is being able to
hear Miguel come and tell these dumb jokes.
So we started videoing them for her, to send them to her.
Just that was it.
And then it became this sort of thing we put on Instagram
and everyone sort of is enjoying it.
Why do scientists believe that you couldn't tell when
a pterodactyl was going to the bathroom?
Well, because the pee is silent.
(laughter)
That's kinda part of one of my things, you know
like everyone has a little thing, and so I do tip.
- I like your thing.
- Yeah, yeah.
- I like your thing.
- And listen, if we can add a little bit of laughter
you know, in something that, you know, after years and years
and years, it becomes kind of what you do.
It's just step here, move there, put this shirt on
and now I get a little something a little different
a little, I don't get to mess around on stage.
So maybe, maybe-
- Have your own little performance going on backstage.
- Exactly, exactly.
What do you call a fish with a bow tie?
- I don't know.
- So-fish-ticated.
- Sophisticated. I did.
I would've never thunk.
You know what I mean?
- It's great.
- You know, you've been on stage a lot,
you've been with a lot
of communities of actors.
What makes this one particularly special?
Do you think it's the show itself?
Do you think it's the people that are attracted to the show?
What do, what do you think it is that makes this one
different? Not only for the audience, but for you?
- You know, when I was a kid, when I was in high school
or college and thinking, I just wanna be in,
I wanna do this.
This is what I want to do.
It wasn't this, it was this, but what I mean is
you know,
- This is okay.
- This is pretty good.
But, it was, I just want to be out there singing and,
and performing and, and using my sort of gift.
But Hamilton took on this sort of life beyond theater and
beyond performing.
The messages that we as the people we are,
how we look, the way we sound, who we are as individuals
outside of the theater, all become part of this experience
that is affecting young people.
It's affecting older folks.
It's affecting all kinds of different walks
of life that, you know, I didn't realize,
- It's affecting history.
- And it is, it is becoming a historical
and a phenomenon in our, in our, in our time.
And we get to be part of that.
And that's what makes this special.
- Is there one scene, moment,
conversation. song that you look forward to every night?
- You know, it's, it's a great question
because there's so many moments
in this show that can change based on who's performing.
You know, if there's a different actor
or actress up on stage in one of the roles,
the energy's a little different.
So I always enjoy the cabinet battles
because there's just a little bit of an energy
that we're allowed to sort of bring in the audience
because they're now part of the, the meeting.
So I, I enjoy that a lot because I can sort of look
at people and when people smile and I catch their eye
and it really sort of, those are the
the small things that change from night to night.
I really love Dear Theodosia.
You know, I'm a parent, I'm a father.
It's a moment where I'm very close
to the audience and sometimes I can catch, they
I don't think they see, think I can see them
but they'll like reach over and cuddle their child
while I'm singing, and I can see them do that.
You know, and I, I make a joke because I can feel that.
- Sure, sure.
- You know, when it's a, I call acting, it's
like a superpower, right?
So I'm up there, I'm just singing this song
Alexander Hamilton, but I make this parent like, reach
over these teenagers and they'll grab them and reach 'em
over. And I'm like, ah, stop, you gotta stop.
You know?
- I can see you.
- Yeah. It's, and I can see you cuddling.
And I, I don't like it because it makes me want
to cuddle my son and my children.
And those are the moments that are, I really sort
of cherish.
- Because every night it's different.
- Every night is different.
- Every night's different.
Every night is a different cuddle
a different person, a different emotion.
- Exactly.
- How is the family doing?
- Great. My family has gone through a lot over, you know
at the end of Chicago, we were dealing
with so many things in our own personal life, in our loss.
And when we lost Adelaide
that affected so many parts of who we are.
My wife Kelly, and I, what our family meant.
And, in that same exact time,
I've been asked to come start here in New York.
And so then there's the transition
out of Chicago and what our family looks like.
And then, oh, by the way, let's shut down.
- Sure.
- For a couple years in the middle of that.
We realize that, you know, grief
is a universal feeling.
We are all, we all experience our grief in individual ways
but we can sort of be together in the fact
that everyone feels something and feels it in their own way.
And as the years have gone by, my wife started writing
she's written a book
about sort of Adelaide and grief.
And I've been so amazed by her
and able to sort of use this
tragedy in our lives
to, to try to help someone.
It's been, it's been a trying and, and
and in some ways very beautiful time in our lives.
And then we somewhere in there
decided that we were gonna adopt a little girl.
- Yes.
- And so that sort of became another
crazy change in our life.
People say all the time, like, oh
you were helping this child.
You were, you were saving this little girl's life.
I'm like, no, no, no.
This is, this is for everyone.
This is for all of us.
I sort of cautiously say that we are doing okay.
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