(upbeat music)
♪ Wait for it ♪
- In the spring of 2016, I got an email
from the good folks at Broadway.com,
Paul and Beth, asking if I wanted to possibly vlog
from backstage at "Hamilton."
My first response, knee-jerk response, was no, no.
My hands were full over at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.
It was a very busy time,
and I just couldn't imagine fitting anything else in,
as much as I wanted to.
I went home and told Nicolette my thoughts,
the very wise and brilliant Nicolette Robinson,
and she told me, "Number one, those are my favorite thing
"to watch, so do it, you're doing it,
"and make it good so that I wanna watch it,
"and number two, I think it would be really amazing
"for you to do this, to have a time capsule,
"to have some way to remember this moment in your life,
"this very special moment in your life," and she was right.
I sent them an email the next day,
and I said, "I would love to take you up on your offer
"if it's still on the table," and they said it was,
and for eight weeks I just got to
walk around backstage with a camera that they gave me,
and it was really one of the you know most creative,
exciting, wonderful little
ancillary things that I got to do
around the "Hamilton" trip.
So leading up to the "Hamilton" movie,
the release of this film
of the staged show, Broadway.com asked me
to revisit the series, and I was excited to do so.
So we're going to watch together,
and I will give you a behind-the-scenes
of the behind-the-scenes.
I hope you dig it, thanks for following along.
Here we go, I'm starting the show now.
(upbeat orchestra music)
(upbeat pop music)
Broadway.com, it's the first show of eight.
Thank you so much for joining me.
I hope I have some good stuff to show you
these eight weeks.
I have great plans.
I was so nervous that I would have nothing to show you.
Truly, and my plans were
light, light plans.
It's gonna be a ball.
We have the Anderson Cooper talk-back
that we did with the cast for the Tony's for Sirius.
That was so much fun, getting the gang back together again.
(people chattering)
Anderson Cooper day.
Pip, I think what I meant about the gang back together
is like the creative team had not been around anymore.
You know, once a show opens, they all disappear.
You build this thing together and then Tommy goes away
and David goes away and Paul,
you know we didn't see them the way we did
when we were making this thing in our little cocoon
at the Public Theater, so it was really nice
to have everybody on the stage all together again.
(people chattering)
Julie James.
- [Photographer] Oh, here we go.
One, and one more.
- After Anderson Cooper, which was a lot of fun,
now we go to this other gig that we have for ESPN.
Daveed and I wrote a song, an original song.
- Woo!
- And we're gonna perform it.
That was the best.
You know, the fact that I was a part of this ensemble
meant that we got other opportunities
to be creative together outside of the show.
ESPN hired us for their up fronts,
and Daveed and I right now are doing
that animated show together on Apple TV, plug.
It's called "Central Park," very funny.
(people chattering)
I'm in a different dressing room right now.
We're in the "The Lion King" dressing room.
Daveed and I are about to do our run-through
for ESPN upfronts, our original song that we wrote.
Been a full day.
The excitement never stops with "Hamilton."
We don't want it to stop.
So cool, sitting there talking with Anderson,
and being on stage all together like that.
We don't often...
You're so tired all the time.
It's a good tired, but oh my God.
So exhausted all the time
at this time in the show.
All we were missing was Renee.
But we'll see her in just a little bit.
We got a show tonight.
Long day. All good.
(rapping song on stage)
I don't know where we found the stamina
for things like this, truly,
but it was the most fit, most in shape I've ever been
in my life, eight shows a week.
There's nothing like it.
I gained 30 pounds the next year.
Rehearsal done
on the (snaps fingers) first really beautiful day of Spring.
And now we have a "Hamilton" musical to do.
Well, first I have to get some coffee,
and then we have a "Hamilton" musical to do.
No better way to spend a Monday.
The reality is...
That coffee shop is closed.
It was my favorite coffee shop across the street.
No longer there.
So we drink a little coffee, you put your music on,
you pump yourself up, which we'll do in a minute,
and you get ready to do a show
because it's Monday night,
so I have friends here who are off
from their respective Broadway shows.
Billy Porter is here tonight.
Maybe we'll take the camera
and see his first reactions to the show.
He hasn't seen it on Broadway yet.
(laughter)
(dance music)
- Oh yeah.
- It was the time of "Lemonade."
♪ I ain't thinking 'bout you ♪
- Come on, Kimmy!
♪ I ain't thinking 'bout you ♪
Kimmy!
That album had just come out.
The whole album was unpacking that great work of art
before we did this work of art every night.
(laughter)
- These bitches think they grown pouring drinks for bitches
and things after the show.
You ain't grown.
(laughter) - You ain't grown.
This might've been my favorite part of doing the vlog
was because there were people that had inspired me
and heroes that were coming to the show every single night,
and they were coming backstage already,
and we were having these really open-hearted,
vulnerable conversations about what they'd just seen
and their careers and lots of things.
And so the fact that I was vlogging
meant that I could get little pieces of that.
- What I was saying was feel sorry for me
'cause I never got cast in it.
That was the intention.
(laughs)
- I mean, your voice changed my life,
your voice and your spirit.
All of you guys.
There would be no "Hamilton" for me without "Rent."
That was the show that changed my life.
That was the show that brought me to the theater,
so to have a moment like this with Anthony...
We're just watching...
Was everything.
You know, he's here in my dressing room.
I'm gonna tell him right now.
And Anthony actually does.
Lemme let you let him hear him talk.
- Moved to tears,
and had total goosebumps again for the 4th time,
so to hear that coming from you is amazing.
(Billy laughs) Thank you.
- A completion of the circle.
And you. - The circle.
- I've told you,
"Beauty School Dropout."
(laughs)
There was before "Beauty School Dropout"
and after "Beauty School Dropout"
because you see, one of my classmates at Carnegie,
Billy went to Carnegie, I went to Carnegie.
One of my classmates, when I first got there, said,
"Oh, you've never heard 'Beauty School Dropout?'
"Sit down in that chair,
(laughs)
"Shut up for like seven minutes."
- Nine O eight.
- Nine O eight. - But I digress.
- Listen to it immediately.
If you can put in a clip right now, put in a clip of it.
♪ Time ♪
♪ Ooh! ♪
♪ School ♪
(grunts)
I had never thought of that,
that oh, you can sing "Grease" like that.
Yeah, Billy let me know that there could possibly be
a place in the theater for a voice like mine.
I don't sing like Billy.
I've never sang like Billy, but it wasn't the typical voice
that you heard singing "Grease"
or anything in the theater quite frankly.
And so, he let me know that there could be a place for me.
- Hi! - [Leslie] Nay Nay!
- What are you doing here, Renee?
- I'm here because the show just ended,
and I knew that these three men that I admire
and love so much. - Angelica Schuyler,
you guys. - All in the same place.
Look at this. This is what happens.
Look at my life right now.
(laughs) They're my friends.
- I'm gonna pour you a drink,
and we're talking about Carnegie days.
You were there with Billy.
- Well, no, we were in school together.
- We were in school together. - Yes, we were.
- You were younger.
- I was younger.
- [Leslie] (singing) You were younger then.
You were younger then.
Now Renee comes in and she's got connections
to both of the guys, right.
She went to college with Billy,
and she was the final Mimi in "Rent,"
and Anthony was obviously the first Mark.
- As I work to do. - Apparently I didn't do
that well in the combination.
But literally, I went because I was so blown away
by these kids that are juniors and sophomores
that were just there on the summer probably.
What, you tryin' to pay for that tuition?
- Yeah, I was paying for my tuition
doing my work study program. - Yes, work study, yes.
He was a work study. - That shit ain't free.
You got to pay for college, even in the '80s.
- Yes, it was not the '80s.
(laughter)
Now I'm gonna disown ya if you 'gon lie to the people.
Cheers! (glasses clinking)
Come on, I gotta work.
(Billy squeals in laughter)
- Last Mimi. - Last Mimi.
- First Mark. - First Mark.
- Last Mimi, first Mark.
♪ Five hundred, twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes ♪
- Okay. - Is that the right key, no?
- I saw Anthony do a solo show in London while I was there.
I dunno if he knew I was there, but he does "Wait for It."
I went to see him afterwards of course,
but he does "Wait for It" in his show,
which is super special.
Very first theater audition I had,
I sang "La Vie Boheme," his part in "La Vie Boheme,"
so super special.
(laughter)
Almost forgot, we have questions.
Hashtag ask Odom Jr.
Let's bring this back.
If you have any questions, #AskOdomJr
on Twitter or anywhere and I'll see 'em and I'll answer them
in the next behind-the-scenes behind-the-scenes.
"Ask Odom Jr., has it been hard dealing
"with 'Hamilton's' increasing popularity?
"How do you feel about it? Love you."
I love you too.
Thank you, Louise.
It is not hard, actually.
You know, it takes stamina
because it's a marathon and not a sprint.
We've been doing this show for about two years almost now
roughly, and so, it's a long road
and sometimes we get tired, but I love this show.
And so, I loved it kinda before the world knew about it,
so I'm thrilled with its popularity.
I am not tired of it at all.
Still feel that way.
Love the show.
Very grateful. Thank you Lin-Manuel.
Do you have any advice for aspiring performers?
Work hard, study hard.
You know, stay in class, stay reading, stay inspired.
You can do it, you can do anything.
(air whooshes)
Still my advice.
I still agree with myself.
I will let you know if I no longer agree
with the stuff I'm saying on this thing.
(people chattering) Good morning.
Okay, so ESPN is this morning.
We're here. It is
6:17 a.m.
- [Daveed] God help us all.
(laughs)
- How?
They came to us and they asked us to write a song
that was sort of sports-themed
and took their brand into consideration
and their slogan this year
is "Things happen at the speed of live" in sports,
and so, that was our sort of key phrase.
Took about two months to write this tune
that we're pretty proud of, we like it.
It came out okay, 'cause yeah, it's one shot.
We just have one time to do it,
and hopefully not embarrass you or our parents.
(whispers)
So Daveed, you have anything to say?
- [Daveed] Let us not embarrass our parents.
(laughter)
My favorite, pants are too tight.
- We'll see you in a bit.
- [Announcer] Tony-nominated stars of the smash hit
Broadway musical "Hamilton," - Tony-nominated.
This was all after the Tony nominations.
That was such
an amazing thing and once in a lifetime thing
you know, really to have been nominated
with so many people in the cast, you know.
That was the best part about it
that we got to share that moment
with so many members of the company,
the whole company really obviously
with the show nominations and stuff, amazing.
(on-camera music)
- [Daveed] That moment we share and the speed of live.
(audience applauds)
- Broadway.com, thank you so much for watching.
Tune in next week.
I plan to have a really special guest.
If I don't have him next week,
I'll have him the week after that,
but he's one of my favorite people at this theater.
I know who it is.
Hilarious, you're gonna love him.
But thank you so much for watching.
See you next week.
And thank you for watching.
Thank you for watching again.
This is gonna be a lot of fun.
I'm looking forward to unpacking
the rest of these episodes with you.
Can't wait for July the 3rd.
It's gonna be amazing.
Thanks for watching.
♪ Wait for it ♪
(dramatic music)