Leslie Odom Jr. returns to Broadway as Aaron Burr for Hamilton
Leslie Odom Jr. is set to return to the Broadway stage as Aaron Burr in a limited engagement of Hamilton, from September 9 to November 23, 2025. The announcement coincides with the 10th anniversary of the musical's Broadway debut, marking a significant homecoming for the Tony Award-winning actor.
Reflecting on his return, Odom said, "Returning to Hamilton is a deeply meaningful homecoming. I'm so grateful for the chance to step back into the room — especially during this anniversary moment — and to revisit this brilliant piece that forever changed my life and the lives of so many."
Odom originally joined Hamilton during its off-Broadway run and remained with the production when it moved to Broadway in August 2015. He left the show in July 2016 alongside creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda. This marks the first time in nearly nine years that Odom will reprise the iconic role of Aaron Burr.
Since its debut, Hamilton has become a cultural phenomenon, winning 11 Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The original cast featured Miranda as Alexander Hamilton, Daveed Diggs as both Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson, Christopher Jackson as George Washington, Jonathan Groff as King George III, Renee Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler, and Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton.
Hamilton lead producer Jeffrey Seller expressed excitement over Odom's return, saying, "When I saw Leslie perform 'The Room Where It Happens' at the first act two workshop of Hamilton, I knew I was witnessing a historic moment. How lucky we are that Leslie is returning to Hamilton and bringing his indelible Burr back to Broadway."
Following his tenure in Hamilton, Odom has continued to make an impact on Broadway, earning a Tony nomination for his role in Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch. He has also appeared in several notable films and TV shows, including Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, The Many Saints of Newark, One Night in Miami…, Abbott Elementary, and Hamilton on Disney+.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
10 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Maybe Happy Ending' wins big at Tony Awards
Darren Criss wins first Tony for best leading actor in Maybe Happy Ending. Photo: File Maybe Happy Ending, a sweet and futuristic story that follows two obsolete helper robots as they navigate isolation, affection, and what it means to be human, was the big musical winner at the Tony Awards on Sunday, capping a record-grossing post-pandemic Broadway theatre season. The show won three big awards, including best musical. Darren Criss won his first Tony for best leading actor in a musical for his role as the innocent Oliver, and its director Michael Arden won the award for best director of a musical. The modern reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic Sunset Blvd. also won big, taking awards for best revival of a musical and for Nicole Scherzinger, who stars as the faded movie star Norma Desmond, won best actress in a musical. The Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Purpose won the best play award. Written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, the play follows a family whose carefully constructed legacy unravels when their youngest son returns home with an unexpected guest, exposing buried secrets and faith-based conflict. Host Cynthia Erivo, the Wicked film star, opened the show at Radio City Music Hall with a walk to the stage from the dressing room that mimicked actor Tom Francis' viral post-intermission live outdoor Manhattan stroll as he sings the title song in Sunset Blvd. Buoyed by a post-pandemic rebound, the 2024-25 season grossed a record $1.89 billion in revenue and drew 14.7 million attendees, the Broadway League said. Cole Escola won the Tony for best lead actor in a play for his creation Oh, Mary! The show, Escola's reimagining of Mary Todd Lincoln's life and relationship with husband Abraham Lincoln, blends historical satire with absurd camp. The show also earned Sam Pinkleton the Tony for best director of a play. TV's Succession star Sarah Snook, who made her Broadway debut this season, won the award for best leading actress in a play for her tour-de-force performance of more than two dozen roles in The Picture of Dorian Gray. The original cast of Hamilton, including the show's creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, reunited to perform an electric medley in honour of the musical's 10th anniversary. The number also served as a reintroduction to Leslie Odom Jr as Aaron Burr, a role he will resume in the production later this year for a limited time. Francis Jue won best actor in a featured role in a play for Yellow Face. He thanked the Asian American actors who came before him and addressed the next generation: "This community sees you and I hope that encourages you to be brave, and to dream and to dream big." Reuters
Express Tribune
10 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Lilo & Stitch' stays on top in third week
The Disney film beat the latest 'Mission: Impossible' and 'Ballerina'. PHOTO: File Disney's family-friendly Lilo & Stitch kept up its dominance of the early summer North American box office, winning for a third week in a row with $32.5 million in ticket sales, industry estimates showed Sunday, as reported by AFP. The live-action remake of a 2002 animated film of the same name has so far raked in $335.8 million in the United States and Canada, and another $436 million abroad, Exhibitor Relations said. Debuting in second place at $25 million was Lionsgate's Ballerina, a John Wick spin-off starring Ana de Armas as a dancer turned contract killer, and co-starring Anjelica Huston. Keanu Reeves makes a brief appearance as the hitman Wick. "This is a weak opening for an action thriller spin-off," said David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – the latest, and ostensibly last, in the hugely successful Tom Cruise spy thriller series based on a 1960s TV show – took third place with $15 million. The Paramount film has now grossed more than $449 million worldwide. In fourth place was Sony's Karate Kid: Legends, a sequel featuring Ralph Macchio - the star of the original 1984 classic - and action flick icon Jackie Chan, along with Ben Wang in the title role. It made $8.7 million at the domestic box office in its second week in theaters. And finishing up the top five was Warner Bros. and New Line's horror film Final Destination: Bloodlines, at $6.5 million. It has grossed $123.6 million so far at the domestic box office. Rounding out the top 10 were: The Phoenician Scheme ($6.25 million), Bring Her Back ($3.5 million), Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye ($3.1 million), Sinners ($2.9 million) and Thunderbolts ($2.5 million).
Express Tribune
10 hours ago
- Express Tribune
I have to say what's necessary for society: Banu Mushtaq
All writers draw on their experience, whether consciously or not, says Indian author Banu Mushtaq – including the titular tale of attempted self-immolation in her International Booker Prize-winning short story collection, as reported by AFP. Mushtaq, who won the coveted literature prize as the first author writing in Kannada – an Indian regional language – said the author's responsibility is to reflect the truth. "You cannot simply write describing a rose," said the 77-year-old, who is also a lawyer and activist. "You cannot say it has got such a fragrance, such petals, such colour. You have to write about the thorns also. It is your responsibility, and you have to do it." Her book Heart Lamp, a collection of 12 powerful short stories, is also her first book translated into English, with the prize shared with her translator Deepa Bhasthi. Critics praised the collection for its dry and gentle humour, and its searing commentary on the patriarchy, caste and religion. Mushtaq has carved an alternative path in life, challenging societal restrictions and perceptions. As a young girl worried about her future, she said she started writing to improve her "chances of marriage". Born into a Muslim family in 1948, she studied in Kannada, which is spoken mostly in India's southern Karnataka state by around 43 million people, rather than Urdu, the language of Islamic texts in India and which most Muslim girls learnt. She attended college, and worked as a journalist and also as a high school teacher. 'Confused' But after marrying for love, Mushtaq found her life constricted. "I was not allowed to have any intellectual activities. I was not allowed to write," she said. "I was in that vacuum. That harmed me." She recounted how as a young mother aged around 27 with possible postpartum depression, and ground down by domestic life, she had doused petrol on herself and on the "spur of a moment" readied to set herself on fire. Her husband rushed to her with their three-month-old daughter. "He took the baby and put her on my feet, and he drew my attention to her and he hugged me, and he stopped me," Mushtaq told AFP. The experience is nearly mirrored in her book – in its case, the protagonist is stopped by her daughter. "People get confused that it might be my life," the writer said. Explaining that while not her exact story, "consciously or subconsciously, something of the author, it reflects in her or his writing". Books line the walls in Mushtaq's home, in the small southern Indian town of Hassan. Her many awards and certificates – including a replica of the Booker prize she won in London in May – are also on display. She joked that she was born to write – at least that is what a Hindu astrological birth chart said about her future. "I don't know how it was there, but I have seen the birth chart," Mushtaq said with a laugh, speaking in English. The award has changed her life "in a positive way", she added, while noting the fame has been a little overwhelming. "I am not against the people, I love people," she said, referring to the stream of visitors she gets to her home. "But with this, a lot of prominence is given to me, and I don't have any time for writing. I feel something odd... Writing gives me a lot of pleasure, a lot of relief." 'Patriarchy everywhere' Mushtaq's body of work spans six short story collections, an essay collection and poetry. The stories in Heart Lamp were chosen from the six short story collections, dating back to 1990. The Booker jury hailed her characters – from spirited grandmothers to bumbling religious clerics – as "astonishing portraits of survival and resilience". The stories portray Muslim women going through terrible experiences, including domestic violence, the death of children and extramarital affairs. Mushtaq said that while the main characters in her books are all Muslim women, the issues are universal. "They (women) suffer this type of suppression and this type of exploitation, this type of patriarchy everywhere," she said. "A woman is a woman, all over the world." While accepting that even the people for whom she writes may not like her work, Mushtaq said she remained dedicated to providing wider truths. "I have to say what is necessary for the society," she said. "The writer is always pro-people... With the people, and for the people."
