I had meant to post here but I forgot - I saw understudy Andrew Chappelle play Hercules Mulligan/James Madison on 9/25. I've seen Okieriete Onaodowan play the roles 3 times before - he is amazing. Chappelle doesn't capture Oak's energy (he is a force of nature) but he was as solid as Hercules and very good as James Madison - and Chappelle's diction is much better (so I followed some of the fast raps better).
Anyone see Alysha Deslorieux play Eliza in HAMILTON tonight? Would love to hear about her performance...
Anyone have any thoughts on Eliza and Angelica understudies in Hamilton? There's a video of Alysha Deslocrioix on YouTube and she covered one of the sisters' songs and sounded great!
Had the pleasure of seeing Alysha as Eliza when she went on for a weekend downtown in late March. She was really really wonderful, a beautiful, smooth voice, and really solid acting. I think Phillipa Soo is a bit more emotional, but Alysha more than held her own. Haven't gotten the chance to see her on Broadway, but a friend of mine did and said she was still just as good.
As far as I know, she's only gone on for Eliza and Peggy/Maria, I don't believe Renee has missed any shows yet.
I saw five shows in my trip to New York last month (well, six, counting Sleep No More), and three of the five had understudies in the lead male roles (or an alternate, in the case of Hamilton). I thought Mauricio Perez, the understudy for Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys, was amazing. Actually, he was the understudy to the alternate, so if he's the show's third or fourth choice to go on, I can't imagine what the others are like. He was completely believable as both the teenage Frankie and the middle-aged Frankie, and the way he was able to "age" himself onstage by subtle modulations of his performance was remarkable. And of course his singing was beautiful. I think I have a new name to add to the "Broadway crushes" thread.