I had no idea that tonight was Emmy's last show, I would have paid more attention to her! I was there tonight, as part of the audience that got to witness the show being held due to a suspicious vehicle nearly directly outside the theater. Show started at about 8:28 tonight, after a very long delay. Talk about stressful, I wasn't even sure we would get to see the show. Thanks to the NYPD though, they work fast. Unfortunately, the cast did seem shaken for the first ten minutes or so, of course, as was the audience, but the energy between the cast and the audience seemed to calm everybody down to let them get on with the show and ease back into it, and by the end of My Shot, the show was right back to where it should be. Totally understandable, and the cast did a wonderful job.
Anyway, Austin Smith was Washington tonight. He's shorter than Javier, who was on as Hamilton, which made for an interesting "Call me son one more time" moment. Other than that, he was fantastic. I missed Chris, and honestly didn't feel like I was watching Washington the same way I do when Chris is on, more an actor playing Washington (I know that's what it is, but hopefully my point is understandable), but he still had me tear up during his One Last Time. Deep, rich voice, good acting, all around very good Washington. Javier was of course fantastic, and Ephraim Sykes filling in as Hercules Mulligan was very enjoyable. Higher voice than Oake, and much smaller, but once I got past that, he was very funny, and I didn't at all mind seeing him. It absolutely convinced me that the material is strong enough so that as long as they keep casting it well, the show will always be at such a high level.