Ask most people who have attended a Hamilton Chicago performance what the biggest applause line of the musical was, and they’ll likely tell you it was “immigrants, we get the job done!”
The same often holds true in New York, as sanctuary cities have been a dominant and relevant news topic for much of 2017.
Thus it was fitting that Miguel Cervantes, star of Hamilton Chicago edition, ended his speaking segment at 2017 AHAA: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing, with that very line.
The moment was very well received by the crowd at the Palmer House Hilton Chicago, but that positive reaction was nothing compared to what happened when Cervantes rapped a few lines from the show’s signature song “My Shot” acapella style.
Enjoy: (you’re welcome!)
@AHAA Miguel Cervantes from "Hamilton"…. @Horacitu @szurita @faustoponce @ximenadelam #hispanicmarketing #ahaa pic.twitter.com/vKXTxAGSiy
— Paloma Stephens (@13pape) June 12, 2017
“I say that every single night and yet I was nervous,” Cervantes said after he completed spitting the verse.
During the segment, he also touched upon Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda’s vision to “create the world in which mainstream includes everybody, and not just one specific look,” and to re-create “America back then the way it looks today.”
He’s on point as American founding father Alexander Hamilton is always portrayed as caucasian in popular culture, even though he was originally from the Caribbean island of Nevis.
Cervantes said he raps 26,000 words during a single performance of the show that has become a cultural juggernaut.
Many, if not most, of the words convey a strong socially conscious message. While much has been made of Miranda’s very racially diverse casting, the audience attending these performances remains overwhelmingly Caucasian.
“It is a very…white…group of people”…he said with a lot of hesitation during his segment, entitled “Finding Your Hamilton.”
“I look up here (alluding to the stage), and I look down here (referencing the audience) and the two worlds could not be more different. I wish there was a better way to change that, but I don’t know how to do that.”
https://twitter.com/PaulMBanks/status/874380632880820224
Cervantes’ past credits include the Green Day produced American Idiot musical, an opportunity that he said was a huge thrill to his 11-year-old self, who dreamed of being a punk rocker. The chance to play the lead in Hamilton however, has been an experience that he summated thusly:
“They’re going to have to drag me out of this show because I’m going to do it as long as they will let me.”
Given how wildly popular the Hamilton Chicago run has been, he’s going to be doing this for a very long time to come.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes to WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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