Leslie Odom Jr Leaving Hamilton

[QueenAlice]

 If Leslie ops out of the filming, you can be sure it's a personal vendetta. And again, one that will only come back to haunt him, because holding out for a few thousand extra dollars hardly compensates for not having your performance be preserved for posterity. Who lives, who dies, and who tells your story indeed…

And Gypsy- actors ARE dispensable. At least in this instance.  Blaxx is right that most posts on this forrum come from admiration and love for the performers, but You also need to put on your business cap. Broadway is big business. 

I'm sure the producers of this musical feel like the unprecedented percentage share of the profit they have given to the cast is compensation for their contribution enough. They owe them nothing more.

[Valentina3]

Good God this thread. This is why jesse Tyler Ferguson says "you guys would analyze anything". LOJr.'s doing fine. Relax, and stop telling people what to do. You all sound like Mr Roxy now.

[kimalysong]

This is why I personally didn't buy tickets when the latest block went up (well this & worry about the weather).

Yes the show may be bigger than the cast but personally I don't see a need to pay such high prices to see the show without the original cast. I do want to eventually see the show but I can wait till the hype dies down or it tours in my city. For now I have the OST to enjoy. 

[gypsy101]

I agree, QueenAlice. Who in their right mind wouldn't want their Tony Award-winning performance in the biggest musical since A Chorus Line filmed, to be seen forever?

kimalysong, you mean to say OBCR, not OST.

[kimalysong]

Thanks Gypsy...personally I didn't know what to refer to it as. My mistake!

[icecreambenjamin]

I'd be pretty pissed if I paid those ridiculous ticket prices only to see that so many cast members had left.  I know someone who bought extremely expensive tickets for early August and they're really upset.  I hope they plan on finding some interesting replacements cause I wouldn't pay that much money for the understudies (no disrespect to them.  I'm sure they're fantastic).

[ebontoyan]

I just watched LOJ fb video and I found him sincere and honest  in answering the most asked questions after his Tony win.  Let him move on without dissecting everything he said! Hopefully they work something out for the filming of the show.  If not he will surely be missed but life goes on!  PS: I am a fan of the show and its cast. I have seen the show with its original cast 3x!  But I think it's time to move on and see the show in Chicago and when it tours in my area!

[dramamama611]

ANY time you buy tix months ahead,  you run the risk of not knowing who will be prrforming.  So their whining is just that. 

[Broadway Forever2]

icecreambenjamin said: "I'd be pretty pissed if I paid those ridiculous ticket prices only to see that so many cast members had left.  I know someone who bought extremely expensive tickets for early August and they're really upset.  I hope they plan on finding some interesting replacements cause I wouldn't pay that much money for the understudies (no disrespect to them.  I'm sure they're fantastic).

 

"

yeah I can only imagine how angry people would be who bought expensive tickets to the show because surely the price of the tickets will go down. Jeffrey Seller said he's against casting name actors or stunt casting so I feel it will be mostly the understudies or unknowns. 

 

but then again before buying tickets that expensive i would have looked into the possibility that many of the actors would have been gone by that point. 

[QueenAlice]

Oh I severely doubt theprice of tickets goes down. People are not buying tickets a year in advance to see this cast, they are buying tickets because they want to be a part of the experience of the phenomenon that is Hamilton

[gypsy101]

The thing that is a big clue to the discord is that Leslie did not do a Q&A for Hamilton's official Facebook page (hence why I had no clue it was going on) but through his own Facebook page.

[NJ_BroadwayGirl]

Resale prices will certainly continue to rise between now and July 9, and will likely drop after that, but I think they will certainly stay high because people just want to see the show. Because the cultural desire to see Hamilton transcends traditional theatre fans, many people who buy tickets just to say they saw it won't even realize who's who in the cast. 

[RippedMan]

I do think Leslie is being a bit of a dick. I'm sure they offered him a pretty decent bump since he won the Tony. And, I think, as an actor, you won the Tony. Don't you want people coming to NYC to see you? Seems a little odd unless he has some better offer from somewhere else. 

Maybe he will go with the show to London? Although it seems like a lot of people have said the show has been rough on his voice?

[aaaaaa15]

Leslie's voice sounded great on Tuesday when I saw the show, just as good as when I saw it in August.

With the amount of people that have auditioned and want to be in Hamilton, I'm sure they have worthy replacements. I'm not convinced they'll go with all understudies as people's reports on the understudies have been hit and miss. 

[gypsy101]

When will they announce Daveed, Renee and Chris I wonder? won't all their replacements have already been cast by this point? I also wonder if Alysha will continue as female swing or if she'll be bumped up to Eliza.

[RippedMan]

I would imagine for the first round of replacements they'd wanna promote from within? Would be easier. And then go from there. 

[Auggie27]

Don't be surprised if they don't promote from within. They never stop auditioning, and now have three companies to fully cast  It's quite possible a Burr earmarked for another company will join NYC.  And this dynamic will continue.  Some people act as if they will start looking tomorrow morning.  No. This is a well oiled machine, Hamilton Inc, and they have plenty of possibilities for every role. .

[QueenAlice]

Adding to that, understudies are worth their weight in gold. It is often much more difficult to find someone who can cover two or three roles then a strong replacement who is suitable for only one.

[Hellob]

Blaxx- most people don't go to the Avengers or started watching big bang theory or ncis bc of the stars. Like Hamilton, it's the story but the actors get rewarded anyway. There's a saying- big stars don't make great entertainment, great entertainment makes big stars. They should have kept him but it's over now. The truth will be in the papers soon enough. Letting him go after raising prices seems shady af though. 

ETA I hope Odom doesn't do a sick out or anything like that. 

[QueenAlice]

Hellob-

 You still have to think about the bottom line. Will not renewing Leslie's contract cause people to cancel their tickets? No. Will hiring a brand-new cast cause people to lose interest in the show? I don't think so.  The perks you mentioned are only offered when they are in incentive to keep a necessary component to the equation happy and satisfied. The original Broadway cast of Hamilton is not essential to its continued life. They are not even essential to its continued success over the summer.

[Mediamaven2]

Feel sad Les is leaving. Promised friends a pair of seats in late Sept that I bought last fall (or was it Jan? - whenever they were up for sale in the old days when you could actually buy a regular priced ticket). I've had the good fortune to see OBC multiple times. Always knew of course LMM would leave in "summer" but was hopeful for Leslie to stay. Reiterated to them after the Tony awards "proof" of how several others who are NOT LMM are very worth seeing. Oh well.  Expect that their replacements will be terrific too. Alot of talent out there!

 

[gypsy101]

So he's just gonna miss two performances? that's a little strange. what the hell did he do to these producers!

[Wick3]

gypsy101 said: "I agree, QueenAlice. Who in their right mind wouldn't want their Tony Award-winning performance in the biggest musical since A Chorus Line filmed, to be seen forever?

kimalysong, you mean to say OBCR, not OST."

lol did they film the show before Jonathan Groff left? I wonder if they'd even have all these contract negotiations if they chose to flim the show back last summer after the opening.

 

[gypsy101]

I assume if they are planning on him being there, it wouldn't be that difficult for Jonathan Groff to either 1) return for those two performances that are being filmed or 2) film his songs separately from the rest of the cast.

[RippedMan]

Listened to the OCR for the first time and I wouldn't mind missing Lin. He's not..a singer... Or an actor 

[ChiTheaterFan]

I have no idea what happened but Leslie seems like an incredibly humble and gracious man. And he is tremendously talented. All the best to him.  He deserves success.