Stage
Does any character inHamilton suffer
as much as Eliza? Every night, in the role
she originated, Soo had to learn about her
husband Alexander’s scandalous affair,
endure her teenage son’s death from a
duel, and then watch Alexander succumb
to the same fate. “The amount of energy
I had to spend living in Eliza’s world really
weighed on me after a while,” Soo admits.
The portrayal earned her a Tony nod,
but when she left the show in July,
Soo, 26, was happy to move on to some-
thing sunnier: the lead in the new
Broadway musical based on the 2001 film
Amélie. Beginning previews March 9 (and
costarring Adam Chanler-Berat, above),
the show follows a shy but mischievous
waitress who strives to improve others’
lives through small kindnesses. “It’s just
light, lovely, and joyful,” Soo says. “I
don’t have to sob at the end of the
show—and I don’t have to wear a corset!”
Even more appealing? The chance
to develop another musical from its
nascent stage. Says Soo, “After two years
running in a show, it’s nice to be back
in the creative process again.”
After playing both friend and foil to
Alexander Hamilton—as the French-
accented, fast-rapping Marquis de
Lafayette in Act 1, then a swaggering
Thomas Jefferson in Act 2—it was
perhaps destined that Diggs, 35, would
follow that onstage multitasking with
several overlapping projects.
The Tony winner is returning for more
of ABC’sblack-ishafter first appearing
on the show as a guest star last fall, and
he’ll also be seen alongside Julia
Roberts in the feature filmWonder(out
Nov. 17) and with Andy Samberg in the
upcoming HBO sports-doping mocku-
mentaryTour de Pharmacy.“Workingon
that set was like nothing else I’ve everexperienced,” he says of his time on
Tour. “They never [stopped rolling], and
any idea that was funny was fair game.”
Diggs is also delving into work behind
the camera, executive-producing a pilot
for ABC about a rapper-turned-mayor.
To him, it’s akin to his music-making
process—whereeveryinfluenceonhis
life could be a source of inspiration—
and he says he enjoys learning the
ropes. “Producing has been yet another
crash course. I feel like my whole life’s
been like, ‘S---, I’ve never done that
before’—and then pretending that
I know what I’m doing. This is another
one of those things.”
As he and otherHamiltonalums pur-
sue opportunities outside the Richard
Rodgers Theatre, the bonds between
those cast members have endured.
“Everybody in that cast is a pretty close
friend of mine now,” says Diggs. “I
think those relationships are probably
the most important thing that I took with
me. That’s the real joy of this thing.”DAVEED DIGGS
NEXT UPContinuing on black-ish,
plus Wonderand Tour de PharmacyROLE INHAMILTONMarquis de Lafayette
and Thomas Jefferson
PHILLIPA SOONEXT UPAmélie, a New MusicalROLE INHAMILTONEliza Hamilton“I’m out ofHamilton things to give you,”
the show’s 37-year-old creator joked to
EW after December’s release ofThe Ham-
ilton Mixtape—and between playing a
dancing lamplighter in Disney’sMary Pop-
pins Returns,adapting fantasy trilogyThe
Kingkiller Chroniclefor film and TV, and
performing his nominatedMoanasong at
the Oscars,he’s too busy to be lying.LIN-MANUEL
MIRANDANEXT UPMary Poppins ReturnsROLE INHAMILTONAlexander Hamilton!106 EW.COM FEBRUARY 24/MARCH 3, 2017
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AMELIE: A NEW MUSICAL: JOAN MARCUS;BLACK-ISH: ERIC MCCANDLESS/ABC; MIRANDA; DAN MACMEDAN/WIREIMAGE