Replacement casts on Broadway can be risky endeavors. Another actor stepping into a beloved role can swiftly ensure a show’s closure. But this is Hamilton we’re talking about, so of course Javier Muñoz replacing the show’s creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda was always going to work out just fine.
We caught up with Muñoz shortly before he replaced Lin-Manuel Miranda permanently in the Hip-Hop re-telling of Alexander Hamilton’s life, which recently won 11 Tony Awards to go with its Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Awards success. Muñoz, who like Lin-Manuel has parents from Puerto Rico and grew up in New York City, was previously Miranda’s Sunday alternate.
Muñoz — nickname Javilton — now performs seven days a week in the role at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in Times Square. He was diagnosed with cancer last October and missed several performances over a two-month period to undergo surgery and radiation treatment but earlier this year was given the all-clear.
Here is what he told us about taking over the Founding Father mantle:
The trajectory of Hamilton must seem to you like the culmination of hard work but also like a dream.
Both. Any work of art is about hard work.But It begin with Lin. His vision, as crazy as it sounded when he first hit me up with the idea, it is phenomenal where it’s gone. Because of the hard work, the dream has come to fruition.
Was it daunting for you to step in for Lin-Manuel Miranda each Sunday for the first year and now on a permanent basis?
They gave me the freedom. Unlike In the Heights, the creative team allowed me to have the freedom to make it my own. When Lin and I have worked together so long, without a lot of conversation, I understand what he wants. I understand what he’s trying to create so I can, within those parameters, give him what he needs as the writer, creator, and the composer as well as make it my own at the same time. That’s pretty fantastic.
Here’s to your first night as the new official Hamilton! ❤️ @JMunozActor pic.twitter.com/aRPVzNcNsr
— Jay Calme (@falloutgurlll) July 12, 2016
Knowing Lin-Manuel as you do, how did he pull Hamilton off in such spectacular style?
He’s always been a genius in my mind. We’ve worked together for 10 or 11 years and how he perceives things and takes the information — it’s transcending. It’s beautiful how he turns it into something so absolutely powerful. That’s just who he is.
We know how Hamilton will do on Broadway but how do you think it will fare in the West End when it crosses over next year?
There are probably some regional things that will play here better than they play here or vice versa. But the music transcends everything and the concept of it being non-traditional casting and diverse casting is across the board. It’s going to help everyone everywhere, and it’s gonna have an impact no matter where it goes. But I think politically it will have a different read somewhere else. It’s a different context to see it in another country with a different history. But I still think it will play!
What is Lin going to do next?
I’m sure he’s already writing something else knowing him or maybe several other things!
Is he writing in his head or on the page?
Maybe both. That’s what he does and we love him for it!