Which Hamilton Character Would Retta Most Want to Play on Broadway?
You're going to be very jealous of the #GG2D star's Hamilton connections.
When Retta isn't making amazing TV on Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce and famously providing hilarious commentary on it on Twitter, she loves to turn to another medium for her entertainment: the theater. Retta told The Daily Dish that she is a huge Broadway fan who always tries to take in a show whenever she's in New York.
But there's one musical that Retta has actively sought repeat viewings of: a little show by the name of Hamilton. You may have heard of it.
The GG2D star admitted to The Daily Dish that she's seen the show five times so far. "It's not as many times as Rosie O'Donnell, I'll tell you that. She's seen it, like, 24 times," Retta said of the former talk show host's reported number of viewings as of July 2016. "At least it was the last time I saw it, I think it was her 24th time, which is God bless. You're baller baller if you're seeing it that many times."
Retta explained that there's a good reason why she keeps coming back for more Hamilton. "I want other people to see it. I like to take someone and I'll sit back and watch because I know what's coming, like, 'Are you gonna cry? Are you gonna cry? Yeah, you're gonna cry,'" she gushed. "That's my favorite part, to see people go through it."
As if Retta couldn't make us any more jealous, she said she's also friends with original cast members Daveed Diggs (Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson) and Okieriete Onaodowan (Hercules Mulligan/James Madison), as well as current cast member Andrew Chappelle (swing and understudy for several roles) and Hamilton writer and star Lin-Manuel Miranda himself. "I went for my birthday, and [Lin] signed his book that was coming out the next day, the 'Hamiltome,'" Retta shared. "And I had already ordered two of them, so I now have three."
Whether it's Lin, Javier Muñoz, or Michael Luwoye in the titular role, Retta said she's been loving how each new cast puts their own spin on these beloved characters. "It's interesting to see other people play different parts," she said. "It's nice to see what people do, what they do differently, and still know that I can be entertained."
So will we see Retta, who has previously said that she wanted to be an opera singer growing up and has an incredible voice of her own, make her debut on the Great White Way in the near future? "Broadway is a lot. I don't know. I did plays and musicals and stuff in high school and college [at Duke University], but it's not the work you have to put in for a Broadway show. And so, I really would have to prepare myself, prepare my mind to do seven shows a week or whatever. I'm intimidated. I'm definitely intimidated by it," Retta said. "But I wouldn't turn it down. If anything, I'd like a part like the king in Hamilton. Nine minutes of work, I'm good."
Please, someone give Retta a Broadway show!
Watch Hamilton's original Aaron Burr Leslie Odom Jr. dish on the celeb that's made him most starstruck backstage at the show, below.
