'Hamiliton,' most popular musical of past decade, starts Lincoln run Wednesday

In 2009, Lin-Manuel Miranda performed “The Hamilton Mixtape” at the White House's Evening of Poetry, Music and Spoken Word, unveiling in some measure the musical sensation of the decade for President Barack Obama and guests.

Then in 2015, “Hamilton,” the rapped-and-sung biographical musical about Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, who served as the first secretary of the treasury and famously died of injuries sustained in a duel with political rival Aaron Burr, debuted first off Broadway, then at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, where it continues to run.

Nominated for a record 15 Tony Awards, “Hamilton” won 11 — the second most ever — set Broadway box office records and continues to sell out performances.

The most recent available totals show that “Hamilton” on Broadway has put on 2,666 performances for 3.58 million people and grossed $853 million, fourth behind "The Lion King,” “Wicked” and “The Phantom of the Opera.”

But that is far from the total numbers for “Hamilton,” which began a run in London’s West End in 2017; played Chicago, Los Angeles, Hamburg and Australia for years; and has had national tours of the U.S. since 2017, often drawing 50,000 or more in each city it plays.

Lincoln will be adding some 30,000 to that total in the next two weeks as “Hamilton” makes its debut with a 16-show engagement at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

So, why, Nikisha Wiliams, does “Hamilton” remain so popular that it can play two-week or longer engagements in every city where it stops?

“It’s a myriad of reasons,” said Williams, who plays Eliza Hamilton in the Philip Company production that will take the Lied stage Wednesday.

“It appeals to a lot of different kinds of people,” Williams said. “You have people who are interested in history and they are going to want to go and see the story and see exactly what things have been put in about Alexander Hamilton's life and the people around him like Aaron Burr and Thomas Jefferson and all those things. So they're going to be interested in seeing that.

“You're going to have people who are interested in rap music, and so they're going to want to see how rap music and all of those things have been incorporated in the show. And you just have musical theater people in general who are going to see anything that Lin-Manuel Miranda puts up. That encompasses a lot of different types of people, which is why it's continued to be so popular.”

The touring version of “Hamilton” also got a boost three years ago when Disney+ began streaming a 2015 film of the original Broadway production.

“I think the live capture that they presented on Disney+ got some people more engaged in the show, being able to watch it from their homes,” Williams said. “I think now the opportunity to come and watch it live is exciting because there's a lot of things that you miss watching us, you know, and not seeing the full picture. So I think that ignited some excitement about the show.”

Williams, a Mobile, Alabama, native who studied vocal performance at the University of Southern Mississippi, joined the touring “Hamilton” company in 2018 as a member of the ensemble, understudying the three Schuyler sisters — Eliza, Angelica and Peggy.

“When I first got the ensemble role and covered the sisters, I was most excited to play Angelica because I liked her songs,” Williams said. “But then when I started learning all of them and going on for them, I realized that I connected more with Eliza. I didn't ask to be bumped up to Eliza. A spot opened and they asked if I wanted to be Eliza.”

Eliza is, to some measure, the musical’s main character — “The title says ‘Hamilton,’ not which Hamilton,” Williams said — as her story is told along with that of her husband.

“It’s a story of someone trying to make something of themselves,” Williams said. "I think anybody can relate to that story, right on top of the female aspect and realizing that Eliza has done just as much if not more than Alexander Hamilton. It's really nice that this particular story talks about her legacy as well."

While it can be debated which “Hamilton” is the title character, it’s certain that Eliza is the most challenging role in the production — she is a featured part of 16 songs, several of them solo.

“I would absolutely say it is (the most challenging)," Williams said. “That’s mostly because everybody has moments where they're kind of rapping, so you're like you're speaking; Eliza, everything she does is sung. And even when she doesn't have her own solo stuff, when you see the live production, which is something that Disney+ doesn't tell you, a lot of the principals are in the balcony, singing the ensemble stuff.

“So like when Aaron Burr is singing his song, ‘Wait For It,' Eliza is out there singing. She's not always singing her solo songs but she's singing a lot of ensemble songs on stage. That equals out to be a lot of time singing on stage, for sure”

Williams, who says she has to live a “monk-like” existence on tour, rarely venturing out from her hotel to explore cities to preserve her voice and energy for the performances, said she can directly connect with audiences a few times during each performance, which runs for 2 hours and 45 minutes.

“In the first act, in her first big number, ‘Helpless’, when she is introduced to Alexander Hamilton and when they get married, there's a lot of her interacting with the audience straight on and kind of breaking the fourth wall,” Williams said "In those moments, I get to see at least the first couple of rows of people and kind of engage with them. There's some other moments throughout the show that I can kind of look in and engage. But for the most part, just hearing their excitement, hearing the tears and hearing the laughs, you know that they're invested in the show.”

That, Williams said, is rewarding for the performers and, importantly, evidence of why “Hamilton” has continued to connect with thousands eight years after it debuted.