Two years ago, Leslie Odom Jr. had few impressive credits on his résumé. He was largely known for a couple of short-lived TV shows (“Vanished,” “Smash” ) and a Broadway musical flop (“Leap of Faith”). Then the theatrical gods shone on him, and he was given the role of Aaron Burr in “Hamilton,” which brought him a Tony Award last June. Such are the vicissitudes of show business, a trade where talent is much but timing is everything. Odom, along with fellow cast members Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phillipa Soo, and Daveed Diggs, has left the show that burnished all their reputations so brightly and opened the door to a plethora of opportunities. Now what?Lin-Manuel MirandaThe Man of the Moment, who created and starred in “Hamilton,” could parlay his unprecedented clout into almost anything, including a career in public office. (His father, Luis Miranda, is a well-known Democratic Party operative.) But a berth in the governor’s mansion or a seat in the US Senate or House will have to wait while he works to add an Oscar to his shelf of awards, which already holds three Tonys, a MacArthur “Genius” grant, a Pulitzer, and two Grammys. Miranda has co-written (with Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foa’i) the score to “Moana,” an animated Disney feature to be released this fall. Also for Disney, he appears in a starring role in “Mary Poppins Returns,” the sequel to the 1964 Oscar-winning classic featuring Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews. Emily Blunt plays the no-nonsense nanny in the Depression-era tale based on P.L. Travers’s stories, while Miranda takes on the character Jack the Lamplighter, created especially for him. The A-list creative team behind the movie, slated for a Christmas 2018 release includes director Rob Marshall (“Chicago”) and the Tony-winning song-writing team of Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman (“Hairspray”). In a film foray beyond the Disney fold, Miranda has adapted “In the Heights,” his 2008 Tony-winning musical set the New York neighborhood of Washington Heights, for the screen.Phillipa SooHaving blazed to prominence in “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812,” Phillipa Soo cemented her status as Broadway star with her Tony-nominated performance as Eliza Schuyler, Hamilton’s wronged spouse. The new project for the Juilliard-trained actor is more whimsical. Next season she will take the title role of “Amelie,” the musical adaptation of the 2001 French film in which Audrey Tatou played a naïve waitress whose inveterate helpfulness leads to romance. The show, which earned respectful reviews when it premiered last year at Berkeley Rep in California, is set for a run at Los Angeles’s Ahmanson Theatre this winter before making its Broadway bow next spring.Leslie Odom Jr.Those who missed Odom’s stirring turn as Aaron Burr can get a taste of his charisma on July 21 and 28, when he will be performing his cabaret act in the Manderley Bar of the McKittrick Hotel. The act is based on his eponymous 2014 album, which he rereleased with extensive revisions following the success of “Hamilton,” retaining six great American songbook numbers, such as “Love Look Away” (from the “Flower Drum Song”) and “Joey, Joey, Joey” (“Most Happy Fella”), and adding four, including “Autumn Leaves.” Odom will also be featured in the 2017 TV miniseries “New Edition,” playing James Samuel “Jimmy Jam” Harris, a songwriter and producer for the 1980s boy band.Daveed DiggsDaveed Diggs, who won a Tony Award for his flamboyant dual roles in “Hamilton” as the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson, will exercise his formidable talents as an English teacher in the film “Wonder,” based on the best-seller by Raquel J. Palaci about a young man with a facial deformity who encounters numerous hurdles when he enrolls in a mainstream school. The cast also includes Julia Roberts, as the boy’s mother, Owen Wilson, and Jacob Tremblay, the young actor who had a career breakthrough with the movie “Room,” which won the Oscar for Brie Larson. In addition, Diggs will continue performing experimental hip hop and rapping as the vocalist and writer for the group Clipping. He has also joined the group, Freestyle Love Supreme, founded by Miranda and Tommy Kail, who directed “Hamilton.”And the beat goes on.
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