Is ‘Hamilton’ still a theater revolution? Lead actor says this is how play remains relevant

Julius Thomas III often muses over the mega popularity of “Hamilton.”

It’s something that comes up among peers of the Indiana-born actor, who plays the titular lead in the touring production of the hit musical, which has made more than $1 billion in global revenue, according to Forbes.

The production begins an 11-day, 16-show run at Fresno’s Saroyan Theatre on March 30. Tickets for opening night will sell out, if they haven’t already.

“What makes art go viral?” Thomas says in an interview from Denver, where the tour is stopped before coming to Fresno.

With “Hamilton,” it was a convergence of factors, “sort of a revolution of a moment for theater,” Thomas says.

For one, it was something new and markedly different for the theater scene. This is not one of the million interpretations of “Romeo and Julie,” he says.

“Putting another story like that up on stage is not going to excite people.”

What got people excited was the story of America’s founding fathers, men who are typically talked about and viewed in very specific contexts, interpreted through the lens of rap music, with characters portrayed by people of color, “people who look like me,” Thomas says.

“You’re just ticking off a lot of boxes,” he says.

Thomas came into the role having never actually seen the show. He’d only heard the original cast recording once and didn’t even think to audition for the lead.

He did audition for almost every other male character.

“I didn’t think it was my role,” he says.

“I didn’t think I was a Hamilton.”

He knew he wasn’t Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Miranda wrote the script, music, and lyrics for “Hamilton” and popularized the character both on stage and the filmed version that streamed on Disney+ in 2020.

“At the end of the day, there’s only one Lin-Manuel Miranda,” Thomas says.

“Just like there’s only one Julius Thomas III.”

Thomas never looked to impersonate Miranda, but rather reinterpret the role of Hamilton, bringing to it his own experiences as a 6-foot-5 Black man who grew up in the Midwest.

Of course, there is a heightened responsibility in playing the lead role in the kind of play that fans flock to see more than once. Thomas knows of people (Hamilfans, as the cast calls them), who saw the play more than two dozen times during its San Francisco run.

But there is also the truth of the theater as a living, breathing thing is meant to be different with each performance.

“This material that you love so much is given new life on a nightly basis,” Thomas says.

“It’s still brilliant, even with different interpretations.”

$10 ticket lottery

“Hamilton,” runs through April 10.

A limited number of tickets for each show are being held for a $10 ticket lottery. The lottery for the opening week’s performances closes Thursday. Additional lotteries will run each Friday for the upcoming week’s performances for the duration of the run. Each lottery is run through the official Hamilton app.