Lin-Manuel Miranda isn’t the only member of the Hamilton getting his shot at super stardom. The show is bound to create an ensemble of superstars similar to the way the cast of RENT went on to become theater icons. Hamilton understudy Jon Rua is quickly become a name himself and is bound to become a breakout talent. Rua recently appeared in Jackson Harris’ music video for his song “Dance with the Devil.” Check out the report below for a look at some of Rua’s other work.
Recently, songwriter Jackson Harris spoke to Playbill about how he wanted to work with Hamilton’s Jon Rua after seeing his performance in 2013’s Hands on a Hardbody musical:
“[Broadway actors] are kind of the unsung heroes of the entertainment business, if you will, because they’re the people, to me, that can do it live and right in front of you, and there aren’t any smoke and mirrors, Growing up in New York City, I always wanted to highlight that sort of talent.”
The stage and the camera are two different beast with different plans of attack as Rua noted:
“The camera allows small nuances to resonate in a pedestrian fashion. [It] allowed me to be more sensitive, allowed me to take realistic generic scenarios and take that heightened emotion into them and physicalize it.”
Rua recently got his shot in the spotlight when performed as Hamilton in the hit musical . The understudy recently spoke Broadway World about his performanceHamilton and the reception it received:
"Someone has said that my performance was 'so human.' I would say the level of humanity I bring to Hamilton is so specifically me. I know him, and I know the world I live in as Hamilton and where the character is going. If I had to find words I would reference some from a director friend of mine that listed his impression on what my Hamilton would be like: Passionate, Angry, Romantic, Youthful, Relentless, Complicated, Powerful, Kinetic."
