Shaq had loved the show for years and had hoped to one day have a part in a production, but he’d never dreamed he would actually play American founding father Alexander Hamilton – arguably one of the most sought-after roles in theatre. Premiered in 2015 Off-Broadway, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s modern musical with music inspired by hip-hop, R&B, jazz, blues and rap was soon a stage sensation. Hugely successful on Broadway and the West End, it tours the UK for the first time this year, currently delighting audiences at the Birmingham Hippodrome.
“As soon as the show came out in 2015 and I heard the soundtrack, I immediately fell in love with it,” says Shaq. “It was so different, it involved rap and R&B and so many different styles of music. And I also saw myself represented on stage, so it was always a dream of mine to experience it in its entirety by being in it.
“I saw the original London cast in 2017, that was the first time I saw it and it just made me want to be in it more – it made me want to be up there on the stage with them doing it. “It’s such a magical thing, live theatre. The live experience is completely different from hearing it on the soundtrack and seeing it on the screen.
I was completely overwhelmed when I saw it.” Shaq grew up in London and was inspired by a primary school drama teacher to set his heart on an acting career. Studying at ArtsEd in London, he then gained a number of key roles in musical theatre including Javert in Les Misérable.
