Wayne Brady - Publicity - P 2017
Jeff KatzPardon me, Wayne Brady — are you Aaron Burr, sir?
Producer Jeffrey Seller announced Monday that the seasoned screen, stage and sketch actor will join the Chicago company of Hamilton for a limited engagement.
Brady will play the role of Aaron Burr from Jan. 17 through April 9 at The PrivateBank Theatre in Chicago. The news comes after it was announced that Joshua Henry, who currently plays Burr in the Chicago production, will headline the musical’s national tour.
Brady, the Emmy-winning actor who first broke out with both the British and ABC versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, has previously rotated into the Broadway productions of Chicago and Kinky Boots. He most recently starred in a revival of Merrily We Roll Along in Los Angeles.
“The music in Hamilton is amazing to me. It’s not that hard to learn simply because Lin writes with such poetry. … It’s like learning songs off of the radio that don’t leave your head. It’s been a joy stepping into [Burr’s] shoes,” Brady told The Hollywood Reporter of taking on the musically-demanding role. “When I first saw the show — and if you’re not a performer, you don’t know this feeling — when the curtain opens, the music starts and the first line is sung, you feel your heart beating fast and you immediately want to be onstage, doing whatever they’re doing. That’s how I felt when I first saw Hamilton, and I was jealous that I wasn‘t in the game!”
He takes on the role of Burr after wrapping his sold-out world tour, Still Makin‘ Sh*t Up. Later in the year, he’ll return for his eighth season as the host of CBS’ Let’s Make a Deal, as well as for the fifth season of the Whose Line Is It Anyway? revival on The CW.
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Jan. 12, 12 p.m. Updated with Brady’s quote.
