Hamilton
Lin Manuel Miranda’sHamiltonhas several worker play more than one character , Okieriete Onaodown included . Onaodowan play Hercules Mulligan in Act 1 , and James Madison in Act 2 . These fictional character could n’t be more dissimilar from one another , so why does the same actor roleplay them both ?
Onaodowan is n’t alone in flirt multiple case — Daveed Diggs draw off the same effort as he playsboth Jefferson and Lafayette . Onaodown ’s functioning as Mulligan and Madison work on beautifully , as each type feels completely distinct . While Mulligan is aggressive , reckless , and strong , Madison is confine , well - mannered , and pale . It is not in spite of these departure that Onaodown ’s double - cast work , but because of them .
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When asked about the double - vagabond inHamilton , Mirandatweeted“I realized betimes that characters that were important early in his life slicing away while others appear afterward . The double cast was so that we ’d be INSTANTLY invested . ” This logical system checks out : when the audience run into Madison for the first time in Act 2 , he is both conversant and unfamiliar . While it may be collide to ascertain Onaodowan bear so differently at first , this permutation does not follow out of nowhere . In " Alexander Hamilton , " Onaodowan babble out “ We fought with him . ” The double cast yield this production line a double meaning : Mulligan fought alongside Hamilton , whereas Madison fought against him .
The divergence between Mulligan and Madison are visible in bothHamilton ’s choreography and euphony . Mulligan is always in gesture , fly around the stage as he roars out lines like “ Lock up your daughter and horse . Of course , it ’s backbreaking to have intercourse over four lot of corsets . ” Meanwhile , Madison coughs intermittentlyas he walks across the stage , and his part is measure out and calm throughout all of his demarcation — his etiquette is so intense that he rarely grass any emotion . Madison is more sophisticated but physically weaker .
Hamilton ’s fracture from Mulligan to Madison foreground how fighting takes a young cast in Act 2 after the war ends . Onawodown plays two characters , one who is athletic and strong , and one who is ill — but Madison is an equally redoubtable instrumentalist because the game has changed . Seeing thesame actor play these two charactersemphasizes that the competitiveness is no longer forcible . Brute military unit no longer work . Now , Hamilton has to entirely reexamine the way he approaches fighting for what he wants .
Several fictional character inHamiltonstruggle to cope with this change — Hamilton himself peculiarly . As Washington say to him during “ Cabinet Battle # 1 ” , “ gain ground is easy , untried man , governing ’s harder . ” The major shift Onawodown undergoes helps the audience understand this root before Hamilton himself can . Ultimately , Hamilton ’s double - castingis successful because it work thematically — of course , it does n’t hurt that Onawadown can pull off both characters so masterfully .
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