Another September, another Tony Award-winning “Hamilton” star for Brigham Young University’s Bravo concert series.
Renée Elise Goldsberry, the 2016 Best Featured Actress in a Musical winner for her portrayal of Angelica Schuyler, promised a “powerful and soulful” evening Sept. 8 in de Jong Concert Hall on the Provo campus.
Unlike her former co-star Leslie Odom Jr., who won the Best Actor trophy for his performance as Aaron Burr, Goldsberry won’t be visiting BYU as part of a concert tour. “It’s really unique because she’s been doing a lot of film and TV work since she left ‘Hamilton,’” said series director Jeffrey Martin.
Goldsberry insisted the honor is hers. “I’m the fortunate one,” she said. “I don’t have as much opportunity as I should to tell my own story and create my own evening.” She will sing songs that have been meaningful in her life, including her “Hamilton” show-stopper “Satisfied,” in which the brilliant Angelica raps and sings about her split-second decision not to pursue a relationship with penniless genius Alexander Hamilton.
“I don’t know that I’d be able to show up and not sing ‘Satisfied,’” she said. “But it’s a good thing to have that be the song people expect to hear.”
Her supporting band will include three “brilliant and beautiful” background singers who she said “could hold down a whole night by themselves.”
’That gives me the opportunity to do songs I typically don’t get to do,” she said.
“I feel really excited to sing honestly about love. Truly, the world needs a lot of love right now, and music is the best way to give it.”
Goldsberry’s musical and dramatic credentials are solid. Born in San Jose, Calif., and raised in Houston and Detroit, she earned a bachelor’s degree in theater from Carnegie-Mellon University and a master’s in jazz studies from the University of Southern California. A veteran of the Public Theater’s New York Shakespeare Festival, she also appeared on Broadway as Nettie Harris in the original cast of “The Color Purple,” Mimi Márquez in the closing company of “Rent” and Nala in “The Lion King.” She was nominated for two Daytime Emmys for her work on “One Life to Live” and had a recurring role on “The Good Wife.”
According to the book “Hamilton: The Revolution,” producers of the megahit-in-the-making had to coax Goldsberry into auditioning for the show because she and her husband, attorney Alexis Johnson, had just brought home a baby daughter. Finally she relented, despite being intimidated by the verbal virtuosity and rapid pace of “Satisfied.” “Renée was the first one who came in and made us say, ��Oh, she thinks exactly that fast,’” show creator Lin-Manuel Miranda recalled in the book. “It was the first delivery of ‘Satisfied’ that didn’t make me think for a second about the delivery that was happening.”
Martin saw Goldsberry in “Hamilton” early in its run. “She’s such a great talent,” he said. “She has such a powerful stage presence. She’s very dynamic and interesting to watch. Her voice is very powerful and beautiful.” He’s also a fan of her work on “The Good Wife” and other shows. “It’s fun when artists come and show us another side,” he said.
Goldsberry left the musical last September and said while she doesn’t miss the eight-shows-a-week pace and loves being at home to put her children to bed, she considers it a privilege to have “run the first leg” of the “Hamilton” relay. “It’s really a heavy responsibility to bring to life a show as impactful and influential as ‘Hamilton,’” she said. Now she feels extra responsibility to choose roles that will “tell stories people should know,” as she did recently in HBO’s adaptation of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.”
“Acting can be something that’s not so self-absorbed,” she said. “When we step into the shoes of someone people need to know about, it makes us more like the nurses and doctors of the world.”
Work!<br>Renée Elise Goldsberry will sing.<br>When • Friday, Sept. 8, 7:30 p.m.<br>Where • de Jong Concert Hall, Brigham Young University, Provo<br>Tickets • From $35; discounts for students, seniors and BYU alumni; arts.byu.edu/event/renee-elise-goldsberry/