Aisha Jawando is currently starring as Angelica in Hamilton at The Palace Theatre in Manchester. She tells our reporter Daisy about her favourite moment in the show and how she's put her own stamp on the role.
What was the initial thought process when you landed the role?
I was actually in two minds because I'd auditioned for the role before in London and I didn't get it, which was fine - however I was wanting to put my career path on a different trajectory and had been offered a different job which I wholeheartedly believed would help me to transition out of the pace I was in, from doing musicals for so many years. Even after I'd picked Hamilton, I was still umming and ahing about it for a while but when rehearsals started, I just knew I'd made the right decision.
Were you a fan of the show beforehand?
I remember when it first came out and it was only in Broadway at the time, but there was a big hype around it so I thought 'I'm not going to listen to the soundtrack yet' but after about a year the hype still hadn't died down so I remember I was on the train in London - I can't remember which song it was - my eyes welled up and I got goosebumps all down my arms.
I just thought 'there's something here' and, after being in the industry for such a long time, sometimes when I watch shows I watch them from a perspective of 'oh that's going to happen next' so sometimes I feel that some of the magic is taken away but when I watched Hamilton it was the first time that the 'tick tick ticking' part of my brain was just dormant. I knew it was something special and I think that really stuck with me even up until today. I really do understand why there was and still is such a hype around it.
With it being such a huge, internationally-known show, do you feel the pressure of that?
In a way, yes - I'm sure people have their favourite Angelicas like with other mega shows such as Wicked where people have their favourites in each role, but I just think 'right okay how can I do this justice?'. I think it's a privilege to play such a role.
So how is it then that you put your own stamp on Angelica?
Don't tell the other Angelicas or Lin Manuel-Miranda but they allowed me to put a cheeky riff in there - a bit extra, I know, but I was like 'well it's mine'. I guess the lyrics tell a story themselves but I think there's always room to really make it my own while also still paying homage to those who have gone before me and acknowledging a good thing that's been done. It's nice to know I don't always have to find a way to change something but to humble myself and say 'yeah I'm gonna do that cause it works and that's okay'.
What's your favourite thing about Angelica's character?
I want to say that it's the fact she doesn't take any nonsense and that she's also really smart. Everyone has their woes in life, I think that's depicted in this show but overall it's not only about that for her; she's just this very witty gal who can stand up to any man in the show, she's not afraid of what any man might say to her and she's just unapologetically smart and confident, which I think is quite refreshing in a world where women's opinions weren't really taken on board. Now you can see us in a world where women are taking a stance and people are really listening, I think it's nice to portray that.
Do you have a favourite moment in the show?
It's Yorktown. Oh my gosh. It's a really heavy ensemble show and I always say that the rest of us - apart from the likes of Hamilton and Burr who are constantly onstage doing something - are just like cherries on top of this cake. The ensemble are the base, the tiers and the icing of this cake, and what they do in Yorktown is unbelievable; it's relentless and I think the way they execute it with the music at the same time is outstanding, to the point where I learnt the choreography on the side at one point because I thought 'this is too cool I want to be a part of it'. Yorktown from the ensemble's perspective is just fantastic.
Did you always know you wanted to pursue a career in musical theatre?
Yes, it's always been my plan A. I've never had a plan B. It's something I've always wanted to do, that's not to say that I'm not good at other things but I just had this innate revelation of what I wanted to do with my life from a young age and I'm so glad I haven't deterred from it.
Do you have a dream role or show you'd love to be in?
I don't. I think I love the actual telling of good stories and stories that move people, because to me musical theatre is art. If it is just a story that makes people leave the theatre happy and smiling, having a great time for a couple of hours, that's amazing but for me, personally, I love to tell stories that really make people think for example Hamilton wasn't necessarily a dream role but it was a dream story.
On the stage, we as the cast are made out of black and brown people in a story that is native to white men, and I think there's still so much to unpack within it but when you've seen these people onstage telling a story that they have been exempt from - I think that adds just a whole other twist and flavour to it, hearing the viewpoint of those who have been oppressed... it's powerful. The show is a bottomless pit of fantastic questions and mind-boggling moments for them to continue considering once they leave the theatre and I wonder what people think leaving that.
