King’s Alumna Eliza Ohman (’13) Cast as Swing in Tony-Award-Winning Musical “Hamilton”

Broadway’s hit musical Hamilton is opening in Chicago today, and King’s alumna Eliza Ohman is going to be there, “in the room where it happens.”

Ohman has been contracted to work as a universal swing with the New York company of Hamilton for a year, which means she is an understudy for the five female ensemble parts in the show and will fill in when ensemble dancers are unable to perform. (She made her debut at Sunday’s matinee at the PrivateBank Theatre in downtown Chicago.) She is a member of the Broadway cast—and New York will be her home base—but she will also travel as needed to the productions of the show in Chicago and San Francisco/Los Angeles (opening in March 2017). Ohman began rehearsals in New York with the Chicago company in August and then moved to Chicago in mid-September to continue learning the show from the original creative team and see the process from start to finish in a theatre, rather than learning the show with a dance captain in a small dance studio in New York. The show has been in previews since September 27 and officially opens today.

Ohman says the show is challenging, but the “dancing is really exciting because the choreography is masterful, and it is a once-in-a-life-time show.” She continues: “Rarely does something come along where every aspect of the production—from set and lighting design to choreography and orchestration—is so masterfully made. The more I learn, the more I realize that every single aspect of the show is genius.” She also says she is able to “use a lot of different facets of her training.” Broadway shows are generally choreographed in one particular style, she says, but Hamilton incorporates many styles of dancing, as the music includes hip-hop, R&B, and classical jazz. “There are over 20,000 words said in the course of the show,” Ohman says, “and the choreographer has created a vocabulary of movement for almost every one of those words.”

Ohman spends four hours each afternoon in rehearsals and then returns to the theatre for the performance each evening. She says that “The Room Where It Happens” is the most challenging number to perform because “Joshua Henry, Chicago’s Aaron Burr, gives a show-stopping performance, and the ensemble has to match his delivery.” Her favorite number to perform is “The Battle of Yorktown,” she says, “because the orchestrations are stunning and seamlessly lead you into one of the most powerful moments in the show, which starts with a dance break and ends with the entire company on stage.” The number gives her “chills every time,” she says.

The show’s creator, Lin Manuel Miranda, has been at rehearsals providing feedback and encouragement, and Ohman says that she enjoys working with the entire cast and crew. “It’s a wonderful group of people from the top down,” she says.

Hamilton won eleven Tony awards this year. That Ohman was cast in the production is a huge accomplishment. No doubt she is “not throwing away her shot” and is giving Hamilton all she’s got.

For more than 75 years, The King’s College has educated young leaders to integrate their faith, ethics, and morality seamlessly into their lives and careers. The only traditional Christian liberal arts college or university located in the heart of New York City, King’s prepares students for principled leadership around the world. Visit tkc.edu for more information or request a personalized visit by calling 888-969-7200