Seth Stewart had not just one set of shoes to fill on the hit show “Hamilton” , but two. Well, make that roles.

PIX11 met up with Seth Stewart who is now the musicals new “Thomas Jefferson” and “Marquis De Lafayette”, to talk about his new roles.

For tickets and schedule info, log on to www.hamiltonbroadway.com

1 You walk into a bar. What do you oder from the bartender? 

Johnie Black on the rocks, every time.

2. Who’s your favorite person to follow on twitter?

Probably Lin and Elon Musk

3. What’s currently waiting for you on your DVR/TiVO?

Mr. Robot and waiting for the new Stranger Things, that’s my jam!

4. It’s your last meal – what are you going out with?

Fried Chicken and waffles… definitely!

5. What websites do you visit on a regular basis?

Cadillac.com and Motherboard: Because, well, I love Cadillacs, and I care about the environment.

6. What’s the most frequently played song in your mobile device?

The Roots “75 bars” before my show. A Tribe Called Quest “Space Program,” and Mos Def “Umi Says”

7. The first face that comes to mind when you think “punchable”?

Ohh, quite a few. But I’m trying to be all Buddhist and chill and shit.

8. What’s the last thing you Googled?

You don’t want to know.

9. Dogs or Cats?

Dogs and elephants.

1o. Best concert of your life?

Prince by far. But Usher was a close second!

11. What book are you most likely to give as a gift?

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, or As You Think, depending on the person.

12. What was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?

Believed in me.

13. South Park or Family Guy?

Oh though one, but Family Guy. I mean Stewie is my jam!

14. You have an entire day to do whatever you want. What would you do?

Go hiking with people who can teach me more about wild edibles. See a Jill Scott concert that night, and then something very despicable that evening.

15. What movie can you not resit watching if it is on?

The Matrix or The Goonies. “Hey you guys!”

16. The sports team or teams you’re most passionate about?

Ohio State Buckeyes football and the NY Giants.

17. Where did you eat the best meal of your life?

In London at some fancy Indian spot, like the oldest one out there I believe. It felt like food sex/ecstasy, which I know nothing about.

18. The last movie you saw in a theater?

Moana, and I actually shed a tear. It touched me in a heart place. 

19. Who was your first celebrity crush?

First? Winnie Cooper from The Wonder Years, duh!!! Or Pamela Anderson actually. LOL. Now, Kehlani.. possibly. I haven’t thought about these things.

20. What would you cook if Nic Cage was coming to your house for dinner?

I would ask him to call up Snoop Dogg and Stephen Hawking so I could actually have a good time!

‘Hamilton’ star Seth Stewart on how he avoids making money mistakes.

MARKET WATCH
ONLINE: FEBRUARY 21, 2017

The actor reflects on his relationship to money and what the public speakers can learn from thespians.

When Seth Stewart joined the cast of “Hamilton” in 2015- then an off- Broadway show at the New York’s Public Theater – he couldn’t have know that, three years later, he’ remain one of the shows longest running company members.

Stewart, who was also part of the original cast of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first show, “In the Heights,” started as a member of “Hamiltons” ensemble and took over the dual roles of Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson September. He is currently one of the only three actors who have been with “Hamilton” since the very beginning – the other two are Javier Munoz, who currently plays Hamilton, and Thayne Jasperson, an ensemble member – but he’ll take his last bow as Lafayette/Jefferson in mid-April, departing the show after more then two years of eight performances a week. 

“I will always look back at this mountain and this was an Everest,” Stewart says.

The actor, 33, reflected on his experience with “Hamilton”, his relationship to money, and what public speakers can take from the actors playbook:

MarketWatch: What are you a cheapskate about? 

Seth Stewart: I’m a cheapskate on rent because I’m an actor. I splurge on food and vacations. I am living further out in Queens[New York] so that if I don’t have a job for a year, I’m not stressed about my rent. Every actor’s had a dry season because of what we do. Our work is never guaranteed. I’m saving my money. But I make sure I go out and eat all the time. I love really expensive meals. I fell like that’s what life about: Good food and good conversation. 

MarketWatch: What’s the biggest mistake you ever made?

Stewart: I don’t believe in money mistakes. I had a 3,000 square-foot studio in Hoboken [New Jersey] for four years. By the end of my forth year, I was almost breaking even, then we got flooded by [Hurricane] Sandy. But I learned so much from that. I invested in another e-commerce startup in 2014 and spent, on an actor’s salary, a fair amount. We never officially opened the company but in those 10 months, I learned so much. You can always make the money back. I feel like I took my money chances in businesses but I learned from them.

MarketWatch: What’s something that people don’t realize about “Hamilton”?

Stewart: People ask how we feel, say this must be the most exciting thing. They’re looking from the outside in. I say this has been my Everest, because it’s one of the hardest shows I’ve ever done. People are seeing the flash. People are seeing us when the lights are on. People are not seeing when we’re going to physical therapy, vocal therapy, taking Epson salt baths – all the things to maintain this.

I think people don’t realize that the hardest work is done outside the show, to be able to make sure that when we do the show, it is as unbelievable as you expected. Again, the demand for greatness is always much more then what people see. It’s like the iceberg underneath it to keep it going – everything from company management, rehearsals, dance captains, stage management – is crazy. The real work is always unseen. What people are seeing is all they’re supposed to see. 

In life and business, whether you’re working toward a great relationship, writing a musical, working on a presentation, you always have to know that 90% of your work is unseen. It won’t be applauded, nobody will care. You gotta suck it up so you can live that 10%.

MarketWatch: Your “Hamilton” stage entrance is explosive as Lafayette, and amusingly grand as Jefferson. Sometimes leaders need to speak to a crowd, but the crowd isn’t energized. How do you draw out the audience?

Stewart: You don’t play to a crowd. You play to your material – whether that be the scripts or the character that I’m playing. For public speakers, if you’re getting up to speak, you’re bringing new information or telling information in a different way that can stand alone. You just worry about weather your material is so strong that eventually they’re going to find their way in. It’s like music – when they hear a song for the first time, they may not like it, but a couple minutes in they might feel it. Otherwise you’re going to be fishing for energy or responses that may never get there. 

MarketWatch: You deliver one of the shows most memorable lines – “Immigrants: we get the job done” – eight times a week. How do you make sure it never flops?

Stewart: I have to calm myself down because some people may not want to hear it. How I deliver it? I just deliver it very matter of fact. When something’s a good line, you don’t need to put anything extra on it. The thing about art or presenting any sort of material is, we’re not doing it for the reaction. We’re doing it because it’s something that needs to be shared.

MarketWatch: You’ve been in the show since the very beginning. There have been reincarnations of the company, but you were the original cast. 

Stewart: I always compare it to the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls. There will never be anything else like the original cast. The choices the new actors are making are fantastic and some choices they’re making I like better. But it will never be the same again and that’s why it was so special. There’s just a nostalgia about it, it’s like an era.