At a Recent Hamilton Performance, Two Actors Changed Leading Roles Mid-Show

Winter is upon us, which means so are various upper respiratory sicknesses. For many Broadway shows, that means understudies and swings become even more important than they are normally. Broadway's unsung heroes lay in waiting ready to go on in any number of giant, leading roles—sometimes with only moments of notice.

Usually, a principal is out and they're replaced with an understudy from the ensemble, who's themselves replaced with a swing.

And sometimes, there's the December 19 performance of Hamilton on Broadway.

According to a TikTok post from ensemble member Jennifer Geller, a unique set of circumstances that evening led to a highly unusual intermission role swap. The performance started with Alexander Hamilton standby Marc delaCruz on in the Tony-winning musical's title role. Kyle Scatliffe was in his regular role as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson. By intermission, Scatliffe was forced to go home due to sickness. And who happened to be the only person in the building left who's rehearsed to cover Lafayette and Jefferson? Marc delaCruz.

Luckily, there was one other person at the Richard Rodgers who was rehearsed to play Alexander Hamilton: ensemble member Alexander Ferguson. And that meant for Act Two, delaCruz became Jefferson and Ferguson became Hamilton, with swing Adam Ali-Perez taking over in Ferguson's ensemble track. Live theatre!

According to this Redditor who was in the audience, there were no complaints with performers at this caliber handling things. "I thought they both did a great job!," the audience member writes.

Hamilton continues its run at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, where the cast apparently works extra hard to make sure the show will go on. See Geller's account below.