An actor with Boston roots returns to the city in musical Hamilton

THE BROADWAY MUSICAL HAMILTON IS CELEBRATING ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY ON BROADWAY. AND IT’S ALSO BACK IN BOSTON. ONE OF THE CAST ALUMNI IS MANDY GONZALEZ. SHE WAS IN BOSTON RECENTLY PERFORMING WITH THE BOSTON POPS. I GOT A CHANCE TO SIT DOWN WITH HER TO TALK ABOUT THE HAMILTON’S IMPACT AND HER ROLE AS ANGELICA SCHUYLER, WHICH SHE PLAYED ON STAGE FOR SIX YEARS TO SEE IT AND HOW IT’S LIVED THROUGH ALL OF THESE WAVES AND HAS BEEN SUCH A. I GUESS SUCH A. A DOCUMENT OF OUR LIFE DURING THIS TIME, BECAUSE EVERYTHING THAT’S SAID IN THAT SHOW IS SO RELEVANT. YEAH. SHE SAYS, THE MAGIC OF LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA’S beat IS WHAT BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER, AND THE MUSICAL IS today BACK ON BROADWAY IN BOSTON. AND JOINING US today IS BOSTON NATIVE AND EMERSON GRAD KAI TOMEI. O CAN WE DO IT AGAIN? SORRY, GUYS. WELCOME BACK. THE BROADWAY MUSICAL HAMILTON IS CELEBRATING ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY ON BROADWAY, AND IT’S ALSO BACK IN BOSTON. ONE OF THE CAST ALUMNI IS MANDY GONZALEZ. SHE WAS IN BOSTON RECENTLY PERFORMING WITH THE BOSTON POPS. I GOT A CHANCE TO SIT DOWN WITH HER TO TALK ABOUT HAMILTON’S IMPACT AND HER ROLE AS ANGELICA SCHUYLER, WHICH SHE PLAYED ON STAGE FOR SIX YEARS TO SEE IT AND HOW IT’S LIVED THROUGH ALL OF THESE WAVES AND HAS BEEN SUCH A. I GUESS, SUCH A. A DOCUMENT OF OUR LIFE DURING THIS TIME, BECAUSE EVERYTHING THAT’S SAID IN THAT SHOW IS SO RELEVANT. YEAH, SHE SAYS, THE MAGIC OF LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA’S beat IS WHAT BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER, AND THE MUSICAL IS today BACK ON BROADWAY IN BOSTON. JOINING US today IS BOSTON NATIVE AND EMERSON GRAD KAI TAMIKA CODY. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US, KAI. HEY, THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. GOOD MORNING. HI THERE. OKAY, SO YOU PLAY HERCULES MULLIGAN, JAMES MADISON IN THIS HISTORICAL PLAY, THIS BROADWAY MUSICAL. I GOT A CHANCE TO SEE YOU ON SUNDAY, BY THE WAY, AT THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE. YOU WERE AMAZING IN THAT SHOW. HOW DOES IT FEEL TO STEP INTO THOSE ROLES? IT’S VERY COOL. TO TO BE IN A A SHOW THAT THAT HAS, HAS THIS MUCH OF AN AUDIENCE AND A AND A FOLLOWING. I GREW UP PERFORMING IN, IN A LOT OF SHAKESPEARE PLAYS, WHICH IS MY ONLY PRIOR EXPERIENCE WITH KIND OF AUDIENCE MEMBERS HAVING SO MANY. EXISTING WARM ASSOCIATIONS WITH THE WITH THE CHARACTER THAT I’M PLAYING. SO I’VE BEEN HAVING GREAT CONVERSATIONS WITH AUDIENCE MEMBERS ABOUT HOW THEY FEEL ABOUT THE SHOW AND HOW THEY FEEL ABOUT THE CHARACTERS. AND I HAVE THE, THE, THE OPPORTUNITY TO TRY AND DO THEM JUSTICE EVERY WEEK. IT’S AMAZING. I MEAN, YOU LIKELY SAW HAMILTON EARLY ON IN ITS TEN YEAR RUN today, WHICH IS WILD THAT IT’S BEEN TEN YEARS. HOW HAS BEING IN THE PERFORMANCE CHANGED YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF CONVERSATIONS ABOUT HISTORY? MAYBE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT REPRESENTATION? YEAH, I THINK THE SHOW IS IS A REAL. REALLY INTERESTING INTRO POINT INTO OUR CONVERSATIONS ABOUT EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY. I THINK IT COVERS A BUNCH OF SUBJECT MATERIAL THAT I’M REALLY INTERESTED IN, NOT JUST BECAUSE IT’S IT’S, YOU KNOW WHAT WHAT WE. SHARE AS KIND OF SOME OF THE FOUNDATIONAL ACTS OF OUR, OF OUR NATION, BUT ALSO BECAUSE WE GET TO KIND OF. USE IT AS A, AS A JUMPING OFF POINT TO ENGAGING WITH THESE HISTORICAL FIGURES AS HUMAN BEINGS, FLAWED AND COMPLICATED AS AS THEY WERE. AND I THINK WHEN WE ENCOUNTER THEM AS, AS HISTORICAL REALITIES OR IDEAS, THEY’RE THEY KIND OF BECOME A LITTLE MORE STATIC THAN WE CAN UNDERSTAND. MAYBE CONTEMPORARY POLITICIANS AS BEING. BUT I THINK WHEN YOU WHEN YOU SEE THEM LIVING AND BREATHING ON STAGE AND TRYING TO CONVINCE PEOPLE, AUDIENCE MEMBERS HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO EITHER, YOU KNOW, BELIEVE THEIR RHETORIC OR THINK CRITICALLY ABOUT IT. AND I THINK THAT’S A VERY IMPORTANT SKILL IN OUR CONTEMPORARY POLITICS. AND I THINK THAT’S A VERY IMPORTANT SKILL TO HONE ABOUT OUR HISTORICAL POLITICS. YEAH. YOU KNOW, WE MENTIONED IT EARLIER. EARLIER YOU LIVED IN BOSTON WHEN YOU WERE A CHILD, RETURNED FOR COLLEGE AT EMERSON. HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE PERFORMING RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER FROM YOUR SCHOOL? ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL. YEAH. TO TO BE ABLE TO TO HAVE A UNFAMILIAR EXPERIENCE IN A, IN A FAMILIAR PLACE IS, IS REALLY WONDERFUL. I PASSED BY THE THE OPERA HOUSE PRETTY MUCH EVERY, EVERY DAY WHEN I WAS AT SCHOOL DOWNTOWN, AND I HAD NEVER ACTUALLY BEEN INSIDE IT UNTIL THIS SHOW. IT’S VERY BEAUTIFUL IN THERE. AND YEAH, TO BE ABLE TO TO CONNECT WITH LOVED ONES AND FAMILIAR PLACES. WOW. YOU KNOW, GETTING TO BE INSIDE THE FUN OF THIS JOB IS IS THE MOST FUN THAT I’VE HAD ON TOUR SO FAR. YEAH, IT’S PRETTY COOL. I, I GOT TO ASK YOU THIS BECAUSE TEN YEARS AND HAVING THE IMPACT THAT HAMILTON HAS STILL EVEN TEN YEARS LATER, ARE YOU SURPRISED BY THAT BEING IN THE SHOW AND HOW DOES IT FEEL BEING PART OF THAT IMPACT? I KNOW YOU SAID YOU YOU TALKED WITH AUDIENCE MEMBERS TO HEAR WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY. I MEAN, WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THAT? YEAH, I MEAN, ON A ON A HUMAN LEVEL, IT’S IT’S INCREDIBLE TO, TO BE IN A PIECE OF THEATER THAT STILL GETS RESPONDED TO, YOU KNOW, LIKE A SPORTING EVENT. PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, WHEN, WHEN WE’RE, WE’RE DOING OUR JOBS. WELL, THE, THE EXCITEMENT IS REALLY PALPABLE. AND THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO ARE REALLY EXCITED TO ENGAGE WITH IT, WHICH IS A VERY, VERY COOL FEELING TO WITNESS. I THINK. IT’S IT’S ENDURING POPULARITY IS SOMETHING THAT’S REALLY, REALLY INTERESTING FOR, YOU KNOW, CULTURAL CRITICS AND ARTISTS TO, TO ENGAGE WITH. I THINK THIS HAS BEEN A, A SHOW THAT IS SPEAKING ABOUT AMERICA IN A, IN A VERY PARTICULAR WAY, A VERY PARTICULAR TIME IN OUR COUNTRY’S HISTORY. AND I THINK THERE’S THERE’S A LOT TO UNPACK AND REFLECT ON IN TERMS OF WHAT, WHAT IN THE THEMES OF THE SHOW EITHER RESONATE OR SATISFY CURIOSITIES FOR ITS AUDIENCE MEMBERS, BESIDES THE FACT THAT IT’S A REALLY IMMACULATELY CONSTRUCTED PIECE OF THEATER? YEAH, YEAH, IT’S A BEAUTIFUL SHOW AND IT’S STILL SEEING YOU GUYS ON STAGE. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL TO movie, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE PROBABLY, QUOTE, SING RAP HAMILTON ALL THE TIME. QUICKLY. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE LINE FROM HAMILTON? MY FAVORITE LINE IT’S. PERSONALLY, IN THE SHOW I GET THE MOST PLEASURE OUT OF. MY CHARACTER IN ACT TWO, JAMES MADISON, BECAUSE I THINK IT’S ALWAYS A LITTLE BIT MORE FUN TO TO BE A A VILLAIN. I THINK OF A SOMEWHAT OF A VILLAINOUS FIGURE. AND THE FIRST THING THAT CAME TO MIND IS ACTUALLY NOT PERHAPS A LINE WRITTEN INTO THE SHOW. SO MAYBE I SHOULDN’T SAY THAT ON ON TV, BUT. IN OUR IN OUR OUR CABINET BATTLES, THERE ARE. A LOT OF EXTEMPORANEOUS COMMENTARY ON THE TWO FIGURES FIGHTING FOR FOR POLITICAL SUPREMACY. REGULARLY WHEN WHEN THOMAS JEFFERSON NOTES THAT ALEXANDER HAMILTON IS NOT SECRETARY OF STATE, I RESPOND WITH AN EMPHATIC HE IS NOT. AND THAT’S ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS TO SAY. I REMEMBER THAT, THAT’S FOR SURE. KAI, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME AND WISH YOU CONTI

CityLine: An actor with Boston roots returns to the city in musical Hamilton

Celebrating 10 years of a groundbreaking production.

Updated: 11:59 AM EDT Oct 5, 2025

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It’s been 10 years since Hamilton first revolutionized musical theater. Actor Kai Thomani Tshikosi talks about the play’s global influence as he takes the stage Broadway in Boston’s production this month.

BOSTON —

It’s been 10 years since Hamilton first revolutionized musical theater. Actor Kai Thomani Tshikosi talks about the play’s global influence as he takes the stage Broadway in Boston’s production this month.