Hamilton Comes to Overture Center January 6-18, 2026: Making History Accessible
Above: A photo of the cast from Hamilton; Below: Christian Magby
by Jonathan Gramling
While Christian Magby, who plays Jefferson and Lafayette in the Broadway musical Hamilton coming to Overture in January, has always had an acting influence in his life — his father is an actor — but has chosen his own road to travel, musical theater.
“I started training when I was 12-years-old with this company called the Youth Ensemble of Atlanta,” Magby said. “It’s a company that’s been around since 1990. It’s a Southeast Music Premier Theater Program. They mostly create theater that is based on the issues. And so we were writing musicals about teen pregnancy and the HIV and AIDS epidemic and what it just means to be a Black kid coming up in society. That was my intro into musicals. I wrote my first musical when I was 15-years-old. That gave me a leg up in wanting to compose and create.”
From there, Magby studied Performing arts — since renamed Acting — at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
“The school itself has several different arts disciplines like fashion marketing and management, film and TV, illustration, and animation,” Magby said. “I was part of their acting program. It really goes into not just doing acting for theater, but also film and TV.”
For graduation, Magby had to do a Showcase to exhibit all that he had learned at the college. And you never know who is in the audience.
“I was fortunate to graduate with an agent and a manager coming out of my showcase my senior year,” Magby said. “It was kind of different shows back to back. I’ve been lucky over the years. I’ve worked professionally as an actor in Atlanta ever since I graduated. And probably I was a little too into that. I was lucky to also be considered for music lessons. That became a good bit of my career, back and forth, since I graduated, between acting and music directing. And two years ago, I was also composing. It’s been good to be multi-talented to stay employed.”
Magby went from regional theater to movies and TV.
“Around 2020, I was able to transfer over into film and TV, which was nice,” Magby observed. “It was incredible working with Regina King in her film One Night in Miami. It was probably my second on-camera thing that I did. And so to be around Regina King as director whom I watched on TV since I was a kid and to be a part of her first feature film as a director was incredible. And I worked with Leslie Odom Jr. who was a very noticeable Hamilton. It was just a really, really cool thing to do.”
Part of staying employed as an actor is being persistent and not letting no be the final word.
“I auditioned for Hamilton a couple of times prior to 2020,” Magby said. “And this time around, my manager sent me an audition, I want to say, a week before Mother’s Day. I submitted a tape. I found out I got a call back the next day, so I flew to New York the following week. And 2-3 weeks later, I found that I had it.”
Hamilton is based on Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury in the newly formed United States of America. The events of the day are seen through Hamilton’s eyes.
“It follows his life from when he first met Aaron Burr and then follows everything that he has created,” Magby said. “One of the phrases that come to me over and over in the show is, ‘How do you write if you are running out of time?’ To me that just demonstrates his fervor in always committing to what he believes in. I think the great part about the show is that we are not only getting to see him when he is at the top of his game, we’re also able to see the lows. I think it is the relatability to who we are as people or we have seen as the people who are accomplishing these incredible tasks still have the same trials and tribulations that we go through.”
In Hamilton, Magby plays Thomas Jefferson and Marquis de Lafayette.
“Jefferson and Lafayette are two completely different characters. Lafayette is the famous fighting Frenchman of the American Revolution. He was an ally to Hamilton. He just wants to do what he can to make a better world for all Americans whereas Jefferson is kind of the same. It’s interesting because now when it comes to Jefferson now, it is more a fight within the States. And so they both have these very strong, passionate views about what they think is good for America. They go about it very differently. This is around the time when the Constitution was written. That’s when Jefferson was really making his way.”
The structure of the play allows Magby to play two entirely different people.
“The one thing that helps is that I play one character in one act and the other one in another act,” Magby said. “The break between acts definitely helps. It’s funny because as different as they are, I love approaching them with the same level of passion and determination. I feel that they both carry it. But they have very different ways of thinking. So because of that, I think I’m able to physically lean into how they carry themselves in places. And I think not only the thought process behind that, but also the clothes make the man as well. I think Lafayette wears boots in a lot of then first act and feels a lot heavier. And just the physicality holding regard to the space in a way where it is giving him this curiosity about life, whereas Jefferson walks with a little more swagger. People wouldn’t be able to tell it’s the same person playing both people, especially since I wear a wig in the second act. A lot of people ask me who I played when it’s over.”
The beauty of Hamilton is that it tells an important piece of American history with a multicultural cast.
“In a way, it rewrites history,” Magby said. “I feel it is a really cool mechanism to be able to have us tell the story from our perspectives. We weren’t necessarily on this side of history. But I think being able to somehow take ownership of the story just comes with being included in this part of history that we want to share with the audience. A lot of the things in this story I’m sure I learned 20-30 years ago. This is in a way that sticks to me because I feel included in the story.”
And it has a sound track that will knock your socks off.
“There isn’t a musical like Hamilton in terms of we do have operas, but this is one that is told through the lens of hip hop, R&B and pop,” Magby said. “That is one thing that already sets this above most all of the time. Especially from my friends who are not my musical theater people, but my peoples who aren’t into theater, I always tell them that this is the show that is going to change their mind. I think to be able to receive information in a play that is historical has not been done in a way that is this accessible to an audience.”
Hamilton is a play that audiences are very familiar with and still keep coming back for more.
“Oh yes, people know the songs,” Magby said with a laugh. “We don’t hear them as much, which is good. I will hear from other friends that they hear people singing who are sitting next to them. I took my brother to see the show about three years ago. He had never seen it before. He leaned over to a lady who had a kid, who knew all of the songs. She said, ‘I’m so sorry.’ I said, ‘That’s cool.’ There are definitely people who do sing along. The cast doesn’t hear it physically on stage. It would be overwhelming if we did. But people definitely know the song track, which is good for us because it keeps us on our Ps and Qs. If we don’t know words, they will.”
Magby is enjoying his first touring Broadway play, traveling across North America performing in new places and places he has worked before.
“I am definitely looking forward to being in Chicago,” Magby said. “I was in Chicago for a couple of weeks working on a show that I wrote last year. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, if I could only be there for a little bit longer.’ To be there for two months is going to be very exciting. And my first professional anything with theater was at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. And I was there for about five months. I am very excited to be coming to Wisconsin and check out Madison, Milwaukee and Appleton.”
When Magby was asked what his dream role would be, he replied in all seriousness that he hasn’t imagined it yet.
“It’s so funny because I felt like I used to have a dream role all the time when I was growing up,” Magby said. “And I think for me now, a dream role would be to originate a role. That, to me, is the dream, just to be able to tap into a character that hasn’t been created yet and kind of create the blueprint of who they are.”
Christian Magby is living a dream touring with Hamilton, an experience like no other.