On Wednesday May 4, the Tony Nominees met with the press to discuss their achievements, at the Paramount Hotel. Daveed Diggs, who plays Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson, in the incredible Hamilton, and the show’s set designer David Korins, sat down to talk about their nominations.
DAVID KORINS
Q:What inspired you for this set? :
A: I think the thing that inspired me the most was Lin’s work on it. I mean, just the creation of something like this…when I read it and listened to it, I felt like my goal was very clear. I needed to rise up to the profound level of genius that was set before me. SO that really was my due north… I mean I was inspired by so many things, i did endless amounts of research of Americana and early American ship building methods, and tons of nitty gritty details.
DAVEED DIGGS
Q: Are there aspects of yourself that you brought into Thomas Jefferson? :
A: I stole a lot from my grandfather and father, they are a lot more swagged out than I am. He also has a lot of Oakland California up in there- there’s sort of an old, pimp mentality that is in there, that is also my grandfather. He feels very Oakland to me, this kind of, effortless, cool in the face of everything- this presentation of cool, they do that in Oakland very well.
Q: Favorite moment so far in your run of Hamilton:
A: Probably, just a couple weeks ago, when we had our first student matinee. And we got there at 10:00 am, to watch them to the performances they had done, based off of the curriculum that’s been developed for Hamilton, and that was just… they were so amazing. Really just watching how kids have taken this thing that we have been doing, and made it their own? Using it to tell their own stories, and imprinting those on top of America’s stories, it’s all of the things you really hope would happen from a show like this. And we got to see it, AND they were brilliant, the talent of the next generation are crazy right now.
Q: How often do you find that you make a personal connection with the audience?
A: Well, with Lafayette, he barely knows that the audience is there, I barely see them. But as soon as I walk out with Jefferson, I wave to people and blow them kisses. And Jefferson doesn’t miss a beat, Jefferson hears every single thing the audience does, and is waiting for moments to connect with them. My saving grace is that I don’t see very well without my glasses, so I can really only connect with the first five rows….But yeah, I love the fact that I get to do that, that Jefferson is written in a way where he gets to do that. And it’s so useful, Lin might hate it in the battle scene because I’ll just be talking, literally having conversations with the front row. But Jefferson is also disrespectful, and Lin can handle it.
2016 Tony Awards Meet the Nominees Press Reception at the Paramount Hotel in New York City. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)
The show will air on June 12, 2016 on CBS live from the Beacon Theater. FIJI Water will serve as the official water for the 70th Annual Tony Awards.
