‘Hamilton’ Original Cast Member Renee Goldsberry Says Performing In Front Of Michelle Obama Is Her Best Moment

Renee Elise Goldsberry recently reflected on her favorite moment from her time in Hamilton days after the Broadway show became available to stream on Disney Plus.

The actress and singer was a part of the popular show’s original Broadway cast back in 2015. She played Alexander Hamilton’s sister-in-law in the hip-hop musical. Hamilton follows the life of Alexander Hamilton, who was one of the founding fathers of the U.S.

The show rose to fame almost as soon as it went to Broadway, and had several star-studded guests when it first opened, including Beyonce, Julia Roberts, and Bill and Hilary Clinton. Although she met a slew of celebrities along the way, Goldsberry recently told Essence which theater goer made her the most starstruck. Goldsberry said Michelle Obama was the one public figure she was the most nervous and excited to meet.

“For this show to be born during that administration and perform for them, I’ll be honest, I was way more nervous with Michelle than Barack,” Goldsberry shared. “And I love them both so much. But that was probably the most humbling experience of my life — playing this character Angelica Schuyler that is so patterned off a queen of that stature. And to think I did a great job on the stage that night and then meet her.”

Hamilton’s original Broadway cast included Goldsberry, Daveed Diggs, Anthony Ramos, and the show’s creator, Lin Manuel Miranda.

In 2016, Obama declared the musical as some of the best art she’s ever experienced, per Mashable. She said she was amazed when she first saw the show off-Broadway and wanted to give high school students the privilege of seeing the cast perform for a special White House event. At the event, the former first lady also joked that her daughters were skeptical about how “cool” the musical would be simply because their mother suggested it.

After several years on Hamilton, Goldsberry left the musical in September of 2016. At the time the musical came to Broadway, Goldsberry said the cast was affected by the early years of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Now that Hamilton is available to stream in a post-Obama era and amid the protests for George Floyd, Goldsberry said the significance of the show is important now more than ever. She said while she hopes Hamilton’s fans will enjoy the stream, she wants them to remain aware of the current events that are affecting society.

“We need to remember our humanity and come together,” Goldsberry said. “We thought it was about that then someone filmed George Floyd being murdered.”