What comes next? Well, in Andrew Rannells' case it will be reigning over Broadway as King George in Hamilton! The Tony nominee is set to step in from October 27 through November 29 for current star Jonathan Groff, who is departing the production to work on the final installment of Looking. Groff will return to the Richard Rodgers Theatre on December 1.
Rannells received a Tony nod for his performance as Elder Price in The Book of Mormon. He’s also appeared on the Great White Way in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Jersey Boys and Hairspray. His screen credits include The Intern, Girls, The New Normal and Bachelorette. Rannells will be the third actor to play His Majesty; Groff replaced Brian d'Arcy James during the off-Broadway run earlier this year so James could headline Something Rotten!.
Directed by Thomas Kail and featuring a book, music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton is inspired by the book Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. The new musical follows the scrappy young immigrant who forever changed America, from bastard orphan to Washington's right hand man, rebel to war hero, loving husband caught in the country's first sex scandal to Treasury head who made an untrusting world believe in the American economy. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Eliza Hamilton and lifelong Hamilton friend and foe, Aaron Burr, all make appearances in the tuner about America’s fiery past.
Starring Miranda in the title role, the cast also currently includes Christopher Jackson as George Washington, Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr, Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton, Anthony Ramos as John Laurens/Phillip Hamilton, Daveed Diggs as Marquis De Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson, Renée Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler and Javier Muñoz as Hamilton alternate.