It’s hard to believe that Hamilton: An American Musical is about to celebrate its 10th anniversary — and original star Jasmine Cephas Jones can still remember all the highlights.
Ahead of the cast’s onstage reunion at the 2025 Tony Awards, Cephas Jones, 35, exclusively spoke to Us Weekly about the team’s star-studded opening night back in 2015.
“When we opened, it was like a rock show,” the actress told Us at New York City’s Rockefeller Center on Sunday, June 8. “I remember Lin [Manuel-Miranda, the writer and star] came out and it reminded me of, like, when Michael Jackson performed at the Super Bowl.”
She continued, “He just stood there and he took his glasses off and people were just screaming. Like, that’s how it was when Lin first came out [to take his bow]. I remember feeling like this crazy adrenaline rush, and it was so strong that I almost, like, blacked out.”
Jasmine, the daughter of late actor Ron Cephas Jones, played Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds in both the off-Broadway and Broadway productions of Hamilton, based on the life of historical figure Alexander Hamilton. She originally left the production in December 2016 and is a part of a special “mixtape” performance at Sunday’s Tony Awards.
Nearly the entire OG cast of Hamilton will perform on the Radio City Music Hall stage, including Miranda, 45, and Jasmine, as well as Renée Elise Goldsberry, Leslie Odom, Jr., Phillipa Soo, Daveed Diggs, Jonathan Groff, Christopher Jackson, Okieriete Onaodowan, Ariana DeBose, Anthony Ramos and more original company members.
While speaking with Us, Jasmine further looked back on what life has been like since leaving the theatrical phenomenon.
“[I would tell my younger self to] keep staying present,” Jasmine said. “Keep being in the moment because even though it was two years, it’s gonna go by so fast.”
Jasmine has previously been candid about what it was like to play dual roles in the same production.
“Both of them are, you know, very different. For Peggy, my goal was to show the love between all of the sisters,” Jasmine told Geeks of Color in 2020. “That wasn’t really that hard for me because I shared a dressing room with Philippa and Renée for six months off-Broadway. We got super, super, super, super close! Those girls really have become my sisters. And, you know, I think my goal in the first act was to really show love and support and how important it is for women to have that support system from other women.”
She added at the time, “With Maria Reynolds, you know, I loved it because I really got to sing an awesome song and belt! I really got to sing a dope R&B song almost every night, eight times a week. And for her, my goal, when I was playing her, my thought was survival mode, you know?”
Jasmine is now gearing up to join HBO’s Lanterns, teasing to Us that her character, Young Bernadette, is a “strong, tough mom.”
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