Interview: Morgan Anita Wood is the August 2024 Debut of the Month

Morgan Anita Wood is currently making her Broadway debut as Eliza in Hamilton. Her credits include Hamilton (And Peggy Tour, Eliza Tour), Kinky Boots (Hollywood Bowl), Loving and Loving (Actors Theatre of Louisville). 

BroadwayWorld spoke with Wood about her long journey with Hamilton from the Puerto Rico production starring Lin-Manuel Miranda, to understudying all three Schuyler sisters, to debuting as Eliza on Broadway.

Read the full interview and check out photography by BroadwayWorld's own Jennifer Broski below!

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After performing in Hamilton for nearly six years across North America, how does it feel to finally make your Broadway debut in this show and in the role of Eliza?

It’s so funny because I still feel as though I am processing that reality. A year ago is when we closed the And Peggy tour in Toronto, and in that moment I was convinced I might never get to play Eliza again. So, I was trying to soak it up. When you close a tour, you just don’t know where you might reside in the show, if ever again. And so, to then a year later to be performing the role on Broadway, and making my debut in this way, it is truly one of my biggest dreams come true. Little Morgan has been freaking out and will continue to freak out [laughs].

It hits me in very divergent ways. I have to look out at the audience at one point, take in the space when I’m re-living moments in ‘Helpless’ that are repeated in ‘Satisfied’, and I got emotional the other day because I was like, ‘I’m on Broadway!’ and I really need to take moments like that because sometimes it feels so big, I have such big feelings about it all, that it’s hard to process. But I’m beyond grateful.

You first debuted in Hamilton during its limited run in Puerto Rico, performing alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda. How did that experience shape your journey with the show?

Oh my gosh, it was amazing to be a part of the show when it was first ginormous. Not that the show’s popularity has diminished, but it’s been open for nine years now as opposed to the two or three that it was open when I first started. It was kind of wild to be part of the phenomenon of it all at that point, and it really prepared me in a way to grasp the impact the show was having, both on a community like Puerto Rico in the midst of a devastating hurricane, but also in terms of the outreach of the show, and reaching people who aren’t even necessarily fans of musical theatre or theatre in general, and being able to captivate a much wider audience in such an unprecedented and, not be too cliché, revolutionary show. I think it really helped me understand how much I enjoyed telling this story. I never would have thought that I would be a part of this amazing story for essentially six years now. But I couldn’t get enough of it. It’s so good. People ask me all the time if I’m sick of it, and the answer is no! It really prepared me for the longevity of it all I think.

You understudied all three Schuyler sisters before taking on the role of Eliza full-time now. How has your understanding and portrayal of Eliza evolved over the years?

I think everything that happens to us is meant for us. And I don’t know that a younger version of Morgan would have been prepared to tell her story in the Broadway arena. I started telling Eliza’s story as an understudy when I was 24 going on 25 years old. And I was in a very different position in my life, the way I thought of myself and my own self-worth, and I wasn’t in therapy yet [laughs]. So, I think the work on me, I do have to thank Eliza for a large part of her being the catalyst for that work. Because her resilience, her capacity to forgive, which is my favorite thing about her, her strength, it was beyond inspiring to me that she lived through all of this, and still managed to uphold this man’s legacy so selflessly.

And so, over the years, I think I have grown in my grace-giving attitude, my capacity to forgive, and just loving myself and embracing myself. And I think she’s really helped me figure out how to do that to my fullest capacity at this point. I just turned 30, and it just makes a lot of sense that as I turn a corner into this next decade, I turn with her, now on Broadway for the first time. Because I have prepared myself with all the inner work that I have done for the outer accomplishment of it all.

How does it feel to be working alongside the Broadway cast?

They are the best! It’s such a warm, beautiful group of people right now, and I kind of have to pinch myself all the time. It’s funny because Trey Curtis, who plays Hamilton, we go way back. We were both first understudies in the show together in Puerto Rico, and we had our first day of Hamilton together. I have so many pictures of us as understudies, playing different roles in the show, and now to be looking at each other, starring on Broadway in the show, it really blows my mind.

And then I have moments where I look up and I’m singing with Jennie Harney – Fleming or Stephanie Umoh, whose career I followed for years! Since I’ve joined the show, I’ve worked with people I’ve looked up to, to my peers. And that’s something my dad always said to me, these people will become your peers as long as you believe in yourself. And so that helped me so much in my journey. I am so grateful to be a part of this very heart-forward group, many of whom have been with the show as long as I have if not longer and are still just as exhilarated to share this story with audiences.

Are there any changes with the Broadway production you’ve had to get used to?

I have to shout out my dresser, Luciany, I’ve just never felt so spoiled and taken care of by someone throughout my entire show. It’s really wild because having been on tour, we work with these amazing dressers, but they’re local to each city, so we work with them for only a few weeks at a time. Whereas I’ve really gotten to grow this rapport with this now friend and dresser backstage, who goes above and beyond to make sure I’m both comfortable and have a very successful show. And I literally could not do it without her, let alone all the other backstage company we have.

The only major thing that’s different, hilariously enough, is there is no crossover, and typically there isn’t in a Broadway house. I only have one entrance where I have to walk all the way down through the basement to the other side of the stage pretty quickly to make it in time. And I was so anxious about that when starting [laughs]. There are a lot of stairs in Broadway houses, I’ve learned! Getting used to all the new leg workouts that I am fortunate to be doing now [laughs]. I’m so grateful that I’ve become very accustomed to making adjustments in the show organically, whether it’s with different scene partners every day, or new lights, or a new mixer on sound, you adapt and you figure it out. And I’m so grateful for everyone around me who simply just makes my life easier.

Do you have a favorite onstage moment?

I’ll never forget the first time I listened to ‘Burn’, I was actually working at Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts in Indiana, where I’m from originally. And I was on a road trip with one of my best friends at the time, and I hadn’t listened to Hamilton yet, because I was like, “I just don’t want to jump on the band wagon of it all!” [laughs]. And she played ‘Burn’ for me, and I just remember sitting there thinking, ‘Oh, man I have to sing this song,’ [laughs]. It’s funny, I would go through things later in life that I couldn’t even anticipate, both fortunately and unfortunately hat would prepare me to have a lot of good fuel for singing that song. And the fact that I get to do it on Broadway is nothing short of an honor.

To hold her story so carefully and to make sure that I tell it with as much integrity and truth as I can every single time I’m in this building and on that stage, it’s an honor. And then I have so many small moments where I get to just giggle on stage and have moments of levity with everyone in the building, to take a break from the gravity that is Eliza’s story. And so, that’s really fun, to exchange little laughs or winks or whatever it might be, to continue to bring lightness to telling a pretty intense story.

Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to share?

Overall, one of the coolest things I think I’ve encountered while doing this, I’m still getting used to doing the stage door, because my imposter syndrome screams when I walk outside and people recognize me from the show they just watched. It’s just such a wild experience to me. But to be able to look little girls in the eye, especially little girls of color, and see the impact that Eliza’s story has on them, or hear that she’s their favorite character, they are the most honest audience members. Even if they are so young, too young to have experienced these big feelings Eliza goes through, it is such a treat and pleasure to get to hear from audience members right after the show every day, what this story, and Eliza’s story means to them. And I just have to shout out the fans of this show for, selfishly, bringing me so much joy in life, and reminding me of my ‘why’.