Video: Leslie Odom Jr. Talks Tony Noms for PURLIE VICTORIOUS and Good Broadway Etiquette

Leslie Odom Jr. stopped by TODAY on Wednesday to discuss starring and producing the play Purlie Victorious, which recently was nominated for 6 Tony Awards.

"It's amazing," the performer said about the nominations. "Somewhere inside you, you have to believe in your imagination that it can be successful....Those times when the outside world can mirror what you imagine yourself...it's a very powerful moment."

Though Odom received a nomination as an actor, he says that the most meaningful of all the nominations was for Best Revival of a Play.

"This play hadn't been done in 62 years. It sat in a drawer. It feels like an old heirloom that was in Grandaddy's attic."

Later on in the interview, he also went on to discuss good Broadway etiquette for audience members.

For instance, if you arrive at the performance late, "you try to get to your seat as quickly as possible with as little fanfare as possible."

Watch the full interview now!

Purlie Victorious, starring Tony Award winner Leslie Odom, Jr., tells the story of a Black preacher’s scheme to reclaim his inheritance and win back his church from a plantation owner. Written by Kennedy Center honoree Ossie Davis with direction by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon (“A Raisin in the Sun”),  the show recently played a limited run at the MUSIC BOX Theatre through February 4, 2024.

The show was also recorded as part of PBS' GREAT PERFORMANCES lineup and can be viewed on PBS.org.

Leslie Odom, Jr. is a multifaceted Tony and Grammy Award-winning performer – spanning Broadway, television, film and music. Odom Jr. is best known for his breakout role as ‘Aaron Burr’ in the smash hit Broadway musical Hamilton, for which he won the Tony Award for “Best Actor in a Musical” and a Grammy Award as a principal soloist on the original cast recording. He made his Broadway debut in RENT at the age of 17. He also starred opposite Lin-Manuel Miranda and Karen Olivo in a 2014 City Center Encores! revival of Jonathan Larson’s Tick, Tick…Boom!

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