McCallie grad Chris Lee lands roles in 'Hamilton' through a video (Times Free Press):
This time last year, Chris Lee had just submitted a video audition for the Chicago and touring casts of "Hamilton."
"We all know how that works — nobody watches a video, right?" he jokes.
"But I thought, 'What the heck?' It would be cool. 'Hamilton' was my favorite musical. So I wrote a rap I thought was pretty funny. Its premise was 'You don't know me, but you should hire me,' and I sang a Stevie Wonder song," recalls the McCallie School graduate who, at that time, was just starting his junior year at Belmont University in Nashville.
"Hamilton" is, of course, the Tony Award-winning musical written by and starring Lin-Manuel Miranda, who left the New York production of the musical last summer after announcements of a new production in Chicago and two North American tours had been released.
Lee had forgotten about his video by the time he got an email in March asking him to come to New York for a round of auditions. He read for the part of Hercules Mulligan, the tailor who is Alexander Hamilton's friend, then returned to Nashville.
"The fact I got a callback was enough for me," says the actor, who is listed as Chris De'Sean Lee in the "Hamilton" playbook.
But it wasn't enough for the "Hamilton" team. They emailed Lee a few weeks later for a second callback with the full creative team. This time, Miranda sat in on auditions.
"They had me read for a bunch of characters. It was the most gratifying experience to see them react to how I interpreted the characters," Lee says. "They also made me sing my Stevie Wonder song."
The second week of June, a third email informed him that he had been cast in the dual roles of Marquis de LaFayette and Thomas Jefferson in "Hamilton" Chicago.
"It's all a blur. I was in a Walmart. I know I ran around, screaming at people and scaring old ladies," he laughingly describes.
Just take a moment to let that success story sink in.
Chris Lee is an unknown (then) 21-year-old, no formal musical theater training other than college classes, no big-stage experience — and suddenly he lands a major role in the hottest musical in the nation. It's the type "discovery" story from which legends are made.
Second semester of that freshman year [at McCallie high school], a friend dared him to audition for the spring musical, "Annie."
"I did NOT want to," he laughs. "I wasn't a drama person. I went the audition just to take the dare, but I wasn't serious about it. In fact, I remember acting like I was a radio personality just to be funny — and they loved it."
He was cast as radio announcer Bert Healy. In following years, he was cast in "Hairspray" and played Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables."
"Those were pivotal years for me, finding out who I was and who I wanted to be," the actor says.
"I remember my mom telling me after 'Hairspray' at McCallie that I should pursue this. She said, 'Do you know people get paid for this?'" he laughs.
After "Annie," he quit sports to focus on music, signing up for anything music- or drama-related on campus. To encourage his talent, Lee's grandmother gave him a keyboard for Christmas during his junior year at McCallie. He started deejaying parties his senior year and was in demand for events ranging from Sweet 16 parties to bar mitzvahs.
While Lee credits his teachers at McCallie for helping him discover his talent, he credits his mother for keeping him level-headed while he chased success.
"She is a single mom who had me at 17 and made lots of sacrifices for me and my brother," he says. "On opening night she was there, beaming with pride. For me, that was the best part of the night, to know I did something that made her proud."
read more about Chris’s school days in the full article!
