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Broadway star Renée Elise Goldsberry to make Amp debut with evening of classic standards, original works

Goldsberry

Sara Toth
Editor

It’s been more than a year since Renée Elise Goldsberry was set to make her Amphitheater debut, and in that time, Chautauquans have been willing to … wait for it.

Goldsberry, the award-winning, multi-hyphenate Broadway star — perhaps best known as Angelica Schuyler in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit Hamilton — will take the stage at 8:15 p.m. tonight in the Amp, with a performance sure to leave the audience “Satisfied.” 

For originating the role of Angelica Schuyler, Goldsberry took home a Tony Award, Grammy Award, and Drama Desk Award; when the musical was filmed for the Disney+ streaming service, she added an Emmy nomination to that list.

“While we know her name from her remarkable role as Angelica in Hamilton, Chautauquans should know that she continues to do bold work in so many areas,” said Deborah Sunya Moore, senior vice president and chief program officer, noting in particular Goldsberry’s recent turn in Shakespeare in the Park’s production of The Tempest. “She plays Prospera as a mother — with her children in the cast. She’s a creator and thought leader I can’t wait to hear from.”

In addition to her work on stage, Goldsberry has also portrayed the titular character in HBO’s adaptation of Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and stars in Tina Fey’s Peacock sitcom “Girls5Eva,” which is moving to Netflix this year, and Marvel’s “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.” Also forthcoming this year is her debut album of original songs.

“It’s a great honor to perform music that other great songwriters have written,” Goldsberry told the Daily in an interview previewing her canceled performance last summer. “But I’m also a songwriter, so it’s really satisfying to speak my own thoughts and share sentiments musically that are very organic to who I am.”

Moore has been anticipating Goldsberry’s performance, as “she was meant to be a star of our 2022 season.” Goldsberry had to cancel last-minute due to illness, but is now ready to deliver her concert of Broadway hits and American songbook classics.

“I just love coming together with people and singing these songs that we all love,” Goldsberry told the Daily. “It’s fun to host that kind of party.” 

On stage, on screen, or in the studio, Goldsberry said last year that there was a particularly electrifying aspect of performing live.

“I think playing for live audiences is probably the most thrilling and sometimes the most daunting,” Goldsberry said. “But the more I’ve done it, the more I feel it is the most authentic expression of who I am as a performer and as a person.”

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The author Sara Toth

Sara Toth is in her seventh summer as editor of The Chautauquan Daily and works year-round in Chautauqua Institution’s Department of Education. Previously, she served four years as the Daily’s assistant and then managing editor. An alum of the Daily internship program, she is a native of Pittsburgh(ish), attended Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, and worked for nearly four years as a reporter in the Baltimore Sun Media Group. She lives in Jamestown with her husband (a photographer) and her Lilac (a cat).