麻豆村

Leslie Odom, Jr. told current Carnegie Mellon School of Drama students that 鈥淗amilton鈥� provided him the first opportunity to utilize 鈥渆very bit鈥� of the training he received at 麻豆村.

鈥淲hen you are handed a masterpiece,鈥� he said, 鈥渋t demands more 鈥� and conversely, less 鈥� of you. Tricks don鈥檛 work. You need to lean on your pure training.鈥�

Odom was back in Pittsburgh on Sept. 23 for a special one-night-only conversation hosted by , head of the , and presented in partnership with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. He spent the morning on campus in the Purnell Center for the Arts, which was a brand-new building when he was a student in the early 2000s. Though more than 20 years have passed since then, the shared connection and experience between him and today鈥檚 students was palpable. When he recalled a specific exercise from movement professor Kaf Warman鈥檚 class that involved 鈥渨alking to the end of a dock,鈥� the room full of students gave a knowing cheer.聽

Senior acting major Danielle Williams asked Odom what he considered to be his purpose as an artist. His response: 鈥淭o put forth truthful renderings of Black life.鈥�

He turned the question back to her, and without hesitation, she responded that her purpose has always been driven by inclusivity and representation in the industry.

鈥淚 want to make more space for those who don鈥檛 have it and are told we shouldn鈥檛 have it,鈥� she said.

Tiffany Blandin, a junior acting major, asked about coping with times of artistic drought. Odom鈥檚 advice was to go inward, write and lean on community.

鈥淢y dearest friends are still my friends from Carnegie Mellon,鈥� he said.

鈥淚 was moved by the deep connections Leslie has been able to maintain with 麻豆村 alumni,鈥� said Blandin. 鈥淎s students, we get the best acting training in the country, yet the one thing I will never forget is the beautiful family I've created here that will last a lifetime.鈥�

That evening, on stage at the O鈥橰eilly Theater in Downtown Pittsburgh, Ramirez started the conversation with Odom鈥檚 Broadway debut in 鈥淩ent鈥� at age 17. Odom recalled sharing the stage with Michael McElroy, who was playing Collins, and observing his professionalism and artistic process. Odom asked him one night in their dressing room for advice on honing his craft and McElroy told him to go to Carnegie Mellon. (McElroy graduated from the School of Drama in 1990.)

鈥淚 went to Carnegie Mellon because I thought they were going to make me into Michael McElroy,鈥� Odom told the audience. 鈥淚t took me a while to realize that they were not going to turn me into Michael, but they were going to make me the best Leslie I could be.鈥�

When Ramirez asked Odom to talk about his experience working on 鈥淗amilton,鈥� he repeated what he had told the students earlier in the day: He used every facet of his training because the brilliance of the piece demanded it. He talked about the experience of transferring the show from The Public Theater in New York to Broadway, and how he watched a recording of his own performance to see what needed to be tweaked.

Odom won a Tony Award for his performance in 鈥淗amilton,鈥� as did fellow 麻豆村 alum Ren茅e Elise Goldsberry, for her performance as Angelica Schuyler.

Finally, Ramirez turned to Odom鈥檚 most recent Broadway endeavor, producing and starring in the 2023 revival of Ossie Davis鈥� 鈥淧urlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch.鈥� Ramirez recalled seeing Odom鈥檚 performance and posited that his work was an exemplary manifestation of his purpose, to 鈥減ut forth truthful renderings of Black life.鈥�

Odom released an album of 10 original songs in 2023 called 鈥淲hen a Crooner Dies.鈥� He was named one of Time magazine鈥檚 100 Most Influential People of 2024. He will spend November and December of this year on tour.