It’s a dream come true and stage career adventure for actor Adrian Weaver to spend this special 250th anniversary year in U.S. history as the singing forefather George Washington in the new North American Broadway tour of the hit musical “Hamilton.”
Listed for his Broadway credits and in Playbills as A.D. Weaver, this bearded and barrel-chested star of Broadway bows with resonant vocals hails from Gary and is a 2012 graduate of Merrillville High School.
After moving to New York in 2023 and working in various jobs while making rounds for auditions, he landed a couple roles such as his casting in the Off-Broadway September 2023 run of “The Lieutenant.”
By 2024, he made the final audition narrowing for a role in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit musical stage sensation “Hamilton,” and eventually joined castmates for a new 2026 North American tour.
Last week, Weaver arrived with his Angelica Company cast members of “Hamilton” for a limited Windy City run presented by Broadway in Chicago at the CIBC Theatre, 18 W. Monroe St. in downtown Chicago from March 4 to April 26.
“Hamilton” has been seen by more than 28 million people from around the world since it first opened on Broadway in New York in August 2015. With book, music and lyrics by Miranda and directed by Thomas Kail with choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler, it is the rousing epic stage saga following the rise of founding father Alexander Hamilton as he fights for honor, love and a legacy shaping the course of our nation, as based on Ron Chernow’s acclaimed biography.
Set to a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B and Broadway tunes, “Hamilton” has lured a new generation of theater goers into stage spaces while also generating dialogue on culture, politics and education.
It has 11 Tony Awards, a Grammy and Olivier Awards as well as the distinction of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
“The way this show is written, it is 144 words per minute and fast-paced,” Weaver reminds acting students and Broadway hopefuls when he’s describing the dialogue demands, in addition to the rigor of having done 185 performances spanning 12 cities during just the first six months of the run in 2025.
He credits the Reinhart Family and Ross Music Theater in Merrillville for his first red curtain acclaim as a novice actor performing as Mrs. Fezziwig in “A Christmas Carol,” Javert in “Les Misérables,” Oliver in “The Music Man” and Archibald Craven in “The Secret Garden.” During his junior year in high school, he had the title role in the musical “Phantom of the Opera.”
He kept a “desk day job” during his early Chicagoland theater role days, commuting from Northwest Indiana to the city and the suburbs for auditions and casting calls. Before moving to the Big Apple, Weaver had established himself as a Chicago stage talent, including playing Muddy Waters in “Slippin’ Through the Cracks” at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre and cast as Santa in “Elf-The Musical” at Drury Lane Theatre in Oak Brook, Illinois.
Weaver said the auditioning process for his “Hamilton” role was more involved than most realize. It was a multi-month process of video interviews and in-person call-backs before the creative team, the latter powers having had the original plan to use Weaver as an understudy before they agreed the 5-foot-10, 250-pound standout actor was better placed in the plum role of George Washington, to belt out solo pieces like the song “History Has Its Eyes on You.”
A union member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA, Weaver has also worked in television commercials and roles on TV series such as NBC’s “Law and Order SUV” and CNBC’s “Greed.”
Tickets for the Chicago run of “Hamilton” range from $63–$208 at www.BroadwayInChicago.com, www.hamiltonmusical.com or call 312-977-1700.
Philip Potempa is a journalist, published author and radio show host on WJOB 1230 AM. He can be reached at PhilPotempa@gmail.com.
