“Tin Man, Scarecrow, the Lion … the secret was out, I had a voice. In the sixth grade Webber’s musical talents got him drafted into the school production of “The Wiz.” Not just to act, nor to do one number, but to sing every one of the male roles. As he has put it: “at reunions, that’s what we do: we sing, and we eat and then we sing some more.” Family spare time was, and still is, built around music. (Courtesy of Donald Webber Jr.) A musical upbringingīorn in Inglewood, for family fun when he was growing up his father played piano and his mother sang. Donald Webber Jr., who was born in Inglewood and studied theater at USC, plays Aaron Burr in a touring production of “Hamilton” coming to Costa Mesa form Sept. Though perhaps at an early age it might have, had Webber’s audience included the right people. “I don’t think this happens as much to you in other musicals.” “But then I get a call and it’s for a role in (Stiller’s) ‘Severance’ for Apple+, and now the show ended up getting 14 Emmy nominations! “A couple years go by, I didn’t hear anything, that’s fine,” Webber says, pausing and almost chortling in disbelief. “But the way heard me say it, he thought it meant she felt his movies were boring! Great, right? But he was nice, said he admired my performance, and could he have my phone number since he was working on a show that might pan out. “I get my picture taken with him and tell him how whenever my mom got all stirred up by what was going on in the news, she’d put on one of his movies and that would make her happy and she could relax and go to sleep. “Ben Stiller was there, and this was huge in my world he is my mother’s favorite actor. The next thing is she is telling me she wants me as her acting coach!”Īnother “Hamilton” celebrity encounter led to a different opportunity. “She has seen the show a lot, apparently, and what I did that night landed for her. (Photo by Joan Marcus) Famous fansĪn unmatched phenomenon on the musical theater landscape, “Hamilton” can be an amazing roller-coaster ride for those in the show, leading to unexpected twists and turns off-stage, too. as Aaron Burr star in a touring production of “Hamilton” coming to the Segerstrom Center in Costa Mesa from Sept. Julius Thomas III as Alexander Hamilton, left, and Donald Webber Jr. 16.īurr is central to the action as the show’s narrator and deadly real-life Hamilton rival - “I’m the damn fool that shot him” as Webber sings in the galvanizing opening number.īurr is one of a number of key roles the actor has filled in the best musical Tony Award-winner since joining the Broadway cast as an understudy in late 2016.

The Southern California native stars as Aaron Burr in the mega-hit, cultural game-changer musical “Hamilton, which moves into the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa Wednesday night, Sept.

“Really great, actually,” says Donald Webber Jr., a laugh spiking his rich voice. So how does it feel to play the most notorious vice president in history?

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