Triggering human emotion with Jon Rua.

From the ensemble to center stage, Jon Rua is a force to be reckoned with. How does one person balance performing on stage eight times a week in Broadway's newest sensation, Hamilton, to choreographing full time? Only Jon Rua has the determination, the guts and the talent to tackle these obstacles and share his talents with the world. Take a look at the video above to see Jon's work and then head down below to get to know Jon a little better!

Were you always involved in theatre growing up? Did you have a passion for dancing and performing back then?

• "I always had a thing for art. I liked drawing. I got involved in art when I started playing the trombone in fourth grade until I graduated high school, which got me into the other arts as a hobby really. I joined marching band an the regional symphony orchestra, so I think that helped me really get involved in arts. Other than that, I did it as a hobby. It wasn't really a passion at the time, I never allowed myself to consider it a passion. I never thought I could do this as a career, I was afraid. I went to Rutgers University for communications, but I loved listening to like 'Sunday in the Park with George,' the drumcore musical 'Blast!'. The thing that inspired me the most wasn't musicals, it was listening to orchestrations and soundtracks, like Braveheart...and Bach! I loved orchestrations. You know, I was a kid and I suffered from weight problems and I had acne, I felt that acting was a world that I really wasn't a part of. Although I did it for fun! I did a lot of musicals in high school, but I didn't go through it with the mindset of 'I'm really good at this!' I just did it for the fun."

You have been in several incredible shows, In The Heights and Hands on a Hardbody and now Hamilton, to name a few. What would you say is the hardest aspect of being in a Broadway show? Most rewarding?

• "I think that it depends on your position in the show, I play pretty much every position as a swing. I've been in ensemble, a core dancer. I'm also the understudy for Hamilton and it was hard, but I wasn't afraid of it. I think 'hard' correlates with 'challenging' and I think the most challenging was, honestly, probably swing position. But the hardest part of being in the show is doing it eight times a week and maintaining the freshness and inspiration for each show, for me."

When you're an understudy, what do you bring different to the character?

• "This kind of goes with what I was saying before, I don't really find it difficult to be an understudy because I don't compare myself to how others are playing the role, I pay attention to the journey that character is on and what the show means. And what direction the show is going in, then I just go. For me, I love putting my own spin on things, that's what we're here for. As an understudy the hardest thing is that I don't get to play, I don't get to rehearse or read lines or physically do a run on the stage before I go on. And as exciting as that might be, it's a little off as far as comfort because there's no real way for me to be as available to do everything I want to do in the show or be as settled as I'd like because it's so abrupt. Especially in Hamilton, because I'm on the entire show as this character."
   

What is your favorite scene or song in the show?

• "When I'm Hamilton, I really like 'Hurricane'! I also like 'The World Was Wide Enough' and 'Stay Alive'. As a dancer, this is a hard question - oh, wow. See, I don't have an answer! I really don't think there's a moment in the show were I love dancing more than any other part. If I were to have to pick a moment, it would probably be the very start of 'Right Hand Man.'"

I know it's so difficult for me as an audience member to pick a song/moment in the show, I can only imagine how difficult it must be to actually be in the show and having to pick! Ha! So not only are you an insane performer, you double as a choreographer and you teach at Broadway Dance Center! What's it like doing so many things?

• "Yeah, I work both as an actor and a choreographer! I choreographed for Phish and Nick Blaemire, and a bunch of other artists. My work is a kind of urban Broadway style and hip-hop, funk style. I call what I do 'T.H.E Grit,' which is an acronym for Trigger Human Emotion, and grit is about perseverance and to strive forward and tackle obstacles. I do that and I suppose in a way, if I were to give any show life, I would then introduce hip-hop into theatre to tell the specific story."​

And it's just so incredible how the incorporation of hip-hop has helped this show skyrocket. What has it been like being a part of the huge phenomenon that is Hamilton?

• "It's been very educational. There's a lot of clarity that comes out of the show. To see the work we're doing and how the world is responding; there's a lot to it. Inevitably in every aspect of it, I'm enjoying what it is. And it's very busy. It sort of like - it's reaffirmed that if you do the work and you lead with love, great things are going to happen."