By Darlene Donloe
Contributing Writer
HOLLYWOOD — It’s hard to fill the shoes of Lin-Manuel Miranda, who starred as Alexander Hamilton in the Broadway mega-hit, “Hamilton,” a show he also created, but Blaine Alden Krauss, who stepped in the role last January, has taken his shot, and to rousing approval.
Krauss, who is currently on the national tour of “Hamilton,” is not only starring as Alexander Hamilton in the Pantages Theatre production running through Oct. 13, but he can also be seen and heard Sept. 24, in his Bistro Award-winning solo show, “From the Soul,” happening a block west on Sunset Boulevard at the famed Catalina Jazz Club.
Joined by a 12-piece band, Krauss, who is making his debut at the Catalina Jazz Club, will deliver a mix of music from Prince to Sondheim to Jasmine Sullivan, and everything in between.
“I love what I do,” said Krauss, a Florida native who studied at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. “I love that art reflects the human condition. It gives you that a-ha moment.
“I love this medium. I’m a singer first. I believe we always carry two versions of ourselves. There’s now, and there’s the younger version of ourselves reminding us of the dreams we had. My dream was to sing. The little kid in me who used to be glued in front of the television watching Stevie Wonder and other old-school singers reminded me to put more emphasis on it.”
Krauss, who now lives in New York, said the songs he’s performing during his set “run the gamut of style.”
“I’m doing a variety of genres from Kermit the Frog’s ‘It’s Not Easy Being Green,’ to the Prince song, ‘How Come You Don’t Call Me,’ a piano tearjerker, and even some Jasmine Sullivan and some Sondheim. It’s all me. It’s a component of who I am. Everything you hear and see encompasses me.”
Asked why he calls his show, “From the Soul,” Krauss, who has been doing the show for four years, said no one had ever asked him that question.
“I sit in this interesting space artistically,” he said. “There is always a theme or genre of music holding the show together. In these cabaret clubs, you get to be more intimate. The audience is listening to the music in a more intimate setting.”
Krauss, 32, said identity has always been a thing throughout his life.
“My dad is a tall, white German man. My mom is a petite Black woman,” he said. “It’s about being and owning the multitude of colors of what we are. Because I’m Black and white, it’s always on my mind. The music I sing, whatever it is, it’s all me.”
Krauss, who laughs easily and has a cheerful spirit, said he knew he “Wanted to be a singer from the jump.”
He attended arts school and by the time he was in middle and high school, he started dabbling in theater.
“I got excited,” said Krauss, who played Simba in “The Lion King” right out of college. “The acting thing was new. I started hearing the type of music I would hear at a family cookout. I heard ‘Dreamgirls,’ ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’ and ‘Jelly’s Last Jam,’ and it got me sucked in.
“I thought, theater and music together. Hmmmm. I’m a big nerd. I love education. I had a heavy foot in both genres. I went the theater route. It excited me. I put my blinders on and just worked years and years and years.”
His ultimate dream was to be a pop singer.
“I could be Brian McKnight or an Usher but Usher works too hard,” he said. “He dances, so he’s gotta sweat. Brian is at the piano singing ballads.”
Krauss, who considers himself an old soul, looks up to veteran theater giants like Brian Stokes Mitchell and Audra McDonald.
“I knew the Carol Channings, the Louis Armstrongs, and the Sammy Davis Jrs.,” he said. “ I like old school. I like real voices. I like the sounds from the 70s and back. Black music got me into the theater. Back then, they did stage work, they really did theater. I wanted to be like Sammy Davis Jr.”
Krauss has an impressive resume that includes roles on Broadway in “The Cher Show” and “Kinky Boots,” a TV role in “Pose,” and globe-trotting performances as Simba in “The Lion King.”
“Doing Kinky Boots was fantastic,” he said. “I’m a proud, gay man. But gay as I am, I’ve never put on wigs and high heels. That was a painful stretch. Doing Simba was so physical. Hip-hop rap is my community. ‘Hamilton’ is up my alley. It’s our music, hip-hop and jazz, Black and brown people.
Krauss has appeared with symphonies across all seven continents and regularly performs at Feinstein’s/54 Below in New York. Notably, in 2011, he was the featured artist for a major 9/11 commemoration in Paris.
Right now, though, he is enjoying his Los Angeles debut as Alexander Hamilton.
“I’ve been doing the show off-and-on for four years as different characters,” he said. “ I was a standby for Hamilton and Aaron Burr and King George. I did that for a year. Then I left and came back and did Burr for five months. That’s when they offered me the role of Hamilton this past February.”
Whether he’s performing in Hamilton, or headlining his show, Krauss said it’s all about the music.
“I just love it,” he said.
To anyone who attends his 70-minute Catalina Jazz Club set, Krauss promises they won’t be disappointed.
“If you are truly missing music and artistic nights where you feel like you’re actually feeling seen and heard, this will be the place,” he said. “What’s missing is connection and a true sense of you giving yourself up for something that will make you better.
“One of my strengths is I care so much about people’s time. I always think of my family as a marker. If I can get my family to love it and bring them into this world and leave going, ‘Wow, I wasn’t expecting that’ — that’s the night I want to give.”
When he thinks about his career, Krauss sometimes has to pinch himself.
“I would describe my career as vibrant, incredibly eclectic, and soul-filled,” he said. “I sit in bed and think, ‘You played Simba, a drag queen, and Alexander Hamilton. It’s an actor’s dream to be all over the map.’”
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“From the Soul,” Catalina Jazz Club, 6725 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, 8:30 p.m. Sept. 24. Tickets range from $35-$45. Information: 323 466-2210.
“Hamilton,” Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, through Oct. 13. Information: 323 468-1700.
Darlene Donloe is a freelance reporter for Wave Newspapers who covers South Los Angeles. She can be reached at ddonloe@gmail.com.
