Broadway Star Leslie Odom Jr. Closes USF's Spring University Lecture Series

As part of USF Week Spring 2018, Leslie Odom Jr - star of musicals such as "Hamilton" and "Rent" - came as this week's guest speaker for University Lecture Series.

Taking place in the Marshall Student Center Ballroom, a thirty-minute lecture from Odom answered questions about finding your passion, developing it and going after whatever your dream may be.

One part of the lecture that stuck with me was Odom's response to how does he identify and differ from his character in "Hamilton," Aaron Burr.

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"I will forgo being liked, I will settle for being understood."

This particular quote stayed with me after the lecture was over.

Odom stated that he took the character of Burr and the instantaneous perception of him as a villain and took control of the character in order to have Hamilton audiences empathize with the character, rather than take an instant dislike to the villain in your story. At the end of the day, Aaron Burr was a human full of emotion, just as Hamilton, the Schuyler Sisters, and Lafayette were. Showing his own emotion, particularly within the songs "Wait For It" and "Dear Theodosia" have allowed audiences to understand Burr and his actions more as a human, rather than the villain among the plotline who is out to get Hamilton.

A twenty minute Q&A session followed Odom's lecture, wherein students in the audience asked questions they were dying to know the answers to.

To top off what was already a great lecture, Odom performed "Without You" from "Rent," "Wait For It" and "Dear Theodosia" from "Hamilton."

A better lecturer couldn't have been chosen for USF Week Spring 2018. The culmination of Leslie Odom Jr.'s expression and explanation, mixed with phenomenal live performances of crowd favorites brought together a room of over 600 students and faculty members.