Meet the eldest Schuyler sister with the voice of an angel
After studying performing arts in New Zealand, Akina Edmonds has been delighting audiences and working in major musical productions for 10+ years
Akina scored the role of a lifetime playing Angelica Schuyler in the Aussie version of Hamilton the Musical. Everly sat down with Akina to find out how she landed the role, the importance of sisterhood and what it was like hearing from the man behind the hit musical, Lin-Manuel Miranda.
What was your audition process like for Hamilton and how did you find out you landed the role of Angelica?
In a nutshell it was funny! It was just before COVID really hit and I just remember the air-con in the place wasn’t working, so it was very, very hot. I was sweating basically the entire audition and Lauren Wiley, who is the casting director of the show, very beautifully offered me her hair-tie. And all my make-up had come off, so I was stealing tissues from the creatives’ table while they were taking notes… There were lots of laughs and that for me was the most important thing in my goal for the entire audition, which was just to enjoy the energy exchange and honour the material. I’d say we were in the audition room for about 45 minutes with the American creatives essentially workshopping the role, and they were very open. It felt very collaborative, which is a nice feeling to have in the audition room. The story was the forefront of every conversation.
Finding out about landing the role of Angelica was another hilarious situation. In my mind, I knew I wasn’t going to get it. There were so many incredible actors and actresses in Australia – I hadn’t put myself in that kind of category. As soon as I was told about it from my agent, I was actually quite mad – mad out of confusion haha! He messaged me some kind of ambiguous text like ‘Answer your phone, Angelica!’ I was in New Zealand at the time and I was like ‘Why would you text something like that?!’ So then I called him and he goes they’ve offered you the role of Angelica. I just said ‘No, no, no… they’ve offered me a call back?’ I didn’t believe it! And my agent said ‘No, they’re offering the role! I’ll just send you the email, so you can see for yourself’…
To continue reading our interview with Akina Edmonds from Hamilton, please visit the Everly Mag Shop where you’ll find Issue 3 (available in print or digital).
Hamilton’s Melbourne season kicked off in March 2022 at Her Majesty’s Theatre. Follow Hamilton and Akina on Instagram.
(Photos by Daniel Boud)