In life and business, letting go can be a powerful thing. As Hermann Hesse wrote, "some of us think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go." The tricky part is finding the courage to do so, especially when the thing you're letting slip away is very enticing.
In 2014, Leslie Odom, Jr. was cast in the NBC drama State of Affairs. He was to play the U.S. President's Chief of Staff. The series would be shot in Los Angeles. For an actor, a juicy part on a primetime network TV drama is not only coveted but highly profitable.
But Odom was faced with a dilemma. Back in New York, an astonishing new musical was making its way towards an Off Broadway debut at the Public Theater. Odom had been in several workshop productions of said musical and now he had the opportunity to be part of the Off Broadway run. He knew it was a role of a lifetime. It also would pay him $790 a week, considerably less than the TV series.
So what did he do?
He graciously got out of his TV contract and took on the part of Aaron Burr in Hamilton. People thought he was crazy, but Odom, who made his Broadway debut in Rent when he was 17 was steadfast in his belief in this "idyllic" production. "It is said an artist spends their whole life trying to get to the place where their heart was first opened up. Rent was that place for me. Once you experience it, you chase that feeling your whole life. Rent opened up my heart, my senses. I was never the same. I hadn't quite been back in that place in the same way since Rent. Hamilton put me back in that place," explains the actor who won Tony and Grammy awards playing Burr.
On July 9th, after portraying his nuanced Burr during workshops, on and off Broadway and at the White House -- slaying with songs like "The Room Where It Happens," and "Wait for It," Odom departed Hamilton. "Nothing lasts forever in my profession," explains Odom who played his final performance along with cast members Lin-Manuel Miranda and Phillipa Soo. "I've been involved with Hamilton for about two and a half years. I've learned so much. I came into it a young man. Now I've dropped the "young," he shares.
Nurturing another great love, last month Odom released his self titled debut album of jazz and Broadway classics on S-Curve Records. The CD includes soulful and textured new interpretations of songs like "Look for the Silver Lining," "Joey, Joey, Joey," "Autumn Leaves," "the Party's Over" and more. The CD debuted at number 1 on Soundscan's Current Jazz and Traditional Jazz charts.
Not one to slow down, days after leaving Hamilton Odom had his CD release party. On Thursdays in July he is performing in a series of intimate concerts at the McKittrick Hotel's Manderley Bar with songs from the album, surprise numbers and special guests. "I am sure that my heart will have a hard time letting go on the night of July 9th," he shared days before leaving the show. "But I can tell you honestly, candidly, that my body and mind are looking forward to the next challenge. It's exciting -- a blank slate."
Odom shared more about leaving Hamilton and what the future holds with Forbes.com. Click here to read the full interview.