Click / Touch Ads to View More
SL Odom Jr_0221 - FINAL_Dept 2 / 22 / 21 12 : 25 PM Page 1 2 8 | S U B U R B A N L I F E M A G A Z I N E | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 1 | S U B U R B A N L I F E M A G A Z I N E . C O M
Click / Touch Ads to View More
SL Odom Jr_0221 - FINAL_Dept 2 / 22 / 21 12 : 25 PM Page 2 W ? o ? e ? e ? r ? ed Leslie Odom Jr . followed the lessons he learned in Philadelphia to Hamilton , One Night in Miami , and other heights he could never have imagined . By Bill Donahue LESLIE ODOM JR . talks about his hometown with reverence and love , and even a hint ? of unpaid debt . It was in Philadelphia , after all , that he got in touch with “ my literal voice . ” Odom was born in Queens , New York , but his family moved to Philadelphia when he was seven . He credits the city and its people — he cites Frances Turner , his fifth - grade teacher at Masterman School , by name , along with Philadanco and Freedom Theatre , where he fed his growing appetite for the arts — for building the foundation that would later lead him so far from home . In the years since , Odom’s “ voice ” has earned him a staggering number of accom - plishments , across multiple artistic genres : several jazz albums , including two that hit No . 1 positions on the Billboard jazz chart ; a 2016 Tony Award for “ Best Actor in a Musical ” for his long - running role as Aaron Burr in Lin - Manuel Miranda’s Broadway smash , Hamilton ; the opportunity to sing “ America the Beautiful ” before Super Bowl LII , in which his hometown Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New England Patriots ; and an increasing presence in film and television , including roles in the 2020 Amazon Studios film One Night in Miami and the forthcoming Sopranos prequel , The Many Saints of Newark . ? S U B U R B A N L I F E M A G A Z I N E | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 1 | S U B U R B A N L I F E M A G A Z I N E . C O M | 2 9