#481: Desmond Sean Ellington // Hamilton Standby // Part Two
The Hamilcast: A Hamilton Podcast
Gillian Pensavalle
4.3 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 18 August 2025
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Desmond Sean Ellington is back for round two to further show that if you have to chase something, it's probably not for you. This week, Desmond reflects on his five years touring with Hamilton as a standby and how he used what he learned making his Broadway debut in Hell's Kitchen (after starting with the show down at The Public).
As he continues to spread the Gospel of Surrender™, Desmond expands on his Hell's Kitchen experience including how and why he turned down a chance to go back to Hamilton (hint: Broadway was calling!). Desmond also talks about being a firm believer that we all have the power to create the world we want to live in, why his unconventional way of finding his passion continues the cycle of representation, and reminds us to stay kind because that's really what it's all about anyway.
Plus, Desmond walks us through going craaaazy viral with his "One Last Time" soundcheck (if you haven't heard it before GET READY it's so good), how seeing Satisfied for the first time made him want to shoot up out of his seat like a rocket, and lets us in on tiny Hamilton moments where he connected with his fellow actors on stage.
Desmond Sean Ellington on Instagram
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, I'm Stage in Stages, Lynn Manuel Miranda, and you're listening to The Hamelcast. |
| 0:05.0 | Boots and cuts. |
| 0:06.4 | Boots and cuts. |
| 0:07.0 | Goods and cut. |
| 0:07.1 | Thank you. |
| 0:09.0 | Hi, friends. |
| 0:09.3 | Welcome back to the Hamelcast. |
| 0:19.4 | I'm Jillian, and this is the second half of my chat with Desmond Sean Ellington. |
| 0:23.1 | Desmond spent five years on tour with Hamilton as a standby, and he recently made his Broadway debut in Hell's Kitchen after starting with the show down at the public. |
| 0:37.9 | Desmond's story is so interesting. It's like a case study and what can happen when you make the hard decision to leave something that you know deep down, like deep in your gut, just is not meant for you. |
| 0:41.2 | Even if it's terrifying. And we've all been there in some way, right? Whether it's a big thing or a small thing. In Desmond's case, he left college without a plan. And even though he |
| 0:45.2 | didn't have any interest in theater at the time, he always knew that he, as he says, was going to be |
| 0:48.8 | a star. The thing is, once he walked away from what didn't serve him, it was like the whole world opened up. Not just in the figurative sense, but Desmond toured the world as a background singer, which started him down the path of performing professionally, and here we are. Desmond talked a lot last week about the power of surrender. It's a hard and scary concept, but I don't know, based on our conversation, he is nailing it. Desmond has an uncanny ability to speak what he wants into existence. Like when he gave himself two years to be cast in Hamilton and then was on tour with the show two months later. |
| 1:14.9 | To kick off this week's episode, Desmond reflects on his five-year journey with Hamilton and talks about making his Broadway debut in Hell's Kitchen. |
| 1:20.8 | Okay, here we go. Please enjoy my second episode with the truly purpose-driven Desmond Sean Ellington. |
| 1:32.3 | Thank you. the truly purpose-driven Desmond Sean Ellington. So you were in the show for five years, and how long have you been out of it now? |
| 1:36.0 | I left May of 2023. |
| 1:39.0 | So what's it been like if you've been looking back and reflecting on that time? |
| 1:43.2 | Have you had time to do that? |
| 1:44.7 | Well, I mean, now this is, now that I'm doing nothing, in my nothing time. |
| 1:51.0 | Air quotes, nothing. Right, right, right. Right. In my nothing time, as I've built a whole studio at my, |
| 1:55.2 | right, exactly. I would say my reflection has been, what it's always been, has been gratitude. |
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