Talk about making history. One Brooklyn graduate has established himself as a force to be reckoned with after landing not one, but two roles in one of Broadway’s most-talked-about productions. At just 24 years old, New Utrecht High School graduate Anthony Ramos (’09) has taken the Richard Rodgers Theatre stage by storm as both John Laurens and Philip Hamilton in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton,” and in February, joined his cast mates in accepting the production’s first-ever Grammy award for Best Musical Theater Album. Since then, the production has picked up its own Pulitzer Prize and taken its show on the road to the White House where Ramos and his castmates performed for President Barack Obama himself. But, according to fellow New Utrecht alum Sara Steinweiss, things could have been a lot different for Ramos had he never been given the right opportunities in high school. “Anthony represents so much of what the theater guild at New Utrecht High School was built on,” said Steinweiss, who started the musical theater program in her senior year at New Utrecht and, years later, returned as a teacher and ran the program for 15 years. “I started it as a way to give kids like myself who had no place to go somewhere to be and something to create – and that’s just what Anthony did.” According to his teachers, Ramos was following a different dream at first. “He was an excellent baseball player who was definitely on the baseball track,” said Steinweiss, “but when I heard him sing I said, ‘You have to be in the theater guild.’” With a little push – and some intricate scheduling – Ramos went on to join Steinweiss’ theater program at the Bensonhurst school, where he would go on to land such roles as Jack in Bishop Kearney High School’s rendition of “Into the Woods” and Seymour in New Utrecht’s production of “Little Shop of Horrors.” “As soon as he auditioned for the role, I knew he was extremely talented and had what it took to be a star,” said Tommy Meyers, a former Bishop Kearney teacher who assistant-directed Ramos in “Into the Woods.” “I’ve been directing for 10 years now and I still remember that baseball hat-wearing, energetic, smiling kid from New Utrecht High School who walked into that audition as if it were yesterday. “His presence on and off stage was magnetic and contagious,” Meyers went on. “Aside from his personality, his singing would make anyone stop in their place.” As it turns out, Meyers wasn’t the only one in awe of Ramos. “I had the honor of watching him in the lead role of Seymour in ‘Little Shop of Horrors,’ and I remember speaking to my colleagues and his friends and saying, ‘This kid is going places,” recalled former New Utrecht High School history teacher and current City Councilmember Mark Treyger. “He blew everybody away.” Subsequently, Steinweiss helped Ramos apply for the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) – a school to which he would eventually receive a full scholarship with help from “Stein” (Ramos’ nickname for Steinweiss), and her connections with the Jerry Seinfeld Scholarship/ Pencil Scholarship program. After completeing the two-year program at AMDA, Ramos was offered a full-time gig on a cruise ship where he went on to make his own connections and land himself the role of a lifetime. “He got on that cruise ship and the rest is history,” said Steinweiss. Today, Ramos’ talent isn’t all his former teachers agree upon. “Anthony is a testament to the amazing talent that we have in our public school system, and to how important it is that we provide these type of opportunities to our students,” said Treyger. “This is, I think, a victory for Anthony, for his family and friends, and for the public school system. I am proud to know him.” “Anthony is a tell-tale sign of what the arts do for our kids,” said Steinweiss, stressing that the theater program at New Utrecht was eventually cut down to nothing due to funding. “This kid is holding a Grammy in his hands, and what that represents for New York City public schools is enormous. It shows students that everything is possible.” Ramos, fresh off a trip to City Hall where he received a proclamation from Treyger and his colleagues in government, spoke to Aspire about his time on the “Hamilton” train, how he got on board, and what his success means for students citywide. Where did your journey start? I grew up in Bushwick, and I lived with my mom. She was a single parent with three kids. I’ve got an older brother and a younger sister. We all were pretty active kids but school wasn’t particularly our strong suit; we were always good at other things. My brother and I were all about sports. But, I always enjoyed singing. I would kind of do it recreationally. I never had a voice lesson growing up. My mom would just be like, “Anthony, sing for the family,” and I would sing the song I’d been listening to on my CD player for the last month or two. Looking back, when my cousins and I were kids, we’d put together these little skits – these 10-minute improv scenes. I didn’t really understand what I was doing – that I was writing these mini-sketches and acting – but we were all totally into it. It was just a thing we did, and we did it at every family event until we got to be “too old” for it. Did you ever get “too old” for singing? I went to Halsey Junior High School in Bushwick and I still enjoyed singing but, at that point, I’d been playing baseball since I was ten. That was always my focus and outlet, if you will. But, in the eighth grade, we had this little group called the Halsey Trio. We would sing Motown songs at assemblies, and that was pretty much my track record of singing up until my junior year of high school when I auditioned for my first musical at New Utrecht High School, which I thought was a talent show. I heard that they were hosting auditions for something called “Sing,” so I took a shot. I auditioned and Sara Steinweiss, founder and former musical director of the New Utrecht High School Theater Guild said to me, “Oh, can you read these lines?” I asked why and she said, “Because this is a musical.” The next thing I know, I’m cast as Zeus in this thing. I gave myself some time to think about it because, you know, there were no contracts involved, but some close friends of mine at the time who I’m still very close with said to me, “You gotta do this.” So, I went ahead and did it and had a great time. The shows were in the winter, and baseball was in the spring, so I figured it was something
ASPIRESUMMER2016
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