CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Miguel Cervantes has played Alexander Hamilton longer than anyone, even longer than the show's creator, Lin Manuel Miranda.
"Yeah, I'm sure I'll be the answer to some crazy trivia question one day. Who's the guy who played Hamilton the longest? Miguel something, Miguel something," he laughs.
With more than 1,100 shows and three years under his belt, its closing, he said, is bittersweet.
"If you'd ask me a year ago, two years ago, I might have said, this could have last forever. To think of it coming to an end, ending doesn't feel real," Cervantes said as he looks down at the CIBC Theater from the right balcony.
The production is being called the most artistically and financially successful in Chicago theater history. Cervantes said the magnitude of its impact is hard to grasp.
Cervantes has also become a strong advocate for the epilepsy community in Chicago. His daughter Adelaide lost her battle in October. He said he will always be the first guy to play Alexander Hamilton in Chicago, but hopes his true legacy will be in his daughter's name.
"You could sense how important this show was, beyond theater, beyond a musical. It started to reach out, it felt like it was reaching out beyond normal theater, and low and behold it did. The people came in from all over the place. You could feel the buzz even then," he said. "I consider myself just the little guy who was at the right place, at the right time when they needed somebody like me, and I was lucky enough to be the guy they needed."
Cervantes’ next step? He’ll continue to play his signature role, Alexander Hamilton, on Broadway.