THE RENDITION MEETS AARON LEE LAMBERT
Image Credit - Alex Brenner
Aaron Lee Lambert is a Texas-born musical theatre artist whose journey from middle‑America to the London stage is one of global discovery and identity.
Growing up, theatre felt like an impossible dream, until he attended Yale University, where studying opened the door to the possibilities of a life on stage.
Today, Aaron is an actor, singer, director and educator, best known for his long West End run as standby and ensemble principal in Hamilton, covering multiple key roles. In 2025, Aaron joined Jamie Lloyd’s bold West End revival of Evita at the London Palladium as Agustín Magaldi, the character who introduces Eva Perón to Buenos Aires.
When visiting the theatre, would you rather sit in the stalls or dress circle?
The dress circle, because I like to be able to see the bigger picture and choose what to focus on.
Sometimes when you're in the stalls, you might be limited on what you see first, or what you see predominantly, whereas in the dress circle you have a full view of the stage.
You were born in Texas, and studied at Yale before earning your MA in Musical Theatre from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. How did each of these environments shape and influence your approach to musical theatre?
I loved Broadway as a child but doing theatre didn’t feel possible, a lot of the people I grew up with don't ever leave the country. The idea of going to university on the East Coast seemed far-fetched, let alone pursuing a career in acting.
That distance made me really appreciate theatre once I got into it.
Yale changed me quite significantly, and set me off to become the artist that I am now. I met people from all over the world, which expanded my worldview, and moving to the UK to do my Masters widened my perspective further. Feeling like a fish out of water gave me a drive to find my unique voice, and see outside of prescribed lanes.
My experiences afforded me more openness to digging into my differences, because I was “different” in pretty much all spaces I'd been in. It solidified this idea that you can double down on exactly who you are.
I've been lucky that that has served me and shaped me into the performer I am today.
Having taught and directed at RCS, how has being an educator informed your work as an actor, and vice versa?
I remember when respected industry professionals would give master classes and interact with students during my masters, and how impactful that was for us. I love teaching; it gives me pride to be able to give back and educate younger generations.
My experiences have definitely shaped the way that I interact with students. I try to be as honest and realistic as possible, whilst encouraging them to focus on what they uniquely bring to any space they enter, as opposed to trying to be what people want you to be, or what you think will get you through a certain door.
Right after Evita finishes, I'm going back to the RCS to direct another show there.
I take those experiences back to my professional roles. It’s very easy for actors to feel like the center of everything; you're the first to be perceived and scrutinised in many cases. Doing other jobs within the context of big, creative, collaborative machines gives you a much greater appreciation of the work that other people put into it.
Working on culturally significant shows (Hamilton, Evita) across continents, how do you see theatre's role in advancing diversity and representation in musical theatre?
There's so much to say about representation and diversity, especially with a show like Hamilton.
For fans who identify with the experiences I’ve had, it’s so important to be represented on stage in fully fleshed-out roles that aren’t normally afforded to people who look like us. I was in Hamilton for seven years and sometimes, if I was doing the seventh show of the week and I was exhausted, I would remember that there’s a little girl out there who's seeing the show for the first time, and this will be transformative for her. That kept me going.
Theatre has the capacity to unite people of different backgrounds, just by sitting in a room, connecting to characters and having a shared experience. Theatre can bring us together, regardless of who we are or where we’re from.
This starts with letting audiences know that this is a space where they’re welcome and valued.
“Hamilton moved the needle and allowed people to see representation in regards to race and ethnicity of leading characters in ways that many shows before, even ones that provided visibility and work to people of colour, weren’t quite able to. It’s been amazing to be a part of that.”
What drew you to Evita and the role of Agustin Magaldi, and how do you aim to bring a fresh perspective to this character?
If I'm honest, what drew me to the production initially was working with Jamie Lloyd again. I first worked with him 10 years ago on a musical called Urinetown, which was one of the best experiences I've ever had. When I decided to leave Hamilton, I had to think about the type of work I wanted to do next and I knew it would be hard to top that experience. I know it's cliche to say this, but it just all kind of came together and fell into place in the end.
Evita felt like the perfect landing pad off the Hamilton experience to dive into another juicy production.
In regards to what I [want to] bring to the character - Jamie doesn't work in literal, linear, narrative realism. He's about pictures, the abstract, and connecting with audiences in unexpected ways that are quite subversive for musical theatre. I've been focusing on finding the truth of how Agustin Magaldi functions and who he is in this retelling of Eva Peron’s story.
The great thing about Jamie Lloyd is that he's really good at finding the right people that he trusts, and therefore you can trust him. I am very grateful for this experience because I feel like he respects what I'm personally bringing as Aaron in totality, and I've been given reign to make Agustin the character that he feels like to me.
Image Credit - Alex Brenner
“You can put all this effort into making art that is perfect for people, but if you can’t get them into the space, then it’s all for nothing. And it reinforces this idea that we don’t need to make these plays anyway, since there’s no audience for it. But there is. You just have to care enough to invest in and foster that audience. ”
How do you interpret Magaldi’s impact on Eva's journey, and what emotional truths do you want audiences to connect with in their scenes together?
The more time I’ve spent on the character, the more I've realised that Eva and Magaldi have a lot of similarities, in regards to how they use performance to uplift themselves, and how they mask to present a version of themselves that will benefit them the most. The way Magaldi functions in the Evita the musical (which might be different from actual history) is that he's a narrative tool.
What I'm trying to do is find the ways in which Eva and Magaldi are similar. They’re not portrayed as the best of people, or at least the choices they make don't make them seem like the best of people. In highlighting those similarities, I think that the parallel can make you forgive or root for both of them for different reasons.
For me, it's been about trying to find that truth and push past the functionality of Magaldi and make him a person who is changed from his experience with Eva as much as she is from him.
In Evita, Eva Peron’s rise from poverty to power is both inspiring and controversial. How do you interpret the theme of ambition in Evita?
I think there is something to be said about how we root for Eva, because we see a bit of ourselves in her.
We see someone who, against all odds, uses everything within their faculty to succeed and, in her instance, gain power - first as a public-facing entertainer, and then as a person in politics. There's a lot of inspiration to be found in that, though it's also a cautionary tale about how power does tend to eventually corrupt.
It's a play that's political, because it's about a president and a First Lady, and the way that the play resonates now is very different than when it was written in the 70s. We can definitely draw parallels between the populism that the Perons used and other world leaders today. Eva Peron promised to overthrow the oligarchs and give back to the working people, but never completely did that.
With this Jamie Lloyd production of Evita, it's open to interpretation.
You can root for someone, but also know that they're flawed. You can see the good in someone, but also recognise that they’re overwhelmingly bad. All of the symbolism that Jamie is focusing on really gets people talking.
That is what makes theatre exciting, and that is what's made this whole process so exciting for me. I feel like there will never be another production of this musical like this one.
Evita thrives on its chorus. As a lead among an extensive cast, how do you support and engage with the ensemble, and what makes their collaboration special in this production?
When I say that the ensemble in this production is the lifeblood, it is an understatement. The work that these folks are doing is jaw dropping. I’m not in the first big dance number, so I didn't see it until it was completely run. When I saw it the first time, I was like, “are you kidding me?” It’s outrageous what Fabian, our choreographer, has asked these folks to do and pushed them to achieve. Fabian is very much a testament to this production’s success as Jamie is because the choreography is the engine that drives this production.
I want to also shout out our swings as well.
Swings are the folks who cover for the ensemble. They have to step in for multiple people, and do all the same dances from different positions and different counts. I've covered my entire career; I was a standby for Hamilton, so I know that life. You work so hard and unfortunately don’t get as much credit. But these roles are vital to the show.
My role as Magaldi only really takes place in the first 25 minutes, but I dip in and out of the ensemble for the rest of the show. So I'm in the trenches working with them. When I started rehearsing some of these numbers - and I'm only in a couple - I honestly didn’t know if I could do it.
These people are Olympic-level athletes and my knees and hips aren’t as young as theirs, but it was amazing to be pushed.
Everyone involved is at the top of their game, and it makes you want to be at the top of your game too.
Having written and directed and run your own agency, how important is community-building in your work? How do you nurture the next generation of diverse artists?
It's been important for me to build a network to foster and nurture relationships with people. So much of this career is not about what you're doing on stage, it's everything else - but the “everything else” can feel so isolating. In a lot of these spaces, especially drama schools, you can feel othered.
When you‘re working on a project with multiple artists, you feel a sense of belonging. It's super important for us people working in all parts of the industry to find ways to build community even when you're not in a contract.
The older I get and the more I reflect on all my experiences, I'm trying to be more intentional in making people who look like me feel seen and feel like they belong.
Following Evita, are there roles or creative paths you're drawn to, whether onstage or as a writer/director, that reflect your identity or passion for storytelling?
I'm heading back up to RCS to direct a show in Autumn.
Aside from that, I’ve been on show schedule for 13/14 years without a significant break, so I’m looking forward to having months and months of evenings off.
I want to get back into writing - it's a part of me that feels in its infancy. I wrote one piece that got some traction and it's now licensed.
I've dabbled since, but not really invested in that part of myself, and I intend to do so a lot more in the coming years.
I’ll leave you with this. My best friend who was assigned as my freshman year roommate at Yale runs a creative studio production company in LA, and for years and years, we've been trying to find something to collaborate on. Our worlds intersect, but not entirely since film and TV isn’t really where my work lies. He has very recently come across an idea, and he's bought all these books and we were even chatting last night about it. It feels like the perfect cross section of our experiences and identities and skill sets, so I'm super excited to dive into that.
So, watch this space!
Evita the Musical is showing at The London Palladium until 6 September.
