Penn Township native returns to Pittsburgh as 'Hamilton' company manager

“Awesome” is an adjective often used to describe “Hamilton,” the widely acclaimed song-and-rap Broadway musical about American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.

The same word can be used to summarize the nature of the undertaking to get the touring version of “Hamilton” from city to city.

One of the company managers responsible for all that is Penn Township native Brad Broman, who is coming back home as the musical returns to Pittsburgh for the first time in three years after a delay caused by the pandemic.

The show will run through March 13 at the Benedum Center, Downtown.

Broman, 38, helps to oversee about 100 crew members who are part of the tour and another 60 local people in each town involved in getting the show set up, broken down and successfully moved on to the next theater.

In addition to overseeing all those crew members, he handles the logistics of getting 11 or more trucks filled with sets and equipment from place to place.

“We advance all the cities as far as how we’re getting there, where we’re staying. We do all of the in-town running of the show, making sure we’re leasing with the venue,” Broman said. “We’re also confirming all the details contractually with the producer (Jeffrey Seller) and the presenter.”

Broman has been with the company for four years. In the end, you might say, he does a lot of unglamorous and detailed work that goes into productions.

“I always say that we’re sort of like an accountant meets Siri and a soccer mom,” Broman said. “We (handle) all the money for the show, the ins and outs of the show, bringing the show into and out of a city and all the logistical planning for the tour itself.”

As if that weren’t enough to keep Broman feeling harried, there are the pressures resulting from the pandemic.

“There are, of course, a lot more regulations and a lot more rules. It’s taken an emotional toll on a lot of people — just the concern of being in a new city every couple of weeks. How are things going there? What’s the testing rate, what’s the vaccination rate?” Broman said.

“So it has been a tough turnaround. But I think everybody is glad to be a part of the return of theater, especially live touring theater. And especially with a show like ‘Hamilton’ that brings so many people who have never been to the theater before,” he said. “We’re thrilled to share what that means with them. And as hard as it is, I think it’s very fulfilling and worthwhile.”

For all the stress he and others in the touring company experience, Broman said there are plenty of funny, quirky things that happen on tour.

“One time at the beginning of the tour, one of the (lead actors) made his entrance without wearing a microphone and, though no one could hear him, the audience sang along and sort of filled in the words for him, which was pretty funny and very exciting,” he said.

Growing up in Penn Township, Broman knew from the time he was a young boy that he wanted to be in theater. He remembers performing shows and skits in the family living room and later at Penn-Trafford High School, where he starred in “Meet Me in St. Louis,” “Pippin,” “Me and My Girl” as the lead character Bill and “Oklahoma!” as lead character Will Parker.

After studying at New York University, Broman went on to professional theater working, among other things, as a dancer on a touring production of “Hairspray.” Eventually, an injury curtailed the performance part of his career. Tour managers took him under their wing and said he would make a great company manager.

“They said since you can’t dance eight shows a week anymore, maybe this is the path for you. They helped me make that switch,” he said.

These days, Broman said he’s deriving as much fulfillment from theater as he ever has.

“I’m really excited to bring ‘Hamilton’ back to Pittsburgh, not just to share it with my friends and family but the city of Pittsburgh in general,” he said. “It’s such a great theater town. And this show has really been a dream of mine since I was a kid, to bring a big, giant national tour to town.

“I’ve been through with a couple of other tours, but this one really takes the cake.”