photo by: Contributed

Erin Ramirez, a graduate of Free State High School, performs as Eliza in the show "Hamilton" on Broadway — a "dream role" for Ramirez.

Everyone on Broadway had a different journey to get there, and Erin Ramirez’s happened to start in a former Soviet republic.

Ramirez, the daughter of a Peruvian-American Army officer, grew up bouncing around between different bases in Europe and trying different activities along the way — singing, acting and dancing.

While starting high school in Tbilisi, Georgia — a small country on the Black Sea — Ramirez had one of her first introductions to musical theater after watching a YouTube clip of the actress Mandy Gonzalez singing “Everything I Know” from the Tony-winning musical “In The Heights.” Soon after, her father, Paul Riley, a colonel in the U.S. Army, was reassigned to Fort Leavenworth, and Ramirez and her family moved to Lawrence for her last two years of school, where she attended Free State High School and excelled in choir and drama classes.

After graduating from college in 2016, Ramirez listened to the entirety of the “Hamilton” soundtrack driving to a family vacation and was overcome with emotion — especially with the closing song: “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story.”

“I looked at myself in the mirror and had this private moment of declaration. I was like: ‘You are going to be Eliza (Hamilton),'” Ramirez said.

Ten years after that declaration, Ramirez has made her dream come true, playing Eliza a handful of times while serving as an understudy after being cast in the ensemble for “Hamilton.” While her position can mean bouncing between different roles every night, Ramirez’s journey to the room where it happens helped create that foundation, and she plans to not throw away her shot of staying on stage.

“It is adrenaline pumping to be living such a dream,” Ramirez said.

photo by: Contributed

Erin Ramirez portraying Eliza in “Hamilton” prepares to bow after a performance. Ramirez is currently a part of the ensemble cast, and has been able to portray Eliza — which she called a “dream role” — a handful of times as the understudy.

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Growing up as the child of an Army officer meant a lot of different schools and different places, according to Ramirez.

While she would move with her family from post to post, Ramirez said she felt like a chameleon having to try and blend in and assimilate in new surroundings. She said it could be isolating being in a new country and being far from extended family.

When she moved to Lawrence, Ramirez said it felt like “the biggest adventure” of her life, and that Free State was just like the idea of American high schools she had only seen in movies or on the Disney Channel.

As she got started on her high school adventure, Ramirez continued to focus on the performing arts. She was able to combine her talents during the school’s “Encore” talent shows — which she said was “exactly her bag” — and soon rose up to be in the most elite part of the school’s choir by her senior year. That experience at Free State taught her a lot about what she wanted to do with performing, and she appreciated getting to do so much in her time there.

“I tried to squeeze it all into two years,” Ramirez said.

From Lawrence, Ramirez went to Emerson College in Boston, where she had her “introduction to city life.” She graduated with a bachelor of fine arts in musical theater in 2016 and went to New York, working a wide variety of jobs to get on her feet. Those included a stint performing on a cruise ship as well as working in regional theater companies in Colorado where she taught on the side and made her own costumes.

Ramirez’s first big break came from booking a spot with a national tour of “Les Miserables” as part of the ensemble cast and the understudy for Eponine. But the COVID-19 pandemic cut the tour short, and Ramirez came back to Lawrence to stay with her family and did not work for a year.

After her break, Ramirez was cast in two national tours: the musical “SIX” and then “Hamilton,” where she was a part of the ensemble and an understudy for Angelica, Eliza and Peggy.

Ramirez said that it is common for people who are cast in “Hamilton” to “never leave the ‘Ham Fam,'” and she ended up being cast in the show on Broadway in the same role starting in January. While she isn’t in her “dream role” of Eliza every night, she has gotten the chance to stand in the same spot as Phillipa Soo, who originated the role, and sing.

In recent weeks, Ramirez even got to perform in another hallowed space in New York, singing “The Schuyler Sisters” at Madison Square Garden during the New York Knicks’ run to win the 2026 NBA Finals. It was another milestone in her performing career that she said felt surreal.

“It’s incredible,” Ramirez said. “Few people get to actually check off a childhood bucket list dream.”

photo by: Contributed/Photo by Dharon Jones

Erin Ramirez seen in costume during a performance of “Hamilton.” Ramirez, a graduate of Free State High School, has been on the Broadway production of “Hamilton” since January 2026, where she is a part of the ensemble and understudy to the three female parts.

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Although she’s gotten to play her dream role, Ramirez’s part in the ensemble means she also has to stay on her toes.

In her current position, Ramirez performs in the show every night on one specific track, but if one of the principal cast members can’t perform that night, she “in a moment’s notice” might have to take on a totally different role. Because she is the main understudy for all three female parts, Ramirez has to remember the steps for not just her role — “Woman 5” — but everything else for the three other tracks.

Ramirez said through touring in the musical “SIX” — a modern retelling of the lives of Henry VIII’s six wives — she learned “the art of covering” very quickly. Ramirez was the cover for three of the queens — Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr. She found that her secret for staying on top of her lines and steps was through “compartmentalization and muscle memory.”

photo by: Contributed/Photo by Joan Marcus

Erin Ramirez performs as Anne Boleyn during the national tour of the musical “SIX.” Ramirez was the understudy for three different parts, meaning she had to prepare for many different roles that she could do each night.

Ramirez imagines the different tracks as a puzzle, with different colored strings all woven between each other. Her task is to follow the one string, and she remembers the steps based on where she is physically on the stage.

“I found for me, it is very spatial,” Ramirez said. “(I think) where is the next logical place to go based on where I am standing right now?”

That same spatial idea is also felt in her vocal performance, Ramirez said. Eliza’s songs are much higher than the other parts, so she will warm up differently compared to the other parts.

Even if there are some parts she has done more often, Ramirez said she will “brush up” on the other parts off stage to make sure she stays fresh — almost as if she were a quarterback watching film. Sometimes as a cover, she would be a true backup and not be performing on stage that night, and she could watch them backstage on a TV. But if she is in the show each night, like she is with “Hamilton,” Ramirez said it can be “so much work” to remember to review the principal tracks after pulling an eight-show week.

Though she admits there are moments when she can look down at her costume and think “who am I,” her ability to bounce between the roles mirrors how she’s had to adapt and change off stage.

photo by: Contributed

Erin Ramirez stands on stage as Catherine Parr during the national tour of the musical “SIX.” Ramirez learned the parts of three different principal characters in the production, which kept her on her toes in preparation.

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Performing on Broadway in “Hamilton” is more than just a dream for Ramirez; it also has helped her feel more connected to who she is.

Growing up moving all over Europe to American army bases, Ramirez said she wasn’t “super plugged in to her Peruvian roots.” That was partly from being far away from her extended family — especially her grandmother — but it was also being taught to be “as ‘American’ as possible,” according to Ramirez.

It was when she saw Mandy Gonzalez sing in “In The Heights” — a show set in the Hispanic and Latino neighborhood of Washington Heights — that she felt a connection.

“I remember thinking, ‘She kind of looks like me. This could be a song I sing,'” Ramirez said.

Both “Hamilton” and “In The Heights” were written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and both won widespread acclaim and praise for adding the musical influences of hip-hop, salsa and other genres to Broadway. The casting of actors of color in these shows brought more diversity to Broadway, as well.

Seeing that representation not only made Ramirez more comfortable in pursuing a path in musical theater, but it also meant she felt more connected to her heritage. When she has been surrounded with diverse casts like in “SIX” and “Hamilton,” Ramirez said she felt more comfortable in expressing her Latina identity.

“I feel like I am allowed to celebrate the unique parts of my family’s culture and heritage,” Ramirez said.

It is that sort of celebration that Ramirez thinks makes “Hamilton” a unique show that “invites so many people in” — from people who love classic Broadway shows to people who “would’ve never stepped foot into a theater.” She loves how many different people resonate with it, but she said it is still always amazing to go to the stage door and “see the faces of so many different ages and backgrounds” in the crowd.

“It’s really powerful and really unique,” Ramirez said. “I don’t know of another musical quite like it.”

• • •

Although Ramirez is enjoying her time with “Hamilton” on Broadway, there is more in store for her journey.

Much like Broadway shows, a run for an actor “can end any second,” and Ramirez said she finds herself still doing different auditions by day while performing at night. Her next goal would be to get a principal role in a show and not be an understudy.

Though she has accomplished one of her dreams, Ramirez said there are days when performing really does feel like work. “Hamilton” is a three-hour show, and a whole performance can feel like an “athletic event.” If you’re doing eight of those shows a week and the extra preparation required as a cover, it can be taxing, especially with a long commute afterwards.

But that doesn’t mean Ramirez isn’t thankful that her journey brought her from Lawrence to the “Great White Way.”

“I wouldn’t want to be exhausted from anything else,” Ramirez said.

photo by: Contributed

Erin Ramirez poses near the “Hamilton” sign at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway in New York.