‘Hamilton’ musical star Donald Webber Jr., reflects on his newest role: father to Donald III

Father’s Day now has a whole new meaning for “Hamilton” cast member Donald Webber, Jr.

Back in 2018, when the actor took on the role of the sly, suave Aaron Burr in one of the North American tours of the blockbuster musical, he wasn’t yet a father.

In fact, while preparing to first sing the show’s gentle, lovely duet “Dear Theodosia,” in which Burr and Hamilton separately address their newborn children, Webber had scribbled down notes in his script’s margins about what he imagined it would be like to be dad.

Flash forward three years. During the pandemic, his wife and “Hamilton” co-star Rebecca Covington gave birth to their son, Donald Webber III. In 2021, when theatres reopened and the couple returned to the tour, their boy — nicknamed D3 — was four months old. During rehearsals, Webber, Jr. looked at his notes for “Dear Theodosia” and got choked up.

“This time, I knew exactly what it was like to be a father, there was no guessing and no need to prepare emotionally,” he said in a recent interview at the Princess of Wales Theatre, where “Hamilton” is playing until Aug. 20.

“It was the first time I’d sung the song since coming back and I couldn’t get through it, the tears were just overwhelming,” he said. “When I opened my eyes and looked around, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. It honestly felt like one of those moments where people are thinking, ‘Is art imitating life or is life imitating art?’”

Covington, who plays the dual roles of the youngest Schuyler sister, Peggy, and Maria Reynolds, in the show, says her husband has blossomed during fatherhood.

“He’s shown patience: with me and with D3,” she said. “He protects us and covers us. And he’s accessed parts of himself that just seem so natural. I remember asking him, ‘How did you know to test the window to make sure that it was locked?’ It’s like his parental instincts kicked in and I realized this protective fatherhood part of him was always there. He just needed D3 to come along and let it come out.”

Travelling from city to city can be challenging in the best of circumstances. But what is it like with a young child? Webber, Jr. and Covington have hired a nanny to take care of D3 — who’s now two — in the evenings, and on one-show days they get to spend all day with him.

They’ve made sure he has a certain rhythm to his days.

“We wanted him to have a structure and understanding of when we do certain things, so he could be comfortable wherever we were,” said Webber, Jr. “The sound machine plays the same music and is always going to go on at a certain time. His bed will be always be made in the same way.”

“And,” added Covington, “his pack ’n’ play stuff will always be there.”

D3 is so used to his parents’ musical lives that he has even begun chiming in during their pre-show vocal exercises.

“He will sing our warm-ups with us and add background vocals,” said Covington, laughing.

“He knows every part of our routine,” added Webber, Jr. “He matches us on pitch, has these complicated rhythms down. He’s blowing our minds musically. When he grows up, he can be an astronaut if he wants to be. But I’m pretty sure he’ll be singing on his way to the moon.”

Webber Jr. and Covington met in 2013 while in the original Broadway company of “Motown: The Musical.” This was no brief “show-mance,” however; their relationship started out as a friendship.

“We just started going to lunch,” explained Webber, Jr. “First, with a big group of ‘Motown’ people. And then that group started getting smaller and smaller, until it was just the two of us.”

“We were friends for a long time, and I think that gave us trust and stability,” said Covington. “Our relationship has always been built on a strong friendship and that’s never wavered.”

The couple joined the Hamilton tour in 2018 and were part of the headline-making fundraising performances in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 2019 — along with “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda — after Hurricane Maria devastated the island.

“That was the greatest intersection of art and service because we were able to be there to help them rebuild the Island as much as we could,” said Covington. “We were all exhausted, doing nine-show weeks, but we were led by Lin and his energy never flagged.”

Webber, Jr. recalls the thunderous applause that stopped the show every time the composer and actor stepped forward, introducing himself as Alexander Hamilton.

“You can’t imagine what it’s like to be on a stage and holding the show while people applaud,” he said.

They’re both thrilled to be part of a show that helped alter the look, sound and feel of theatre — something that continued after the changes wrought by the George Floyd protests and the Black Lives Matter movement.

“I’m proud of the blueprint that ‘Hamilton’ has laid down that allows people of colour to take up so much space and be in the spotlight,” said Covington. “While in this space, we’re able to plant seeds to continue to see the work move forward. Historically in this industry, we have a lot of undoing, and a lot of unearthing, to do. And now we’re able to make our voices heard in a way that we haven’t been able to do before.”

The Toronto leg of this particular “Hamilton” tour is the final one, which is prompting the couple to look back on it all — and look forward.

“We have other things lined up, but we’re in that fun place where we’re not allowed to talk about them,” said Webber, Jr. “But it’s great to be able to reflect on what the journey has been to get here. You don’t always get that in theatre. On Broadway, you might find out you’re closing in a week. We’ve known for a while that Toronto is our company’s final stop. As they say in the show, ‘Don’t forget from whence you came.’”

Covington is thrilled to begin the next phase of their lives.

“We left our home for what we thought was going to be a year,” she said. “We’re returning five years later, with a child. Our whole lives have changed. I’m looking forward to our next adventure in parenthood and in life.”

Before then, however, there’s the matter of Father’s Day. Does the Webber family have plans?

“I guess I should make a dinner reservation,” Covington said, laughing.

“All I need is a burger,” chimed in Webber, Jr. “You, D3 and a burger.”

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