Ilana Keller

@ilanakeller

James Monroe Iglehart knows a little about magic.

The Broadway vet ("Memphis") won a Tony Award for his larger-than-life portrayal of the genie in “Aladdin.”

He'll soon hang up his genie slippers and head over to another Broadway smash hit — "Hamilton."

Producers announced Tuesday that Iglehart will play Thomas Jefferson/Lafayette in Lin-Manuel Miranda's masterpiece.

Major Attaway, current genie standby, will take over the "Aladdin" role full time beginning Tuesday, Feb. 21.

Iglehart has loved sharing his magical journey with Broadway's youngest fans.

“I remember the first cartoon I saw as a kid was Disney’s ‘Jungle Book,’ and I remember the first show I saw as a kid, it was ‘The Wiz,’ and it changed my life,” he said.

“So when I see that there are kids out there, and this may be their first Broadway experience, I love to talk with them about it, see how they felt about it. What did they like and what didn’t they like. It’s cool to me that this might be their first show."

Iglehart has been playing the genie on Broadway for three years, with his high-energy, 1,000-miles-a-minute “Friend Like Me” a highlight of the show.

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“I think the fun part is because I’ve been a fan of the movie since I was 17, ‘Friend Like Me’ has always been with me," he said. "I think I have too much fun for it to be too taxing on me. I am having so much fun doing it every night that it never feels like a chore. Don’t get me wrong, when I’m sick, when I have a sinus infection, I’ve done the show with bronchitis before, it is hard to do. But it has never felt like a giant weight on me. The weight has always been wanting to make sure the audience has the best time.”

The principal cast has been together on Broadway since 2014, and many performers have been together for even longer.

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“We’re a family," he said. "I know it’s cliché to say, but we literally are a family. Everybody’s brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles. A lot of us have been together, the principal cast, for six years, since 2011. And then to be on Broadway with this original cast for three years is great.”

Iglehart sees the benefit of keeping things fresh after so long.

“There’s a couple of quick moments where I can throw something new in, and I do my best to throw something new in a lot, so that each audience can hear something different."

Iglehart is taking his show on the road, performing his cabaret show "How the Heck Did I Get Here?" at New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark on Jan. 28.

“It’s a lot of fun and hopefully funny stories mixed in with a lot of different styles of music," he said. "It’s kinda like my mental iPod — I go from gospel to Broadway to hip-hop to R&B and it’s a lot of fun. And every now and then, we might sneak a country tune in there just to have some fun, just to show you the different styles that have touched my life — everything from when I was a kid, I started singing in church. I became a rapper when I was older. I got into R&B singing when I got a little bit older, and Broadway’s always been a part of my life. The first thing my parents showed me, besides church music, was Broadway music. So you get a feel of what it was like to be a fun little African-American kid in Hayward, California, thinking about being on stage.”

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He points to shows like “The Wiz,” “Dreamgirls” and “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” as well as “Guys and Dolls,” “Annie,” and when he got a little older, “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Sweeney Todd.”

He laughs when asked if tackling Sondheim at a young age helped with the frenetic pace of his keynote song.

“I think the mixture between hip-hop and things like Sondheim really do help with the amount of words I have to sing in ‘Friend Like Me,’” he said.

Iglehart has tackled some television and film projects, notably roles in “Gotham” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” as well as the upcoming movie “The Three Christs,” alongside Richard Gere and Peter Dinklage, among others. He looks forward to more TV and film work in the future, as well as stage roles.

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“I think the stage will always be my home, but TV and film, I really enjoy doing,” he said. “But I love the immediate response of being on stage, whatever form that takes, whether a musical or a play or just me telling stories to people on a microphone. I love doing that kind of stuff.”

There is one solid advantage to screen work though.

“I also really get into the craft services, the food on the set is amazing," he said. "There’s something magical about the food they bring to TV and to film. I think what happens with theater is they know we’re surrounded by great restaurants, so they go, ‘Look, it’s right there!’”

Ilana Keller: 732-643-4260; ikeller@gannettnj.com

JAMES MONROE IGLEHART

WHAT: “How the Heck Did I Get Here?"

WHEN: 6 and 8:30 p.m., Jan. 28

WHERE: Chase Room, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center St., Newark

TICKETS: $55 to $70

INFO: 888-466-5722 or njpac.org