In what should be regarded as the most successful piece of Cleveland promotion since the Cavs Championship Parade, actor Nik Walker — who plays Aaron Burr in the touring production of Hamilton, currently at Playhouse Square — sang the praises of the downtown Heinen’s in a video posted to Twitter Friday.

Quite apart from Walker’s prodigious talents — which for our money would make him at least as profitable a spokesman for Heinen’s as Leslie Odom Jr. is for Nationwide insurance — the video appears to be a pure and unprompted celebration of a cool local asset. Imagine.

Organic brands Nik Walker never knew existed! Prices comparable to Trader Joe’s!

“Every town’s got their secrets,” Walker says. “And you’ve got this strange tourist coming in doing a strange show and you don’t want to tell him about your town’s secrets. I get that. That’s to be expected. But the fact that none of you notified me of the glory that is Heinen’s supermarket … this is disrespectful.” 

Tonight, Playhouse Square will host its annual Center Stage Benefit, a fundraiser for the theater’s sensory-friendly and subsidy programs. The event has taken on the cast of a ‘Hamilton Opening Gala’ due to the show’s unprecedented interest. 

This article appears in Jul 18-24, 2018.

Sam Allard is a former senior writer at Scene.