Only in America could a musical theater performance about George Washington’s treasury secretary end up taking the entertainment world by storm. Hamilton made headlines for its multiethnic cast, its score fueled by hip-hop, jazz, and R&B, and its dazzlingly subversive vision, earning acclaim for a production that somehow made it all work.
Lin-Manuel Miranda already had a Broadway hit on his record from his work on In the Heights, but his next big project happened almost by accident. He picked up Ron Chernow’s biography, Alexander Hamilton, quickly discovered that the story was one he both identified with personally and could make into great theater, and set out to grace the stage with the life of America’s favorite founding father who never became president—and wasn’t Benjamin Franklin.
Along with some of the most quotable tunes to come off the stage in a long time, Hamilton takes advantage of a dazzling cast, intricate choreography, and plenty of creative license to tell the story of the American Revolution in a way that actually feels revolutionary. With 11 Tony Awards, a Grammy, and a Pulitzer Prize, the show has been selling out tickets fast wherever it goes, so don’t throw away your shot to see it for yourself.