Hamilton

Below is a 2012 White House rap performance of what became the first number of the hottest Broadway ticket in town today:  "Hamilton."

It's worth a watch.



Lin-Manuel Miranda, the performer and writer, plays here the part of Aaron Burr, who shot Hamilton dead in a duel.  On Broadway now, Miranda plays Hamilton and Burr is cast fabulously by Leslie Odom Jr., whose name we will hear again and again.

The play/musical/opera uses current vernacular but captures the essence of our founders' intentions and arguments, specifically through Alexander Hamilton, who in retrospect may have been the best of the group.  (If anyone wants to put forward a better candidate, I dare him to find one.)


I saw the play this week, and it is really, really, really great. It reminds us why the American Revolution succeeded while the French and Russian revolutions failed.  It appropriates our founding documents to include all of us, which, over time, they did. It shows us Alexander Hamilton, a flawed man like all men, but one who left his mark on history.

When I got home, I looked to find tickets for friends.  Alas, the entire New York run is sold out.  In a way, this is good.  It signals that "Hamilton" and its themes will be reverberating in performances for many years to come.

There are several other youtube videos of this piece, but they aren't that good.  If "Hamilton" comes to your city, buy tickets and go.