Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

HAMILTON is the epic saga that follows the rise of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton as he fights for honor, love, and a legacy that would shape the course of a nation. Based on Ron Chernow’s acclaimed biography and set to a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B, and Broadway, HAMILTON has had a profound impact on culture, politics, and education. HAMILTON features book, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, direction by Thomas Kail, choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler, and musical supervision and orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire. In addition to its 11 Tony Awards, it has won Grammy®, Olivier Awards, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and an unprecedented special citation from the Kennedy Center Honors.

Hamilton runs through September 29, 2024 at The Benedum.

Sarah and E reviewed Hamilton for our blog. I can’t say enough – take your kids to musicals and live theater. Let them experience the arts and imbibe the stories. – Sue

I took my 13 year old, E, to see Hamilton for his birthday. He has been listening to the soundtrack for a while and was super excited to be able to see it on the big stage. From the very beginning, Hamilton is engaging and makes you want to dance and sing along.

The company of actors blew us all away. Each being different from the original cast that I learned to love by listening to it on repeat while training for a marathon, but no less incredible in the ways that they interpreted the roles for themselves. Our favorites of course are King George III played by Justin Matthew Sargent and Angelica played by Marja Harmon, although when Eliza played by Lauren Mariasoosay sang our hearts sang with her. Aaron Burr played by Jimmie “JJ” Jeter stole the show with his exceptional rendition “Wait for It.” which was received with monstrous applause.

We decided after the show that more history lessons should be taught in musical form, because we would be more willing to go and listen. There are lots of lessons to be learned from this show, like not throwing away your shot and that being in the room where it happens should not be the most important thing in your life.

I realize that this is not historically accurate, but it gives some place to start.  It could lead to someone reading the federalist papers or even talking to a friend or classmate about the time period.  There are several plays that are historical for instance, 1176 is about the US Continental Congress when they were writing the declaration of independence and Les Misarable is also a historical play about the French Revolution.

I don’t know if this will change the way that Elijah learns about history but it got him talking to me about the names of other presidents and the wars that were fought during their terms. We talked about how it wasn’t completely accurate and googled how there were differences and why.

Both E and I give Hamilton 5 stars – highly recommend.