The Room Where it Happens: Hamilton’s Timeless Impact

          As 45 Lawrenceville students filed into the velvet-lined rows of the bustling Richard Rodgers Theater in New York City, the air was electric with anticipation. “Going into the musical, I didn’t really know what to expect,” remarked Simona Audzevicuite ’26. The group, composed of musical theater enthusiasts, many of whom are lifelong Hamilton fans, and students who simply wanted to discover a new facet of the arts, was left with an  experience to treasure and remember.
 
          Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton is a two-act fictionalized biography of founding father Alexander Hamilton’s life, which details Hamilton’s  journey from a penniless immigrant to George Washington’s “Right Hand Man” and the United States’ first Secretary of the Treasury in the aftermath of the Revolutionary War. The musical, which has been showered with awards and accolades over the past nine years, is widely regarded as one of the most revolutionary musicals of the 21st century, with The Guardian dubbing it  “the kind of transformative theatrical experience that has only happened a few times in the history of American musicals.”

          I truly understood the reasoning behind this lofty statement after experiencing the musical live. Opening the show with back-to-back smash-hits “Alexander Hamilton,” “Aaron Burr, Sir,” and “My Shot,” the crowd was roused, excited, and astonished from the first few minutes, erupting into applause at the conclusion of each song. The show, packed with themes of love, power, liberty, loss, and legacy, tells the classic tale of the American Revolution: the ambitious goal for an uprising against oppressors,  and the common desire  for freedom and a seat at the table in the wake of a new nation. Along with these revolutionary topics, the musical adopts similarly revolutionary theatrical choices. Miranda, by deliberately casting BIPOC actors to play white historical figures, enabled historically underrepresented groups to gain exposure and recognition, while simultaneously allowing the musical to reflect the diverse nature of today’s America—a reminder that we still share some of the same overarching principles and desires that the Founding Fathers once dreamed of. In addition, the score itself has been extremely transformative in shaping the modern American musical. Blending genres of hip-hop, jazz, and R&B along with traditional show tunes is a rare phenomenon in the musical theater world. This masterful portrayal of Hamilton’s largely overlooked tale has left a profound impact on the world of arts and culture through amplifying Hamilton’s influence on the United States’ legal and financial systems.

          Looking back on her first impression of the show, Jenny Chen ’26 stated, “it was just so shocking for me…that I was actually [at Hamilton], having listened to the soundtrack for years.”

          Suzie Nguyen ’26 echoed similar sentiments, remarking, “I’ve never actually seen a musical on Broadway before, and to see one of the most culturally significant ones was an experience I thought I’d never get to have.”

          Each student walked away from Hamilton with unique takeaways and their own appreciation of certain aspects of the show, whether they’d be the songs, live orchestra, lighting, acting, or set design. To Chen, a cellist in the Lawrenceville Collegium Orchestra, the musical experience was “completely different from…listening to [the soundtrack] on your laptop,” adding that she “could clearly hear the bassline and the booming of the instruments from the speaker.”
 
          Reflecting on her favorite moment of the show, Rebecca Streeter ’26 commented, “[it was] definitely when Phillip [Schuyler] died. The acting was so well executed, and it was the little details they added with acting that allows you to see all the way from the second row in the back on the balcony—an experience you could never get unless you watched live theater.”

           Overall, the Hamilton trip was a great success, demonstrating the benefit of ROTTA trips to Lawrenceville’s student body. The Reach Out to the Arts program is truly an asset to the artistic community on campus, as Lawrenceville is lucky to have cultural epicenters like New York City and Philadelphia only a short drive away, providing students who are passionate about the arts the privilege of seeing how artists operate in the professional world.