Hamilton & 1300 NYC High School Students

Partnership with HAMILTON, The Rockefeller Foundation, NYC Department of Education and Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History Provides 20,000 Students Tickets to See Musical

 

Video: Mark Ryan (MR) Anderson

Photos: Ruby Berube

Student representatives from 12 New York City high schools performed songs, rap, poetry, scenes and monologues, created as part of a HAMILTON curriculum on May 10.

Thirteen hundred students from New York City public schools gathered today at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway for the inauguration of an unprecedented partnership between the producers and creator of the musical HAMILTON, The Rockefeller Foundation, the Gilder Lehrman Institute and the NYC Department of Education. The partnership was funded through a $1.46 million grant provided by The Rockefeller Foundation. The matinee was the first of numerous performances dedicated entirely to a student audience over the course of the next year.

The innovative educational collaboration provides 20,000 New York City public school students with the opportunity to see HAMILTON on Broadway after studying it in their classrooms through an integrated curriculum designed by the Gilder Lehrman Institute.

This program gives students an introduction to one of the nation’s Founding Fathers and the birth of our democracy. Combined with classroom studies, the program encourages further engagement with and appreciation of American history.

In addition to seeing a performance of HAMILTON, students participated in a Q&A with members of the cast of HAMILTON, and student representatives presented original material – songs, rap, poetry, scenes and monologues – created as part of the integrated curriculum in their schools.

“Today, one of our greatest dreams for HAMILTON came true – sharing this musical with 1,300 high school students whose participation in the study program and reactions to the performance were unlike anything we’ve experienced before.  We look forward to building on this educational program all over America,” said HAMILTON producer, Jeffrey Seller.

 

“I had the privilege to meet with students from the Bronx coming to the matinee, and their insights and enthusiasm confirm that our partnership with Rockefeller and Gilder to work with 20,000 public school students and bring them to Hamilton is one of our best investments. There is no feeling on earth like performing for a theater full of students who are learning about our founders in class and seeing how it still relates to their own lives on stage,” said HAMILTON creator and star, Lin-Manuel Miranda.

“The partnership between HAMILTON and The Rockefeller Foundation is a game changer for 20,000 New York City public schools students. Today, the first 1,300 experienced something truly inspirational – the story of America’s founding fathers as told by actors and actresses who look just like them, through a transcendent Broadway musical created by a student of the New York public school system —just like them. We couldn’t throw away our shot at bringing Hamilton to the audience it could affect most, who otherwise might not have had the opportunity,” said Judith Rodin, President of The Rockefeller Foundation. “Hamilton has the ability to reshape history, redefine racial and gender roles, and above all else, inspire – and that is what we hope happens for students here today.  I’ve had this date in my calendar since we announced this partnership last fall – now that the day is finally here, I’m as excited as a tourist who won the Hamilton ticket lottery.”

A portion of the grant provided by The Rockefeller Foundation went to the Gilder Lehrman Institute to develop the “HAMILTON Education Program,” an in-class curriculum designed around the musical. The program includes a “Hamilton Student Performance and Study Guide” and an online “HAMILTON” portal for students and teachers that offers students a creative platform for developing and producing their own original performances of poetry, rap, songs, scenes and other art expressions, to be performed at the theater prior to watching a performance of HAMILTON.

Today’s group of participating high schools was selected by the New York City Department of Education and included Bronx Engineering and Technology Academy, Bronx Theater High School, ELLIS Preparatory Academy, Fort Hamilton High School, High School for Health, Careers, and Sciences, High School for Law and Public Service, Marble Hill School for International Studies, High School for Media and Communications, New Dorp High School, The Bronx School of Law and Finance, The College Academy and Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Education High School.

 

“This project is transformative. Twenty thousand students will experience American history in a new way and find their own connections to the Founding Era, to the performing arts, and to the future of our country,” said James G. Basker, President of The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

 

“Our students are living history at the theater through this transformative and powerful experience,” said Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña. “I thank the Miranda family for assuring that their passion for history and music is shared by New York City students. This musical will impact the lives of thousands of students and connect to enriching curriculum, undoubtedly sparking passion and an understanding of how inspiring history can be in the classroom, in our great City, and beyond.”

The Rockefeller Foundation has a long history of supporting the arts and humanities, fueled by a belief that the cultivation of aesthetic sensibilities through literature, music, and other fine arts is essential to the well-being of humanity. Today’s program underscored the Foundation’s commitment to nurturing the vitality of New York City’s cultural institutions and the role of the arts as a catalyst for social change.

Tickets will cost only $10 for the students, who will attend Wednesday matinees through 2017.

The HAMILTON producers are making tickets for this educational partnership available for $70 each, $60 of which is being subsidized by The Rockefeller Foundation.

With book, music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, directed by Thomas Kail, choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler and musical direction and orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire, HAMILTON is based on Ron Chernow’s biography. HAMILTON is the story of America’s Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant from the West Indies who became George Washington’s right-hand man during the Revolutionary War and was the new nation’s first Treasury Secretary. HAMILTON’s score blends hip-hop, jazz, blues, rap, R&B, and Broadway – the story of America then, as told by America now.

For performance and ticket information to HAMILTON visit www.hamiltonbroadway.com.