Yesterday at the East Wing, cast members from the Broadway hit Hamilton, performed a selection of songs from the show in recognition of arts at the White House.
Hamilton follows the story of one of our nation’s Founding Fathers, Alexander Hamilton, from his time as an orphan in the Caribbean, his post as the first treasurer of the United States, and the legacy of his death in a duel with John Burr.
The music and lyrics for this musical are from Lin-Manuel Miranda and incorporates blues, hip-hop, jazz, rap, R&B, and other musical styles to tell Hamilton’s impact on 18th-century history.
As part of the event, the President and the First Lady hosted local area students who took part in a workshop with the cast and participated in a Q&A session with them.
On his Twitter feed the President had this to say about the first Treasurer’s inspiring life:
We hope that the remarkable life of Alexander Hamilton will show our young people the possibilities within themselves.”
This isn’t the first time for Miranda at the White House. In 2009, the Obamas held a celebration called the White House Evening of Poetry, Music and Spoken Word in which the Puerto Rican-American writer and composer performed a rough version of the song Alexander Hamilton that went on to become the opening number of the musical.
Later in the evening, the President got in on the fun by holding up cards for Miranda, also a rapper, to freestyle. Miranda coasted through the freestyle not getting stumped by any of Obama’s surprise words and then dropped the mic. The President was so impressed he asked people off camera
…do you think that’s going viral?”
Yes. Yes, it is.
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