DENVER – The team behind the hit Broadway musical Hamilton know they have an opportunity to do more than just entertain.
They're using their wildly popular show to teach, too.
The show’s educational program, EduHam, took the stage Wednesday at the Buell Theatre.
“Title I schools get a curriculum based on revolution history and they study it for a period of time,” says Hamilton cast member Sabrina Sloan. “They put together their own creative performances, and then they bring it here to the Hamilton stage and perform it for their peers and all the other schools.”
Sloan plays Angelica Schuyler in the first national tour of Hamilton. She says EduHam links the history kids are learning in school with what’s happening in popular culture.
“We performed a little rap battle,” says Mapleton Early College High School student Luis Castro-Torres while standing next to his friend and fellow performer, Jesus Villa. “I was playing Alexander Hamilton. He was playing Thomas Jefferson. And we were having a little argument on how the United States should be shaped.”
Student performances included songs, rap, poetry, scenes and monologues.
Those performances preceded a Q&A session with Hamilton cast members, who then performed the musical for the roughly 2,700 students from 38 Denver area high schools.
“It’s amazing – I don’t think I ever had anything like that growing up,” Sloan says. “It gives them access to one of the most amazing, groundbreaking musicals in history. And it might be their first time seeing a musical or being in a theatre at all – having access to a huge show that for the average person can cost thousands of dollars to see.”
“Yea, we got it for $10,” Castro-Torres says smiling. “So, we good.”
Hamilton is scheduled to play the Buell Theatre through April 1.
