Even though Entertainment Weekly has called Hamilton “the biggest cultural smash on Broadway this decade” it can be hard to convince people to give the two and half hour, 46-song musical soundtrack a shot.  For the sake of the joy and inspiration everyone is guaranteed to find in the story of Alexander Hamilton as told by Lin-Manuel Miranda, I’ve created a Cliff Note’s version of the musical’s story, links to key songs included.

[Side note:  You won’t see the actors while listening to the cast album, but I think it is extremely important to note that the majority of the actors and actresses are people of color.  Miranda himself is Puerto Rican, and the men who play Aaron Burr, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson are black.  Hamilton’s wife and her sister are played by a biracial Asian woman and a black woman respectively.  I am so in love with Miranda’s goal of telling the story of America’s past with the voices of America’s present.]

Alexander Hamilton was born on a Caribbean island, the bastard son of a Scotsman and a prostitute.  He becomes an orphan when his dad skips out and his mother dies, and the cousin who takes him in winds up committing suicide.  When he was a teenager, a hurricane devastated his hometown, and after writing about his experience, a fund was collected to send him to America.  Dude has a serious chip on his shoulder, and he is determined to prove his worth by demanding everyone’s attention and hiding his self-doubts (“Alexander Hamilton“).   Continue reading →