So, the truth: I didn't watch my wonderful new show, Scream Queens, last night. I had seen it and love it for its funny, gory glory humor and truth-telling. I was only in New York City for one night and so I went instead to see Hamilton. I was lucky enough to have friends who are friends with its incredible creator and star, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and I was able to buy house seats. More on this in a moment.
I am an uneducated/well-educated affluent woman from LA. I say uneducated and well-educated because although I went to good schools, I couldn't learn. The delivery system didn't work. The only class I excelled in was my public middle school eighth grade American History class, taught by George Fourgis. He told his class that he would give no tests. Instead, he would lecture, we would discuss as a group and then three times in the year each of us would do oral presentations on lottery-chosen subjects from the period in history we were studying.
He claimed you would get a C and pass if you wrote and delivered a fact-based repetition of the subject. He claimed you'd get a higher grade if you were creative. I chose Paul Revere's Ride. I decided to do my report from the point of view of a flea on Paul Revere's horse. I dressed in a green leotard and had little antennae and started my presentation with "Hi, I'm a flea and boy do I have a story for you."
I got the first A+. Maybe the only one I ever got in my life of academic under-achievement.
I tell you this because I learned through him telling me stories that were interesting, and so I payed attention.
Back to Hamilton.
Hamilton is the single greatest musical ever produced. It has not only revolutionized the form, but it is the best history teacher I could ever want. It makes me want to be young again and able to see history through its eyes. I'm sure I would have devoured history and the great stories of humans changing the world with much more interest if I had seen this in my youth.
We need to figure out how to change the delivery system of our current educational plan. The current report that SAT scores are down again highlights a fundamental flaw in the system.
Hamilton is about revolution and conflict and sacrifice and flaws and vision. Lin-Manuel Miranda has reinterpreted history for today's masses.
I hope he and his astonishingly talented team of artists and musicians can find a way to bring this revolution to ALL our schools and that ALL the creative people in the entertainment industry can rally and take this brilliant bonfire of creative revolution to start fires in all creative people's minds -- to create CHANGE through art!
Mic drop!
P.S.: The soundtrack is now available on iTunes and we could all gift this to one person or one school and start the revolution one soundtrack at a time.