Hamilton's America Page #4

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so you have to be aware of that.

But they live in a kind

of a penumbral area,

where they are who they were,

but they're also

who you want them to be.

-Well, that leads me

to a really good bit of advice

you gave me early

when I was writing "Hamilton."

I was drowning in research.

And what you told me was,

"Just write the parts

you think are a musical."

And that forms its own spine.

- You'll be back

Soon you'll see

You'll remember

you belong to me

You'll be back

Time will tell

You'll remember

that I served you well

-King George just

sort of showed up in my brain.

It doesn't make sense on paper

that he should be a character

in this musical.

He's all the way across

the ocean, far from the events.

He and Hamilton never met.

At the same time,

to give him these moments

throughout the show

robs the American Revolution

of its inevitability.

-Each piece of music is specific

to an emotion and a character.

Even though it's about history,

Lin has found a way

lyrically and musically

to connect it to now.

And so having the King George

psychology

be like a breakup song

from Britain to America,

I feel like, makes it

really relatable.

- When you're gone,

I'll go mad

So don't throw away

this thing we had

'Cause when

push comes to shove

I will kill

your friends and family

To remind you of my love

-None of the shows we're talking

about are documentaries.

None of them are book reports

with songs added.

I mean, ultimately,

they're artists' inventions.

-Yeah.

-I got into the history

through the characters.

John got into the history

that surrounded the characters,

and then we met there.

He sparks me, and I spark him.

Or, as George Furth said,

"I collabor him,

and he collabors me."

[ Laughter ]

[ Piano plays ]

-One, two, three.

Ah, ah, ah

And then to...

"Raise a glass to freedom,"

maybe seven, "something

they can never take away,"

and then go through the chorus

and then go to Laurens --

I may not live

to see our glory

-Right, and Laurens was

the bringer of that.

Yeah.

The Cabinet meetings

are really my favorite part

of the process.

They are when I bring in a song

to my collaborators --

let's say,

"The Story of Tonight" --

and I go,

"Here's what I've written."

And then we pull it apart.

I don't want to lose the...

Duh-uh-uh uh uh

-Okay, okay.

-That's worth saving, to me.

-So, does that mean start it

and not --

-Not starting.

-Start it in the basement?

- Glass to freedom

- Raise a glass to freedom

Something they can

never take away

I wear a lot of hats

in "Hamilton."

I'm the music director.

I'm one of the arrangers

with Lin-Manuel.

I am the orchestrator.

I am the conductor.

I am the keyboard player.

I take on all those duties

just because I feel like

I have such a strong opinion

about how I think

something should sound,

but also because I feel like

I know what Lin is looking for.

I feel like I know how it is

that I can execute his vision.

I don't think it's about

tacking on another chorus

unless you think it

just needs that.

-No, I don't think we need it.

But I feel like Andy's

gonna have

a million things to weigh in on.

-Choreography, to me,

is the writing idea,

the lyric idea,

the emotional idea,

that then is exaggerated

into a heightened state,

and it becomes physicalized.

What's amazing

about our team is,

we're finishing each other's

sentences all the time.

What Lin writes

and Alex arranges

works for me, choreographically.

And my ideas meet

Tommy's sensibilities.

So, that's why our work

can be seamless.

That's why it seems like one

thing goes right into the next.

-Anything else with

the Hamilton-Washington

back-and-forth?

You guys good?

-I'm good.

-I'm good.

-All right, moving on.

As a very mediocre

American history major,

I was exposed to a lot

of these kinds

of stories

told in very different ways.

And what I wanted

to try to do was remove

any of the black-and-white

nostalgia, sepia tone,

and make this feel

vital and vibrant.

- Here comes the General

- Ladies and gentlemen

- Here comes the General

- The moment

you've been waiting for

- Here comes the General

- The pride of Mount Vernon

- Here comes the General

- George Washington

- We are outgunned

- What?

- Outmanned

- What?

- Outnumbered, outplanned

- Buck, buck, buck,

buck, buck

We got to

make an all-out stand

A-yo, I'm gonna need

a right-hand man

- Buck, buck, buck, buck,

buck

-We're meeting Washington

at the crux

of the entire conflict.

Boston is over.

He's just lost New York.

His army is as close

to being annihilated

in that moment

as you could imagine.

-To meet him that way

suddenly takes us

out of the history books.

It takes us into the urgency of,

"Oh, we might not win."

-Initially, when the war begins,

there's a lot of retreating

on the part of Washington.

And what he's trying to do,

really,

is just keep the war going.

-He's juggling how to get all of

these soldiers out of harm's way

and away from all of the ships

that are still

in New York Harbor.

He has no one to turn to.

Up pops Hamilton.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ]

- Have I done

something wrong, sir?

- On the contrary,

I called you here

Because our odds

are beyond scary

Your reputation precedes you,

but I have to laugh

- Sir?

- Hamilton, how come

No one can get you

on their staff?

- Sir

- Don't get me wrong

You're a young man,

of great renown

I know you stole

British cannons

When we were still downtown

Nathanael Greene

and Henry Knox

Wanted to hire you

- Yeah, to be their secretary

I don't think so

- Now, why are you upset?

- I'm not

- It's all right

You want to fight,

you've got a hunger

I was just like you

when I was younger

Head full of fantasies

of dyin' like a martyr?

- Yes

- Dying is easy, young man

Living is harder

-It's really fair to say

that, without Washington,

Hamilton would not have had

someone to enable him

to achieve the things

that he achieved.

Conversely, without Hamilton,

Washington wouldn't have had

someone there

to help him and advise him.

When you're in someone

like Washington's position,

you don't -- there aren't many

people that you can truly trust.

-Hamilton had distinguished

himself multiple times

as a warrior.

It was probably one reason

why he was frustrated

that he was not then

promoted as a warrior,

but then was promoted

as a secretary,

an aide-de-camp

to George Washington.

- Boom

- I'll write to Congress

And tell 'em

you need supplies

You rally the guys

Master

the element of surprise

- Chicka-boom

- I'll rise above my station,

organize your information

Till we rise to the occasion

of our new nation, sir

- Here comes the general

- Rise up

- What?

Here comes the general

- Rise up

- What?

Here comes the general

- Rise up

- What?

Here comes the general

- What?

- And his right-hand man

- Boom

[ Cannon fires ]

[ Birds chirping ]

-It's rare that you do a show

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