The innovative educational program that debuted at HAMILTON on Broadway continued in Dallas on Thursday, May 2 when over 3,200 students and teachers from 56 high schools attend matinee performance of the musical at the Music Hall in Fair Park.
“Our goal is to ensure students have a shot to see HAMILTON and use its words, music and staging to further their understanding and enjoyment of American history, music, and drama,” HAMILTON producer Jeffrey Seller shared. “We’ve had the pleasure of expanding the education program outside of New York in Los Angeles, Chicago, and multiple cities around the country.”
The performances in Dallas provided more than 3,200 high school students the opportunity to experience the musical HAMILTON after having spent several weeks in their classrooms studying American history through a special integrated curriculum about Alexander Hamilton and the nation’s Founding Fathers.
In addition to seeing a performance of HAMILTON, students participated in a Q&A with members of the HAMILTON company. As well, students representing various schools in attendance will perform an original work they created based on their classroom studies – songs, rap, poetry, scenes, monologues – on the Music Hall in Fair Park stage in front of their peers.
The Hamilton Education Program is one of several history education programs offered by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Its president, James G. Basker—who devised the education program in tandem with HAMILTON creator and producer, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeffrey Seller respectively, and The Rockefeller Foundation—adds, “This project is transformative. HAMILTON has struck a chord with our nation’s students because it embodies what great history education is all about: bringing the past to life and fostering connections with the exceptional individuals and moments that have made us who we are. This program empowers students to reclaim their own narrative and teachers to bridge classroom learning with the stage.”
