184 Fun Facts About Hamilton

Which royal sang the first words of his ancestor's song from Hamilton at a 2018 London charity gala?

Prince Harry, a sixth-great-grandson of the show's king, sang two words and stopped, joking 'that's definitely not going to happen'; the gala raised £300,000 for his HIV charity.

In which Act 1 anthem does Hamilton win over three fellow revolutionaries he has just met?

My Shot is his vow to seize his chance; the phrase returns with a darker, literal meaning at the final duel.

In Hamilton, who plays the dual role of Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson?

Daveed Diggs played both on Broadway, so Hamilton's fast-talking Act 1 ally returns after the interval as his chief opponent in the cabinet; the double role won him a 2016 Tony.

Which show's record 12 Tony wins did Hamilton miss by one?

The Producers won 12 Tonys in 2001; Hamilton's 16 nominations could yield at most 13 wins, because its actors were competing against each other in two categories, and it finished with 11.

Which streaming platform released the filmed version of Hamilton in 2020?

Disney+ streamed the filmed Broadway production in 2020, scrapping the cinema release Disney had originally planned for 2021 and releasing it to subscribers instead.

Who originated the role of the narrator, Hamilton's rival and eventual killer, on Broadway?

Leslie Odom Jr. originated Aaron Burr on Broadway and then beat Lin-Manuel Miranda, the show's own Hamilton, to the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

Which Shakespeare tragedy does Hamilton quote to Angelica in a letter in 'Take a Break'?

Macbeth supplies the 'tomorrow and tomorrow' speech; Miranda's first draft used a far more obscure line from the play, until a Shakespeare festival director said even he didn't get it.

Which Schuyler sister does Hamilton marry in the musical?

Hamilton marries Eliza, the middle Schuyler sister, in Act 1; Angelica's 'Satisfied' then rewinds the wedding toast to reveal her own suppressed feelings.

Whose 2004 biography of Hamilton did Miranda read on a 2008 holiday, sparking the musical?

Ron Chernow's book came along on a holiday in Mexico; a few chapters in, Miranda was already imagining Hamilton's life as a musical, and Chernow later became the show's historical consultant.

Mobb Deep's 2018 Hamildrop 'Boom Goes the Cannon...' samples which song from Hamilton?

Right Hand Man supplies the 'boom goes the cannon' line; the show had itself borrowed from Mobb Deep's 'Shook Ones', and the track was among the last Prodigy recorded before his death in 2017.

What is the final song in Act 1 of Hamilton?

Non-Stop ends the act with his wife begging him to slow down while he works through a law practice, the Constitutional Convention and a place in Washington's cabinet.

In the musical, which character sings "Wait for It"?

The narrator's philosophy of patience is set against Hamilton's rush, and against his own affair with Theodosia, a British officer's wife.

Who was King George III in Hamilton's original Broadway cast?

Jonathan Groff took over King George from Brian d'Arcy James partway through the Off-Broadway run, when James left to star in another musical, and carried the role to Broadway and a Tony nomination.

Which girl group was the model when Hamilton's music director reworked the Schuyler sisters' Act 1 number?

Destiny's Child was the model: after seeing the three actresses harmonise on the group's songs in online videos, he went back to 'Bootylicious' and let them add their own riffs.

Which character sings "You'll Be Back" in Hamilton?

King George III sings "You'll Be Back", a Beatles-style breakup letter to the rebelling colonies that Miranda wrote on his honeymoon, without a piano to hand.

Where did Hamilton open Off-Broadway before transferring to Broadway?

The Public Theater staged the first run from January 2015; it sold out and was extended to May 3 before the move to Broadway that summer.

Which song dramatizes the start of Hamilton's extramarital affair and the blackmail that follows?

"Say No to This" dramatizes the start of his 1791 affair with a married woman whose husband then blackmailed him; it became one of America's first political sex scandals.

Which original Broadway cast member of Hamilton played both Hercules Mulligan and James Madison?

Okieriete "Oak" Onaodowan doubled as the spy Hercules Mulligan and the frail James Madison; he had turned to theatre in high school only after an injury ended his football.

What award did Hamilton win at the 2016 Grammy Awards?

Best Musical Theater Album went to the cast recording in February 2016, on a night when the cast performed the opening number for the Grammys live from their own Broadway stage.

In the musical, what is the name of Hamilton's eldest son, who dies in a duel?

Philip Hamilton, the couple's eldest son, dies at 19 after an 1801 duel dramatized in 'Blow Us All Away', a loss that devastates both parents in 'It's Quiet Uptown'.

Where did Miranda first perform Hamilton material in public, in May 2009?

At a White House poetry evening in May 2009, Miranda was invited to sing from his current show but instead tried an early version of the opening number.

Which Hamilton song has Burr envying a secret dinner-table deal made without him?

'The Room Where It Happens' is Burr's number, sung after Hamilton, Jefferson and Madison strike a private dinner deal trading the capital's location for Hamilton's debt plan.

Which Pulitzer Prize did Hamilton win in 2016?

Pulitzer for Drama: Hamilton won it in 2016, seven years after Miranda's first musical had been a finalist for the same prize and lost to Lynn Nottage's Ruined.

What was Lin-Manuel Miranda's first Broadway musical?

In the Heights began as a draft Miranda wrote while still in college; it reached Broadway in 2008 with him in the lead and won four Tonys, including Best Musical.

On which Caribbean island was Alexander Hamilton born?

Nevis was Hamilton's birthplace, on January 11 of 1755 or 1757: he used the later year himself, and historians accepted it until a 1768 probate paper listing him as 13 came to light.

What position did Alexander Hamilton hold in George Washington's first cabinet?

Hamilton was the first Secretary of the Treasury, serving from 1789 to 1795 and building the new nation's credit and revenue system from scratch.

Which character raps 'Guns and Ships' in Act 1 of Hamilton?

Lafayette raps 'Guns and Ships' on his return with French aid, then persuades Washington to recall Hamilton and give him the field command he has been asking for.

Which collection of essays did Alexander Hamilton co-author to promote ratifying the Constitution?

Hamilton organized The Federalist Papers and wrote most of them, recruiting John Jay and James Madison as co-authors; Gouverneur Morris turned the invitation down.

During the Revolutionary War, which post did Alexander Hamilton hold on George Washington's staff?

Hamilton served as Washington's aide-de-camp from 1777 to 1781, handling his correspondence, before finally receiving a field command for the 1781 campaign.

Which bank, proposed by Hamilton, received its federal charter in February 1791?

The First Bank of the United States received a twenty-year charter in February 1791, over Jefferson's objection that the Constitution granted no such power.

Where did Aaron Burr mortally wound Alexander Hamilton in their dawn duel on July 11, 1804?

Weehawken, New Jersey, lies across the river from Manhattan: both men were rowed over at dawn, and the wounded Hamilton was rowed back to die the next day.

By what name is Hamilton's 1797 printed confession of his affair now known?

The Reynolds Pamphlet was Hamilton's answer to charges of financial corruption: he admitted the affair in full to clear himself, and the confession badly damaged his reputation.

Hamilton's portrait on US paper currency is taken from an 1805 painting by which artist?

John Trumbull painted the full-length portrait in 1805, the year after the duel, and New York City bought it for City Hall; the banknote engraving borrows only the face.

Where did Alexander Hamilton lead a night bayonet assault that captured a British redoubt?

Yorktown: a British redoubt fell to Hamilton's night assault in October 1781 while French troops stormed its neighbour; Cornwallis surrendered within days, effectively ending the war.

Which New York school did Alexander Hamilton enter in the fall of 1773?

King's College, now Columbia University, admitted Hamilton in late 1773; while still a student there he wrote anonymous pro-Revolution pamphlets.

What was Alexander Hamilton's official role at the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia?

Delegate from New York, one of three; once John Lansing and Robert Yates walked out in July, the state lost its vote, though Hamilton kept speaking in the debates.

Under which shared pen name did Hamilton, Madison and Jay sign their 85 essays urging ratification?

Publius hid three authors: Hamilton is credited with 51 of the 85 essays, Madison with 29 and Jay, who fell ill after his first four, with just five.

What one-word term did Hamilton's First Report on the Public Credit use for taking over state debts?

Assumption was Hamilton's term for the federal government taking over state war debts; states like Virginia that had already paid theirs balked at subsidising those that had not.

Which New York newspaper did Alexander Hamilton found in 1801?

The New York Post began as the New-York Evening Post: after the election of 1800 swept his side from power, Hamilton and his allies wanted a daily paper to argue their case.

Which 1791 tax championed by Hamilton led to an armed uprising in western Pennsylvania?

The whiskey tax of 1791, the first nationwide internal revenue tax, passed at Hamilton's urging; collectors were tarred and feathered before the uprising was put down in 1794.

In the deadlocked election of 1800, whom did Hamilton urge his own party to back over his future killer?

Thomas Jefferson was Hamilton's old cabinet enemy, yet Hamilton lobbied his own party for him, and enough members stood aside to make Jefferson president on the 36th ballot.

What organization did Hamilton's widow co-found in 1806, two years after his death?

The Orphan Asylum Society began with an orphanage in Greenwich Village; she served it for 42 years, the last 27 as first directress, a fitting cause for the widow of a man orphaned in boyhood.

Which British musical's 15 Tony nominations in 2009 shared the record that Hamilton broke with 16?

Billy Elliot the Musical earned 15 nominations in 2009, equalling a 2001 mark; Hamilton passed both with 16, seven of them for actors, some of whom were competing against each other.

Roughly how much was reportedly paid in 2020 for worldwide rights to the filmed Hamilton?

$75 million was the reported price in February 2020, for a film then headed to cinemas in October 2021; the pandemic brought its release forward by more than a year.

Which compromise, dramatized in Hamilton, traded the national capital's location for Hamilton's financial plan?

The Compromise of 1790 (also called the Dinner Table Bargain) was brokered over dinner between Hamilton, Jefferson, and Madison. Hamilton got support for his federal debt assumption plan, while the capital would move from New York to a new site on the Potomac River (Washington, D.C.).

Which actress originated Angelica Schuyler on Broadway, winning the 2016 Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical?

Renee Elise Goldsberry won the Tony, and a Grammy with the cast, in a part whose showpiece rap Miranda called among the most intricate lyrics he had written, and one he could not rap himself.

At which Broadway theatre did Hamilton open in August 2015 after its sold-out downtown run?

Richard Rodgers Theatre was a homecoming: Miranda's first Broadway musical had played there, and announcing the transfer he said through tears that he was going back home.

In what form did Miranda give a 2016 Tony acceptance speech, hours after the Orlando shooting?

A sonnet in tribute to the Orlando victims took the place of a speech as Miranda accepted one of his Tonys; out of respect, the cast also performed its battle number without muskets.

Which city got the first production of Hamilton outside New York, in autumn 2016?

Chicago was the first city outside New York to stage the show, from September 2016; the company stayed 171 weeks, and at its last curtain call in January 2020 the mayor proclaimed Hamilton Day.

Which awards gave the West End Hamilton seven prizes in 2018?

The Olivier Awards gave Hamilton seven wins from a then-record 13 nominations; as on Broadway, the actor playing Burr, Giles Terera, beat his own Hamilton to Best Actor in a Musical.

Which city hosted the first non-English production of Hamilton, opening in October 2022?

Hamburg's Operettenhaus opened the German version in October 2022, with lyrics by musical writer Kevin Schroeder and rapper Sera Finale; weak ticket sales closed it after only a year.

Lin-Manuel Miranda returned to the title role in Hamilton for a three-week engagement in January 2019, launching the third US tour where?

Puerto Rico hosted the run that opened the show's third US tour on January 11, 2019, with Miranda back as Hamilton.

Which Loyalist clergyman argues against the revolution in Act 1 of Hamilton?

Samuel Seabury is mocked in 'Farmer Refuted' for his 'Westchester Farmer' pamphlets; the real Loyalist went on to become the first bishop of the American Episcopal Church, consecrated in Scotland.

Which island does the young Hamilton leave for New York in the musical's opening number?

St. Croix, in the Danish West Indies, is where the teenage Hamilton clerked for a trading firm until his hurricane letter won him passage to New York.

Which New York college hosted a July 2013 workshop of Hamilton, then titled The Hamilton Mixtape?

Vassar College's Powerhouse Theater hosted it with New York Stage and Film; the workshop ran all of Act 1 but only three songs from Act 2, some eighteen months before the Off-Broadway opening.

Which late-night host fronted the 2016 Tony Awards, where Hamilton won 11 prizes?

James Corden, the Late Late Show host fronting the Tonys for the first time, opened with a song-and-dance number he co-wrote with Gary Barlow that raced through snippets of famous musicals.

What were the free sidewalk shows Miranda staged for Hamilton's $10 ticket-lottery crowds called?

Ham4Ham took its name from the lottery itself: winners paid just $10 a ticket, the banknote that carries Hamilton's face, so a Hamilton for Hamilton.

Which holiday week in 2016 made Hamilton the first Broadway show to gross $3 million in eight performances?

Thanksgiving week 2016 brought in $3.3 million, days after the president-elect called the show 'highly overrated' over its curtain-call message to Mike Pence.

Which actor addressed Vice President-elect Mike Pence from the stage in November 2016?

Brandon Victor Dixon, then playing Aaron Burr, read the curtain-call statement, written with Miranda and the show's producer, asking Pence to uphold American values.

In 2016, whose portrait did the US Treasury decide to replace instead of Hamilton's?

Andrew Jackson's portrait on the $20 was the one chosen in April 2016 to give way to Harriet Tubman, after public outcry at the plan to bump Hamilton.

Which actor led the Australian company of Hamilton as Alexander Hamilton?

Jason Arrow played Hamilton when the Australian production opened at the Sydney Lyric Theatre in March 2021, with Lyndon Watts as Burr.

Which rock musical had producer Jeffrey Seller rushed from downtown to Broadway, a move he wanted to repeat with Hamilton?

Rent reached Broadway within three months of opening downtown in 1996; Seller fought for a spring 2015 transfer to chase that year's Tonys, but Miranda and director Thomas Kail held out for more time.

Which 1786 gathering did Hamilton attend, producing his call for a constitutional convention?

The Annapolis Convention of September 1786 drew only twelve delegates from five states; Hamilton drafted its report calling for the Philadelphia Convention that drafted the Constitution.

Which president appointed Hamilton a major general during the Quasi-War with France?

John Adams, pressed by Washington, commissioned Hamilton a major general and inspector general in 1798; the provisional army never saw combat in the naval conflict of 1798-1800.

Which 1794 agreement with Britain did Hamilton back to restore friendly trade?

The Jay Treaty, negotiated by John Jay in 1794 with Hamilton's backing, averted war with Britain; Jefferson's Democratic-Republicans bitterly opposed it.

Which European bank's charter did Hamilton use as the basis for his 1790 plan for a national bank?

The Bank of England's charter was Hamilton's template: he argued an American version could issue paper money, keep public funds safe and act as the government's fiscal agent.

Which rating did Miranda avoid by muting two of the Hamilton film's three F-words?

R is required once a film uses the word more than once, so Miranda muted two of the three to land a PG-13, joking that he gave them up so the kids could see it.

The filmed Hamilton began streaming on the eve of which US holiday in 2020?

Independence Day: the stage film arrived on July 3, 2020, timed for the holiday weekend after the pandemic scrapped the cinema release planned for October 2021.

Which Billboard chart did the Hamilton cast album top, a first for any cast recording?

Rap Albums: the cast recording led that chart but never the all-genre Billboard 200, where it peaked at No. 2, and only in 2020, when the stage film sent listeners back to it.

Which future Oscar winner was an ensemble member on the original Hamilton cast recording?

Ariana DeBose's ensemble track was 'the Bullet': in the final duel she carries the shot slowly across the stage toward Hamilton, and she went on to win the Supporting Actress Oscar for West Side Story.

Which singer recorded 'It's Quiet Uptown' for The Hamilton Mixtape?

Kelly Clarkson's cover of the song, in which a couple grieve for their dead son, was one of two tracks issued a month early to launch the mixtape.

Which hip-hop group's founders co-produced the Hamilton cast album?

The Roots' Questlove and Black Thought co-produced the recording; in 2016 The Hamilton Mixtape took back the project's first name, the title under which Miranda began writing the songs in 2009.

Across which river was the mortally wounded Hamilton carried for treatment?

The Hudson: Hamilton was rowed back to Manhattan, where he died the next afternoon at a friend's house in what is now Greenwich Village.

Where did Hamilton's shot land in the 1804 duel?

Hamilton's ball struck a tree branch overhead, behind Burr, which his supporters took as proof that he fired wide on purpose; Burr's ball hit him in the abdomen.

Which lawyer fatally shot Hamilton's eldest son in an 1801 duel?

George I. Eacker gave a Fourth of July speech that the young man took as an insult to his father; confronted in a theatre box months later, Eacker called him and a friend 'damned rascals' and was challenged.

Which song closes the show, as Hamilton's widow looks back?

'Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story' gives the last verse to his widow rather than to Hamilton or Burr, and the show ends on her gasp as she turns and notices the audience.

Angelica Schuyler's husband John Barker Church became a member of which body?

The British Parliament seated him as MP for Wendover from 1790 to 1796, a turnabout for an Englishman who had made his fortune supplying the American and French armies in the Revolution.

In which city was Angelica Schuyler born in 1756?

Albany, the Schuyler family seat, was Angelica's birthplace in February 1756; the village and town of Angelica in western New York were later named for her.

What crime was Aaron Burr tried for in 1807 after his western expedition?

Treason: Aaron Burr was tried in Richmond in 1807 over an alleged plot in the West; Chief Justice John Marshall presided, and Burr was acquitted.

From which college did Hamilton's future killer graduate in 1772?

The College of New Jersey, now Princeton, graduated Burr at 16; his father had been its president, and he stayed on to study theology before turning to the law instead.

Which office did Aaron Burr win in 1791 by unseating Hamilton's father-in-law?

US senator: the state legislature chose Burr over the sitting senator, Hamilton's father-in-law, and the defeat earned him Hamilton's lasting enmity.

After whom was Philip Hamilton, Alexander's eldest child, named?

Philip was named for his maternal grandfather, Philip Schuyler, Eliza's father and a major general in the Continental Army.

Which secret patriot society did Hercules Mulligan join in 1765, a decade before the war?

The Sons of Liberty took Mulligan in a decade before the fighting began; in the show's battle finale he brags that he is still 'runnin' with' them while spying on the British.

What trade did Hercules Mulligan practise while spying on British officers?

Tailor: Mulligan's New York shop dressed British officers, letting him pick up intelligence from his customers; it was Hamilton who had recommended him as a spy.

Which friend of Hamilton won Congress's backing in 1779 to recruit enslaved men as soldiers?

John Laurens won Congress's backing in March 1779 for up to 3,000 Black soldiers who would earn their freedom, but lawmakers in his own home state refused to raise them.

In which August 1782 engagement was John Laurens killed?

Laurens was killed in the Battle of the Combahee River on August 27, 1782, a minor South Carolina skirmish fought with peace talks already under way.

Whom did Peggy Schuyler marry in 1783?

Stephen Van Rensselaer III, a distant cousin and heir to one of New York's largest estates, married Peggy in June 1783; long after her death he founded the school now called Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Which number opens Act 2, as the new Secretary of State comes home from Paris?

'What'd I Miss' brings Jefferson back from his years as ambassador to France to take up the post, asking the company to fill him in on everything that happened while he was away.

Which Hamilton song takes its title and structure from a Notorious B.I.G. track?

Ten Duel Commandments reworks 'Ten Crack Commandments', trading a numbered guide to drug dealing for the numbered etiquette of a duel; the film's credits acknowledge the borrowing.

Which future president nearly fought a duel with Hamilton in 1797 over leaked papers about his affair?

James Monroe had been one of the congressmen who questioned Hamilton in 1792; when their papers reached the press five years later, Hamilton blamed him and the two came close to a duel.

Which musical's prologue did Miranda cite for putting the whole cast in Hamilton's opening number?

Sweeney Todd's prologue, in which the whole company introduces the title character, was Miranda's model; the song had originally been written as a monologue for Burr.

Which Treasury Secretary did Obama reportedly say 'had to see' Miranda's 2009 performance?

Timothy Geithner, Treasury Secretary in May 2009, was the Hamilton successor Obama reportedly name-checked after hearing Miranda's opening number.

How long did Miranda say it took him to write 'My Shot'?

A year, by Miranda's own account: he pushed himself to say it in as few lines as he could, and every couplet, he said, had to be the best he had ever written.

Which unexpected instrument did Alex Lacamoire add to 'The Room Where It Happens'?

A banjo came to Lacamoire as he wondered what the guitarist could play in a song he heard as Dixieland in the Kander and Ebb vein; he liked that nobody would expect it in a hip-hop band.

Which historical deal does 'The Room Where It Happens' describe from Burr's point of view?

It traded the capital's location on the Potomac for assumption of state debts.

Which song does 'Satisfied' rewind and retell from Angelica's perspective?

Helpless shows the first meeting at the ball through her sister's eyes; 'Satisfied' then rewinds the staging and replays the scene as Angelica, who fell for him too, steps aside.

Where did the refrain of 'Wait for It' come to Miranda?

On the subway to a party is where the refrain arrived, nearly complete: he sang it into his phone, stayed at his friend's only briefly, then finished the song on the ride home.

In which town was the army wintering when Hamilton courted his future wife in early 1780?

Morristown, New Jersey: she was staying nearby with her aunt, the wife of an army surgeon, and the pair were engaged by April and married that December.

Which Act 2 solo is his wife's answer to Hamilton's published confession of an affair?

Burn has her set his letters alight and 'erase herself from the narrative'; the idea came from his biographer's remark that the real woman apparently destroyed her own letters.

Which phrase do passers-by use for the Hamiltons' grief in 'It's Quiet Uptown'?

'Going through the unimaginable' is how passers-by describe the grieving couple as they walk the city at night; by the song's end she has accepted his plea for forgiveness.

Which will.i.am song inspired the sung-over-spoken structure of 'One Last Time'?

'Yes We Can' had celebrities echo a Barack Obama speech as his voice played; here Washington sings his Farewell Address while Hamilton, who helped write it, speaks the same words.

In 'One Last Time', Washington longs to sit under his own vine and which tree?

Fig tree: the line, from the Bible's Book of Micah, is his reason for stepping down in the song, and the real Washington used it almost fifty times in his letters.

Why does Hamilton order the bullets out of his men's guns before their night assault?

To stay silent: one stray shot would give the surprise away, so in the song and in history alike the troops went in with unloaded muskets and bayonets and fought at close quarters.

Miranda wrote 'Dear Theodosia' the week he and his wife adopted which pet?

Dog: the couple met it while visiting her family in the Dominican Republic and named it Tobillo, Spanish for 'ankle'; the song for two new fathers was written that week.

Which film's rap battles influenced Hamilton's Cabinet Battles?

8 Mile's battles were the model, hence the anachronistic handheld microphones; Washington plays emcee, greeting the audience before letting his two secretaries go at each other.

Which Grandmaster Flash song does 'Cabinet Battle #1' contain elements of?

The Message, by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, supplies the 'it makes me wonder' refrain that Jefferson reworks to gloat that Hamilton doesn't have the votes.

Which Tony did Lin-Manuel Miranda win for the first time with Hamilton?

Best Book of a Musical was the new one: Best Original Score repeated a win from 2008, and although he was nominated for Best Actor, that prize went to a castmate.

Which Off-Broadway role did Phillipa Soo originate before Hamilton?

Natasha in The Great Comet came straight after her 2012 graduation from Juilliard, and it was on the strength of that performance that she was asked to an early reading of Hamilton.

Leslie Odom Jr. earned an Oscar nomination for playing which singer in One Night in Miami?

Sam Cooke is one of four friends the film imagines spending the night together after Cassius Clay's 1964 title win; Odom was nominated for the role and for co-writing its song 'Speak Now'.

Christopher Jackson provides the singing voice of which character in Moana?

Chief Tui speaks with Temuera Morrison's voice but sings with Jackson's, one of several jobs he has done for Miranda, who co-wrote the film's songs.

What advice does Burr give Hamilton when the two first meet in the show?

'Talk less, smile more' is the cautious Burr's creed: never let people know what you are against or for, he says, and Hamilton is soon asking what a man who stands for nothing will fall for.

Anthony Ramos voices which character in The Bad Guys films?

He originated the dual role of John Laurens and Philip Hamilton.

Which two roles did Jasmine Cephas Jones originate in Hamilton?

Peggy Schuyler and Maria Reynolds are doubled: the youngest sister of Act 1 gives way in Act 2 to the woman whose affair with Hamilton becomes a public scandal.

Which improv hip-hop group did Miranda start in 2004 with Anthony Veneziale, with Thomas Kail directing?

Freestyle Love Supreme grew out of rehearsal breaks for Miranda's first musical; fifteen years later the improvised show had a Broadway run of its own.

Which 2019 limited series did Hamilton's director Thomas Kail direct and executive-produce?

Fosse/Verdon dramatised the partnership of Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon; Kail went on to marry its star, Michelle Williams, who won an Emmy as Verdon.

Where did Alex Lacamoire graduate in 1995 with the top GPA in his class?

Lacamoire has hearing loss and uses hearing aids.

Who choreographed Hamilton, winning the 2016 Tony Award for Best Choreography?

Andy Blankenbuehler set the dancing on two concentric turntables in the stage floor, and the touring productions kept both rather than have the choreography reworked for one.

Which Act 2 song is an exchange of increasingly hostile letters between Burr and Hamilton?

Your Obedient Servant has Burr write after the 1800 election, blaming Hamilton for his defeat; the replies only escalate, until Burr demands a duel. The real letters came in 1804.

For which film did Hamilton costume designer Paul Tazewell win an Academy Award?

Wicked won him the 2025 Oscar after he had lost on his first nomination, for West Side Story in 2022; the win made him the first Black man to take the costume design award.

Which New Jersey city grew from the planned factory town Hamilton helped launch at a waterfall in 1791?

Paterson grew from his Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures, which harnessed the Great Falls of the Passaic to drive mills; it was named for the governor who signed the charter.

What did Hamilton name the Manhattan country house he finished in 1802?

The Grange has been moved twice: a church bought the house in 1889 and moved it to a new lot, and in 2008 it was moved again, about 500 feet, into St. Nicholas Park.

Which arm of the army did the young Hamilton command as a captain in 1776?

Artillery: New York's revolutionary government had the college student raise a company of gunners in 1776, and his handling of it drew offers of staff posts from several generals.

Which Kentucky senator built his 'American System' on the Report on Manufactures?

Henry Clay folded the report's ideas into a programme of protective tariffs, a national bank and federal roads and canals; the plan Madison and his allies had resisted became the Whig platform a generation later.

Which song does King George sing just after Britain loses the war?

What Comes Next? has the king taunt his freed subjects: do they know how hard it is to lead, he asks, and warns them not to come crawling back when their own people turn on them.

Which modern service did Hamilton's 1790 Revenue-Marine eventually become?

The US Coast Guard began as the armed cutters Hamilton asked Congress for in 1790 to stop smugglers dodging the tariffs that funded the government; a 1915 merger gave it its name.

Which modern banking giant descends from the bank Hamilton helped found in New York in 1784?

BNY Mellon, now branded BNY, grew from his Bank of New York; rival JPMorgan Chase descends from the Manhattan Company, the bank Aaron Burr founded in 1799 to get round Hamilton's opposition.

Opposition to which war briefly revived the Federalist Party before its collapse?

The War of 1812 gave the party a brief resurgence, but its New England wing met at the Hartford Convention to air grievances, and the taint of disloyalty finished it as a national force.

What happened to Aaron Burr's daughter Theodosia in 1813?

She was lost at sea: the schooner Patriot sailed for New York with her aboard on December 31, 1812, and neither the ship nor anyone on it was ever heard from again.

Which general replaced Philip Schuyler as commander during the 1777 Saratoga campaign?

Horatio Gates took over after Fort Ticonderoga fell on Schuyler's watch, and so won the laurels of Saratoga; a court-martial that Schuyler himself demanded later cleared him of every charge.

Which actor played the title role in Hamilton on Broadway from July 2016 to January 2018?

Javier Muñoz, then Miranda's alternate, was already playing the lead at the July 2015 performance President Obama attended, while Miranda watched from the audience.

In which West End theatre did Hamilton open in December 2017?

The Victoria Palace Theatre had been shut since 2016 for a multimillion-pound refurbishment by its new owner, Cameron Mackintosh's theatre group, and reopened with the show.

In 'The Schuyler Sisters', what does Angelica say she is looking for?

'A mind at work' is what she then finds in Hamilton at the winter ball, only to give him up for her sister's sake.

In which Act 2 song do Jefferson, Madison and Burr join forces to find a way to discredit Hamilton?

Washington on Your Side has the trio resent how much power Hamilton has gathered with the president behind him, and resolve to dig for something they can use against him.

In which Lower Manhattan churchyard is Alexander Hamilton buried?

Bishop Benjamin Moore, who led the funeral at Trinity Church, had at first refused the dying duellist communion, relenting only when Hamilton repented of the duel.

In Hamilton, King George III's breakup song to the colonies is written in the style of which 1960s band?

The Beatles-style pop sets the king apart from the rapping rebels around him. Miranda pitched the number as a breakup letter from the Crown to its colonies.

Which performer, a childhood hero of Hamilton's creator, recorded a medley of the musical's songs as a 2018 Hamildrop?

"Weird Al" Yankovic squeezed the score into 'The Hamilton Polka'. Too busy touring to finish it in February, he released it on March 2 and suggested calling the date "February 30th".

Which pair of stage devices must every Hamilton touring set carry to reproduce the original Broadway choreography?

Two turntables, set one inside the other, sit in the stage floor. The choreography depends on them so heavily that the production team insisted every tour be able to duplicate them.

Which White House TV drama did Hamilton's creator cite as an inspiration for his approach to the musical?

The West Wing sat alongside heavy archive work. Many of the lyrics lift lines directly from the Founders' personal letters and other primary documents.

Which TV improv star and game-show host played Aaron Burr in the Chicago production of Hamilton in 2017?

Wayne Brady, best known for Whose Line Is It Anyway?, stepped into the part for a limited run from January to April 2017.

Which US broadcaster aired Hamilton's America, a 2016 documentary about the musical's creation?

PBS aired the film in its Great Performances series on October 21, 2016, twenty days after it premiered at the New York Film Festival.

Which Founding Father, never seen in Hamilton, got a cut song that The Decemberists later set to music?

Benjamin Franklin lost his number before it even had a tune. Miranda had imagined him singing in a "Decemberist-y way", so he sent the unused lyrics to the band's Colin Meloy.

Spamilton, a 2016 New York revue lampooning Hamilton, was written by the creator of which long-running parody series?

Forbidden Broadway creator Gerard Alessandrini premiered the spoof at the Triad Theater in New York before taking it to Chicago. It caricatures Broadway stars as well as the show itself.

In Hamilton, which nickname is given to the ensemble dancer whose movements foreshadow the title character's death?

The Bullet stands for the shot that eventually kills Alexander Hamilton. The original dancer developed the idea for her part herself during the off-Broadway run.

Which actor originated King George III in Hamilton off-Broadway but did not transfer with the cast to Broadway in 2015?

Brian d'Arcy James starred in Something Rotten! on Broadway instead, then came back to wear the crown for a limited engagement in 2017.

Thomas Jefferson opens his first Cabinet rap battle in Hamilton by quoting which document that he wrote himself?

Declaration of Independence lines give Jefferson his opening shot as he quotes himself to champion individual rights. Hamilton hits back that Jefferson is out of touch after his years away in France.

Which rapper's guide to street dealing is reworked into the rules of duelling in Hamilton's 'Ten Duel Commandments'?

Notorious B.I.G. laid out his rules in 'Ten Crack Commandments', and its writers are credited on the Hamilton number. The duelling rules return twice in Act II, each time before a fatal shooting.

Hamilton's 'Meet Me Inside' borrows from 'Party Up (Up in Here)', a 2000 hit by which rapper?

DMX's club anthem is credited on the number, a short scene in which George Washington suspends Hamilton from the army for his part in a duel.

George Washington introduces himself in Hamilton with a line adapted from which Gilbert and Sullivan operetta?

The Pirates of Penzance lends its 'Modern Major General' patter to Washington's entrance, set during the British invasion of New York. Gilbert and Sullivan share a writing credit on the song.

Which Rodgers and Hammerstein musical lends a line about being carefully taught to Hamilton's Act I rallying number?

South Pacific's 'You've Got to Be Carefully Taught' is quoted in a number that also borrows from two rap tracks, so Rodgers and Hammerstein are credited beside hip-hop writers.

Hamilton's song about the Maria Reynolds affair quotes 'Nobody Needs to Know' from which Jason Robert Brown musical?

The Last Five Years has a number Miranda calls "the ultimate infidelity jam", which made it a natural quotation for the scene in which Hamilton strays.

A quotation from which rapper's 'I Need Love' was cut from Hamilton before Broadway because of clearance issues?

LL Cool J's ballad originally opened the song about Hamilton's affair, but the line was removed before the Broadway transfer because of clearance issues.

Hamilton's Act I courtship song makes a lyrical reference to 'The Boy Is Mine', a hit duet by Monica and which singer?

Brandy and Monica's hit title is slipped into the lyric, one of several R&B touches in the number. Its half-rapped, half-sung cadences drew on Beyoncé's 'Countdown'.

Which British actor improvised the title phrase of King George's first song over a drink with Hamilton's creator?

Hugh Laurie wagged a finger and ad-libbed the line on hearing the idea of a breakup letter from the king to the colonies. The two had just filmed episodes of House together.

The title of Hamilton's final duel song comes from the real Aaron Burr wishing he had read more of which novelist?

Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy has a scene in which a man spares a fly because the world has room for both. Burr said that with more Sterne and less Voltaire he would have seen the same of Hamilton.

Which real document does Hamilton read aloud in Act II while George Washington sings its words?

The Farewell Address is heard twice at once, with Hamilton speaking the historical text as Washington sings it. The scene shows Hamilton helping to write the address, as he did in life.

In Hamilton, what is the title character doing when his wife asks him to come back to bed before the duel?

Writing a letter, he tells her only that he has an early meeting. The number's title, 'Best of Wives and Best of Women', comes from words in the real Hamilton's last letter to his wife.

By tradition, which British general had his band play the ballad that gives Hamilton's victory number its subtitle?

Lord Cornwallis's band is said to have played 'The World Turned Upside Down' at the surrender, though the story surfaced long after the siege and may not be true.

Which speaker at the 2016 Democratic convention quoted Hamilton's dying reflection on legacy from the musical?

Hillary Clinton used the soliloquy's gardening metaphor for legacy in her speech as the Democratic candidate. Miranda responded warmly on Twitter.

Which later song takes its title from a phrase the two fathers sing in Hamilton's 'Dear Theodosia'?

Blow Us All Away turns the lullaby's hope dark: in that Act II number Hamilton's son, now nineteen, goes to a duel to defend his father's honour.

Hamilton's last words on stage, a toast to freedom as he aims at the sky, echo which Act I tavern song?

The Story of Tonight is first sung by four young revolutionaries drinking to a cause they are ready to die for. Hamilton repeats its toast as he points his pistol at the sky in the duel.

In Hamilton's finale, the late George Washington repeats his own line from which earlier song?

History Has Its Eyes on You has Washington confess that his first command ended in a massacre of his own men. Its melody also supplies the opening chords of the finale.

In Hamilton's 'Take a Break', Angelica teases the title character over which misplaced punctuation mark in his letter?

A comma in his greeting changed its meaning, she says. In real life it was Angelica who misplaced the mark, and Hamilton who noticed and asked her about it.

In Hamilton's 'Take a Break', a nine-year-old boy and his mother practise counting at the piano in which language?

French numbers are sung up a piano scale, a domestic twist on the counting motif that first appears when the rules of a duel are listed.

Which disgraced major general does John Laurens shoot in the side in a duel in Act I of Hamilton?

Charles Lee had insulted George Washington after losing his command. In real life his second was Major Evan Edwards, but the musical hands that job to Aaron Burr.

A general's failure at which Revolutionary War battle leads to his dismissal and sets up the first duel in Hamilton?

Monmouth cost the general his command, and his bitter remarks about George Washington afterwards drew the challenge. The battle is staged in the song 'Stay Alive'.

The original casting call for Hamilton asked for which singer's 'type' to play George Washington?

John Legend later sang one of Washington's numbers on The Hamilton Mixtape, saying the casting note made him comfortable stepping into the role. He gave the song a more gospel sound.

What does Hamilton order his three battalions to do before storming the British lines in the musical's battle number?

Unload their guns, he says, so the men attack with empty muskets. The British end the battle by waving a white flag.

In Hamilton, John Laurens heads to which state hoping to raise the first battalion of black soldiers?

South Carolina is also where the letter comes from that later tells Hamilton his friend has been killed, in a scene left off the cast album.

In Hamilton's first Cabinet battle, the title character mocks Thomas Jefferson for hiding away at which plantation?

Monticello was Jefferson's estate, and Hamilton uses it to paint his rival as out of touch with ordinary Americans. He goes on to attack Jefferson for keeping slaves.

Which instrument did Hamilton's music director use to represent Maria Reynolds, playing it in a snaky, sinister way?

The cello slinks through her seduction scene, a number that critics compared to a 1990s slow jam in the style of Usher.

In Hamilton's finale, the title character's widow says she raised funds for which national memorial?

The Washington Monument is one of several causes she lists from her long widowhood, along with recording the memories of veterans and speaking out against slavery.

Which cabinet post does Thomas Jefferson take up when he returns from France at the start of Act II of Hamilton?

Secretary of State was the new job waiting for Jefferson after his years as ambassador to France. His entrance number has him asking what happened while he was away.

In Hamilton's second Cabinet battle, the title character argues a treaty with France died with which executed king?

Louis XVI had signed the alliance with the American rebels, so Hamilton argues the promise ended when the king was killed in the revolution. George Washington takes his side.

After the Revolutionary War, Hamilton and Aaron Burr both return to New York to take up which profession?

The law kept both men busy for the next decade, while Hamilton's writing also carried him to the Constitutional Convention and into George Washington's cabinet.

In Hamilton, Jefferson and Madison back the title character's financial plan in return for a capital on which river?

The Potomac won the capital over a private dinner, a bargain the musical shows through the eyes of an envious Aaron Burr, who was not invited.

In Hamilton, which woman of the Revolution is credited with naming a tomcat after the title character?

Martha Washington supposedly chose the name as a comment on his womanising, and his friends tease him with it at his wedding. Historians have found no evidence for the tale.

Which actor won the 2018 Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical as Aaron Burr in the West End Hamilton?

Giles Terera originated the part in London in December 2017 and later wrote about the experience in his 2021 book, Hamilton and Me.

Which performer originated the loyalist bishop whom Hamilton heckles in Act I, both off-Broadway and on Broadway?

Thayne Jasperson also understudied the king and John Laurens, and he appears in his original role in the filmed version of the show.

After the second Cabinet battle in Hamilton, George Washington asks the title character to draft a proclamation of what?

Neutrality kept the young country out of the war between France and Britain. Jefferson protests that the revolutionaries in France are fighting for liberty too, and warns Hamilton that he is powerless without Washington.

Which singer retold Hamilton's affair from Maria Reynolds's point of view on The Hamilton Mixtape?

Jill Scott's version keeps the original backing vocals and music but lets the other woman tell the story instead of Hamilton.

Which office does Aaron Burr hold on the morning he shoots the title character in Hamilton?

Vice President Burr fires while still in office under Jefferson. The musical has him list ten facts about the duel, an echo of the duelling rules sung in Act I.

What news does his wife give Hamilton when George Washington sends him home from the army in Act I?

She is pregnant with their first child, a son, and she asks her husband to slow down and take in the good in their lives.

In Hamilton, Aaron Burr admits that his lover Theodosia is already married to whom?

A British officer is her husband, which makes the affair unlawful as well as risky. Hamilton asks why Burr holds back if he loves her, a question that sets up the next number.

Thomas Jefferson closes his first Cabinet battle verse in Hamilton by recalling which protest against a British tax?

The Boston Tea Party is his warning of what follows when a government taxes its people too hard, a hint at the unrest that Hamilton's own taxes would later provoke.