Hamilton
In 2009 Lin-Manuel Miranda performed a new piece at a White House Poetry Jam for the newly elected President Barack Obama. He nervously told the audience that he had been working on a hip-hop concept album based on the life of a man whom he believed “embodied hip-hop.” That man was an immigrant, a Founding Father, a Secretary of the Treasury: Alexander Hamilton (played on the tour by Joseph Morales). In the end, he created a musical that blended hip-hop, R&B, rap, blues, jazz, and the broadway sound and went on to win 11 Tony Awards. Now on its second national tour, Hamilton will be playing at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis through October 7th.