HAMILTON! How the Musical Remixes American History with Dr. Richard Bell.

America (once again) has Hamilton-mania! With Disney+ now streaming the show, backyard movie screens and living television sets have been screening Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony-winning musical all summer long.  Registration is required: Eventbrite registration page

Join us on Monday, September 21st with University of Maryland historian Dr. Richard Bell where we will explore this musical phenomenon to reveal what its success tells us about the marriage of history and entertainment. We’ll learn what this amazing musical gets right and gets wrong about Alexander Hamilton, the American Revolution, the birth of the United States—and why, particularly in this moment in time – all that matters.

What were the real Hamilton’s choices and policies in relation to immigrants, working people, rural farmers, and those enslaved? We’ll examine some of the choices Hamilton’s creators made to simplify, dramatize, and humanize the complicated events and stories on which the show is based. We will also talk about Hamilton’s cultural impact: what does its runaway success reveal about the stories we tell each other, who we are, the nation we made and the importance of “who tells your story.”

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*This program is presented in partnership with Maine Historical Society. FREE to Mechanics’ Hall and Maine Historical Society members. Suggested ticket price of $10 for non-members.