海角大神

On a summer day in New Jersey in 1804, two of America鈥檚 Founding Fathers participated in a duel that killed one and effectively ended the career of the other.聽

What had slightly lower stakes and a less tragic outcome was the water cannon duels that took place recently at a child鈥檚 birthday party in Pittsburgh. Party goers turned their backs on one another, paced, then shot and fired just like Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, who the guest of honor, Juliet Forrest, had come to know and love through the hit musical 鈥淗amilton.鈥�

Projected to become a billion-dollar Broadway hit and having picked up 11 Tony Awards, "Hamilton" was guaranteed a place in the pantheon of musical theater. But the "$10 dollar Founding Father" has picked up an unexpected fan base beyond the matinee crowd: tweens, who are experts on the show鈥檚 often tongue-twisting lyrics and, incidentally, much of early American history.

Zest for the show among the eight- to 12-year old crowd is showing up not just in backyards, but also in classrooms around the country, where students are becoming 鈥淗amilton鈥� experts, often helping adults navigate the musical's familiar choruses.聽

While a Treasury secretary is perhaps a surprising icon for a group normally drawn to Disney princesses, what captivates them, explains Dr. Marilyn Plotkins, chairwoman of the theatre department at Suffolk University in Boston, is an intriguing narrative.聽"There's a really good story,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here's a lot of action. [And] I think the women in 'Hamilton' are so appealing. You know, they're strong, they're beautiful, they're articulate, they're fighters.鈥澛犅�

It all starts with the soundtrack

Christine Forrest, mother of birthday girl Juliet and a 10th grade history teacher, is a fan of the soundtrack and put on the show鈥檚 song 鈥淗elpless鈥� one day in the car while driving with her daughter. 鈥淭hat was all she asked to listen to all the time, was that song,鈥� Ms. Forrest says. Then Juliet branched out to the rest of the soundtrack, eventually becoming an ardent fan.

It wasn't a big leap from there to considering that the Founding Father be a part of her eighth birthday, as others her age have.聽Juliet, who loves the character of Hamilton鈥檚 wife, Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, suggested that instead of gifts, party guests bring 鈥淗amilbills鈥� 鈥� the $10 bills on which Hamilton appears 鈥� to donate to Graham Windham, a nonprofit organization that helps children and was co-founded by Ms. Hamilton. The party, held last September, raised more than $350.聽

Across the country around the same time, young people older than Juliet were being converted to the show through a curriculum at Corona del Mar鈥檚 Harbor Day School in California, where Chatom Arkin incorporated the history-rich musical into his classroom. The musical has made its way into schools and sparked an abundance of teacher's guides from sources such as 聽School Library Journal and the聽Gilder Lehrman Institute Institute of American History in New York.

At the private Harbor Day School, Mr. Arkin鈥檚 eighth-graders took part in an integrated curriculum about 鈥淗amilton,鈥� where, last fall, they learned about the musical in his literature class, tackled the real-life aspects in history class, and studied Hamilton鈥檚 financial wizardry in math class.

'The Hamilton Mixtape' effect

Mr. Miranda鈥檚 rap bona fides helped win some initially skeptical students over to the show, according to Arkin. 鈥淲e have a kid who's all about rap and says that anything written by anyone but Nas is garbage,鈥� Arkin says. 鈥淎ll I had to do was actually play him stuff from 鈥楾he Hamilton Mixtape鈥� where Nas is rapping with Lin-Manuel Miranda and he was like, 鈥楢ll right, all right.鈥� 鈥�

Student Jacqueline McNeill is a fan of the show and helped Arkin with the curriculum. She remembers her classmates having expected the soundtrack to be 鈥渕ore like showtunes鈥� but then being won over by the rap and hip-hop aspects, to the point that some students began exploring other musicals afterward. 鈥淎s soon as people heard 鈥楬amilton鈥� who maybe weren't into musicals before, they [said]鈥�, 'I like this so much, I want to start listening to more,鈥欌�� she says.

Out of Arkin鈥檚 more than 40 students, he says almost all of them were big fans by the end of the unit 鈥� perhaps a little too much. After it was over, 鈥淚 actually at one point [said], 'OK, next kid who starts singing 鈥楬amilton鈥� is going to spend lunch detention with me,鈥� 鈥� Arkin remembers. 鈥溾�榃e have got to move on.鈥�... I would like to teach it again and I hope I do.鈥�

'Hamilton' 鈥� whose聽soundtrack comes in clean and explicit versions, due to some swearing 鈥撀爄s also prompting more discussions in families.聽Questions about the United States political system and the direction that the country should take come up frequently during the show. Forrest says the musical is an integral part of their talks at home about current events.

鈥淚n the current climate, where there are discussions about immigration, about what America means, and what the Constitution is, obviously it's something we refer back to all the time,鈥� she says. 鈥淟ike 'Hamilton would have thought this' and 'Washington would have thought this'.... It's kind of become part of our daily lives in a lot of ways."

Don Wadsworth, option coordinator for acting and musical theater at Carnegie Mellon University, understands about discussing the musical. He wrangled tickets to the perpetually sold-out show to take his granddaughters, ages 10 and 12, who he says are still 鈥渓oving it, absolutely, knowing every word.鈥�

鈥淲hen we went to New York, it wasn't like they wanted to see a lot of other [shows],鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey just wanted to see that one.鈥� Because Mr. Wadsworth knew people involved with the show, his group was able to go backstage. 鈥淚 think it's the pinnacle of their lives at this point,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e're going to be hard-pressed to equal that with anything else.鈥�

Wadsworth, who is also a professor of voice and speech at Carnegie Mellon, says he even looked to one of his granddaughters for help when he wanted to use one of the raps from the show in his classroom. 鈥淚 don't mind going down to the 12-year-old and saying, I need you to teach your professor grandfather a little bit,鈥� he says.

Guests at the "Hamilton" themed parties are also getting an education. 鈥淚 would say 75 percent of the people who came to the party really had no idea and were just kind of enjoying the party as it was,鈥� Forrest says. 鈥淎nd we had some people who already knew what was up and were really excited about it. But I think a lot of people ended up being really curious and asking a lot of questions ... 'Why are you into this? What do you like about this?鈥�

In addition to the water cannon duels (which Juliet says was her favorite part), guests at the party at Pittsburgh鈥檚 North Park also had the opportunity to 鈥減in the cannonball on King George,鈥� Forrest says. Her husband, Tom, made a poster of cast member Jonathan Groff in costume as the British monarch. A treasure chest pi帽ata became the 鈥淭reasury chest,鈥� referencing Hamilton鈥檚 work as the first secretary of the Treasury. Juliet wore an 鈥淓liza dress,鈥� a blue Colonial-style dress; while another guest showed up as King George, complete with crown; and a boy attended in colonial garb that a child would have worn during the Revolutionary era. All the guests received tricorn hats to wear.

鈥淚t was perfect,鈥� Forrest says.