If you’re a person, you have definitely heard about the new musical “Hamilton” a story about the life of Alexander Hamilton through hip-hop, rap, R&B, and jazz music. It has been taking Broadway by storm, with each night sold out until December 2017. It is no doubt one of the highest rising musicals that have been on Broadway. But why is that? Why is the story of an immigrant orphan from the British West Indies who helped build America from the ground up something to get excited over?

Let’s start with the notion of entertainment. Lin Manuel-Miranda, the 36-year-old playwright who also stars in the musical as Alexander Hamilton himself, has created a world of America that we have not seen before. Textbook speaking, thinking of US history, it is extremely white washed and biased. Learning about this in school, for me, was never exciting. It was about memorizing boring facts for a test and then forget it afterwards. With “Hamilton”, Miranda creates something exciting to learn about. Using different music styles that cater to everyone, the Richard Rodgers Theatre has managed to overfill its theatre every single night for people from all walks of life. Miranda has truly given us a piece of history that we can all bond over. By making the decision to have a mostly POC cast, it gives other people of color something to relate to in history. They can see themselves in history. By making the minority the majority in this show, it has drawn in an even bigger audience. With most of our history being extremely whitewashed, it’s refreshing to see representation in something this big.

All though it’s extremely entertaining, it’s interesting that “Hamilton” has taken this rise at this point in our country’s history. We have the black lives matter movement, the current election in our country, the war over seas, and so much more happening around the world. The story of “Hamilton” is all about change and rising up. It’s about forgiveness, perseverance, bravery, and tragedy. It’s all about being human. What we have happening in the world corresponds “Hamilton” so much more than it seems.

It’s showing us how history repeats itself, and although our present is not an exact copy of theirs, there is so much similarity. Our country is starting to go through a major change and we are all trying to get someone in office that we believe can truly thrive and help our country. We are building up a new chapter of our country, and although it’s not the first chapter of our country, it’s a new political revolution. Although we don’t have slavery anymore, we have extreme lack of representation and an extreme problem with caring for such a prominent population in our country. We are trying to change that around so we have the equality these characters believed in. We are in war, although it’s not fighting for our freedom, but it’s fighting for other people’s freedom. It’s for liberating all the victims of terrorism, especially ISIS. We’re fighting for something we believe needs to calm down.

We are also reminded of how this country was founded on immigration. Right now we have the refugees coming in seeking a new land for new life, and that was exactly how our country started. These people were running from Britain in search of freedom, and these refugees are running from their countries in search of freedom. It’s all turning around and although it’s not exactly the same as how it happened, it’s something that is a reality in our present day.

Manuel also creates such strong female characters. It would be possible to cut out the women of the show and just focus on the politics, but that’s not the case in “Hamilton”. Although there are not many female characters, essentially because this history was mostly about the men, Angelica and Eliza Schuyler are such huge characters in the show. Eliza is basically the narrator of Hamilton’s life, and as his wife she is in the show as Hamilton’s conscious. She has a consistent melody throughout the show of “stay alive”, “the fact that you’re alive is a miracle, to stay alive, that would be enough” and other phrases that stick together, she is acting as Hamilton’s conscious to stay alive to complete his goals and to stay with his family. Angelica is more off to the side, but she is always there as backup. Even in their lowest moments, the Schuyler sisters never break their strength. In “Burn”, Eliza takes her stand and decides her life after the Reynolds’s scandal for herself. In “The Reynolds Pamphlet” Angelica stands up for her sister and shoots down Hamilton for his wrongdoings. That’s something that in a lot of Broadway, especially classic Broadway, it’s about the girl getting help from the men or the girl being diminished by the men cause she’s a girl. In Hamilton, the girl stands up for herself.

Drawing audiences in from all over the globe, “Hamilton” has truly created its own empire. It’s created a history to be interested in. I know I would have never been so excited over the life of Alexander Hamilton if it wasn’t for this musical. There are so many reasons of why Hamilton is so important. Love it or hate it, everyone has to admit that it is one of the most important shows to appear on Broadway because it gives us a look inside the history of our country right in front of us.