Jacksonville has Hamilton-mania! Everyone’s talking about Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony-winning musical and many of us have the triple-platinum cast album playing on repeat. Its crafty lyrics, hip-hop tunes, and big, bold story have even rejuvenated interest in the real lives and true histories that Hamilton: An American Musical puts center stage. In this talk, which is aimed at adults who know the soundtrack or who’ve seen the show, historian Dr. Richard Bell explores this musical phenomenon to reveal what its success tells us about the marriage of history and show-business. We’ll learn what this amazing musical gets right and gets wrong about Alexander Hamilton, the American Revolution, and the birth of the United Sates and about why all that matters. We will 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 about who we are and about the nation we made?

Dr. Richard Bell is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Maryland. He is also the recipient of more than a dozen excellence in teaching awards and the 2017 NEH Public Scholar Award. 

Timeline for the evening:

7:00 – 8:00pm Virtual Lecture and Q&A with Dr. Richard Bell

A Zoom link to login will be sent to all registrants the day of the event.