Alexander Hamilton

AARON BURR
How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore
and a
Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a
forgotten
spot in the Caribbean by providence,
impoverished, in squalor,
grow up to be a hero and a scholar?
JOHN LAURENS
The ten-dollar founding father without a
father
got a lot farther by working a lot harder,
by being a lot smarter,
by being a self-starter,
by fourteen, they placed him in charge of a
trading charter.
THOMAS JEFFERSON
And every day while slaves were being
slaughtered and carted
away across the waves, he struggled and kept
his guard up.
Inside, he was longing for something to be
a part of,
the brother was ready to beg, steal, borrow
or barter.
JAMES MADISON
Then a hurricane came, and devastation
reigned,
our man saw his future drip, dripping down
the drain,
put a pencil to his temple, connected it to
his brain,
and he wrote his first refrain, a testament
to his pain.
BURR
Well, the word got around, they said, “This
kid is insane, man”
took up a collection just to send him to the
mainland.
“Get your education, don’t forget from whence
you came, and
the world is gonna know your name. What’s
your name, man?”
ALEXANDER HAMILTON
Alexander Hamilton.
My name is Alexander Hamilton.
And there’s a million things I haven’t done,
but just you wait, just you wait . . .
ELIZA HAMILTON
When he was ten his father split, full of it,
debt-ridden,
two years later, see Alex and his mother
bed-ridden,
half-dead sittin in their own sick,
the scent thick,
COMPANY
And Alex got better but his mother went quick.
GEORGE
WASHINGTON
Moved in with a
cousin, the cousin
committed suicide.
Left him with nothin’
but ruined pride,
something new inside,
a voice saying,
“You gotta fend for
yourself.”
COMPANY
“Alex,
he started retreatin’
and readin’ every
treatise on the shelf.
you gotta fend for
yourself.”
BURR
There would have
been nothin’ left
to do
for someone less
astute,
he woulda been dead
or destitute
without a cent of
restitution,
started workin’,
clerkin’ for his late
mother’s landlord,
tradin’ sugar cane
and rum and all the
things he can’t afford
scammin’ for every
book he can get his
hands on,
COMPANY
Scammin’
plannin’ for the
future see him now as
he stands on Plannin’
the bow of a ship
headed for a new
land,
Oooh…
In New York you can
be a new man.
COMPANY HAMILTON
In New York you can
be a new man—
Just you wait!
In New York you can
be a new man—
Just you wait!
COMPANY
In New York you can be a new man—
WOMEN
In New York—
MEN
New York—
HAMILTON
Just you wait!
COMPANY
Alexander Hamilton, COMPANY
Alexander Hamilton.
We are waiting in the
wings for you. Waiting in the wings
for you.
You could
never back down,
you never learned to
take your time!
You never learned to
take your time!
Oh, Alexander
Hamilton
Oh, Alexander
Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton...
When America sings
for you America sings for you
will they know what
you overcame?
Will they know what
you overcame?
Will they know you
rewrote the game?
Will they know you
rewrote the game?
The world will never
be the same, oh.
The world will never
be the same, oh.
BURR
The ship is in the
harbor now, see if
you can spot him.
MEN
Just you wait
Another immigrant,
comin’ up from the
bottom.
His enemies
destroyed his rep,
America forgot him
COMPANY
Just you wait
MULLIGAN/LAFAYETTE
We fought with him.
LAURENS
Me? I died for him.
WASHINGTON
Me? I trusted him.
ELIZA/ANGELICA/MARIA REYNOLDS
Me? I loved him.
BURR
And me? I’m the damn fool that shot him.
COMPANY
There’s a million things I haven’t done,
but just you wait!
BURR
What’s your name, man?
COMPANY
Alexander Hamilton!