The World Was Wide Enough

MALE COMPANY
One two three four
FULL COMPANY (EXCEPT HAMILTON
AND BURR)
Five six seven eight nine—
BURR
There are ten things you need to know.
COMPANY
Number one!
BURR
We rowed across the Hudson at dawn.
My friend, William P. Van Ness signed on
as my—
BURR AND COMPANY
Number two!
BURR
Hamilton arrived with his crew:
Nathaniel Pendleton and a doctor that he knew.
COMPANY
Number three!
BURR
I watched Hamilton examine the terrain.
I wish I could tell you what was happ’ning
in his brain.
This man has poisoned my political pursuits!
COMPANY
Most disputes die and no one shoots!
Number four!
BURR
Hamilton drew first position.
Looking,to the world, like a man on a mission.
This is a soldier with a marksman’s ability.
The doctor turned around so he could have
deniability.
COMPANY
Five!
BURR
Now I didn’t know
this at the time
But we were—
BURR AND PHILIP HAMILTON
Near the same spot
your son died, is
that why—
Near the same spot
my son died, is that
why—
COMPANY
Six!
BURR
He examined his gun with such rigor?
I watched as he methodically fiddled with
the trigger.
COMPANY
Seven!
BURR
Confession time? Here’s what I got:
My fellow soldiers’ll tell you I’m a terrible
shot.
COMPANY
Number eight!
BURR/HAMILTON/ENSEMBLE MEN
Your last chance to negotiate.
Send in your seconds, see if they can set the
record straight.
BURR
They won’t teach you this in your classes,
but look it up, Hamilton was wearing his
glasses.
Why? If not to take deadly aim?
It’s him or me, the world will never be the
same.
I had only one thought before the slaughter:
This man will not make an orphan of my
daughter.
COMPANY
Number nine!
BURR
Look him in the eye, aim no higher.
Summon all the courage you require.
Then count:
COMPANY
One two three four five six seven eight nine
Number ten paces! Fire!—
HAMILTON
I imagine death so much it feels more like
a memory.
Is this where it gets me, on my feet, sev’ral
feet ahead of me?
I see it coming, do I run or fire my gun or
let it be?
There is no beat, no melody.
Burr, my first friend, my enemy,
maybe the last face I ever see,
If I throw away my shot, is this how you
remember me?
What if this bullet is my legacy?
Legacy. What is a legacy?
It’s planting seeds in a garden you never
get to see.
I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song
someone will sing for me.
America, you great unfinished symphony, you
sent for me.
You let me make a difference.
A place where even orphan immigrants
can leave their fingerprints and rise up.
I’m running out of time. I’m running, and my
time’s up.
Wise up. Eyes up.
I catch a glimpse of the other side.
Laurens leads a soldiers’ chorus on the
other side.
My son is on the other side.
He’s with my mother on the other side.
Washington is watching from the other side.
Teach me how to say goodbye.
Rise up, rise up, rise up,
Eliza,
My love, take your time.
I’ll see you on the other side.
Raise a glass to freedom…
BURR AND COMPANY
He aims his pistol at the sky—
BURR
Wait!
BURR
I strike him right between his ribs.
I walk towards him, but I am ushered away.
They row him back across the Hudson.
I get a drink.
COMPANY
Aaaah
Aaaah
Aaaah
BURR
I hear wailing in the streets.
COMPANY
Aaaah
Aaaah
Aaaah
BURR
Somebody tells me, “You’d better hide.”
COMPANY
Aaaah
Aaaah
Aaaah
BURR
They say
BURR AND ANGELICA
Angelica and Eliza—
BURR
Were both at his side when he died.
Death doesn’t discriminate
between the sinners and the saints,
it takes and it takes and it takes.
History obliterates.
In every picture it paints,
it paints me with all my mistakes.
When Alexander aimed
at the sky,
he may have been the first one to die,
but I’m the one who paid for it.
I survived, but I paid for it.
Now I’m the villain in your history.
I was too young and blind to see...
I should’ve known.
I should’ve known
the world was wide enough for both Hamilton
and me.
The world was wide enough for both Hamilton
and me.