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SALT LAKE CITY — Thousands of Utah high school students will have what some people consider the “experience of a lifetime” this coming spring through the Hamilton Education Program.
The educational program will provide rural and low-income students affordable tickets to a Salt Lake City performance of “Hamilton.”
Luis Miranda, the father of “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, announced 2,300 Title 1 Utah students and their teachers would get the chance to experience the show during a special news conference at the Eccles Theater on Thursday.
“We are delighted that this is the first private, public partnership of the Hamilton Education Program in the nation and hope that other states will do what Utah is doing,” the senior Miranda said.
He went on to tell the audience about receiving a call from Utah officials a few months ago about the education program and then asking his son, Lin-Manuel, if he knew anything about it. He did. The “Hamilton” creator had seen the video that Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes and Democratic Sen. Jim Dabakis created about the Broadway show and thought it was a hilarious collaboration and gave his support.
The Hamilton Education Program also has a Utah teacher connection. Tim Bailey, the 2001 Utah Teacher of the Year and the 2009 National History Teacher of the Year, is the program’s creator.
Bailey became director of education for the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and has already taken his program to students in major cities like New York City, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
“We’re looking at a quarter of a million students over the next five years,” Bailey said. “It just blows your mind! That you can possibly have that kind of an impact on education.”
Through the Hamilton Education Program, young people study what the Founding Fathers actually wrote and then create their own projects before seeing the Broadway show.
Alex Callorina, a poetry writer from Fairfield, California, chose the Bill of Rights as his project. He advises Utah students to soak it in.
“From the classes before ‘Hamilton’ to walking into the theater to the ‘Q&A’ before the show, to the student performances,” Callorina said. “Everything is just so enticing and exciting.”
Winter Smith from Chicago enjoys basketball and music. For the class, Smith rapped about the Boston Tea Party. She was a little nervous at first but later came to love the whole experience, she said.
“I didn’t know it was going to be such an impact on everybody, but, hey, look where I’m at now,” Smith said. “They flew me out to Utah! So I’m someone, guys!”
Whether studied or simply seen, everyone agrees “Hamilton” is life-changing.
“Hamilton” performances at the Eccles Theater will run from April 11 through May 6, 2018. Students in the Hamilton Education Program will get to participate during that time.
