‘Hamilton’ wows 1,300 New York City public high school students
More than 1,300 kids from New York City public schools took a field trip Wednesday to Richard Rodgers Theatre for a showing of the hit musical "Hamilton."
Kids from more than a dozen city high schools attended the blockbuster show along with city schools boss Carmen Fariña.
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Students from a dozen high schools were wowed by a performance of "Hamilton," the Broadway musical that it's nearly impossible to get tickets for. Up to 20,000 students will see the show by 2018 thanks to a program funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.
The kids performed skits of their own on the Rodgers Theatre stage before "Hamilton" cast members took to the stage to answer a few questions from the student audience.
“Our students are living history at the theater through this transformative and powerful experience,” Fariña said. “This musical will impact the lives of thousands of students.”
Students and educators who saw Wednesday’s show were wowed by the production.
“We are so happy to be here,” gushed Kaye Houlihan, principal of Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn, who attended the show with her students. “The history lesson, the energy, the diversity of the show — that’s really what our school is about.”
In addition to the performance, the cast of "Hamilton" answered questions from the audience. Students also performed their own skits Wednesday afternoon.
Fort Hamilton junior Lee Dylan also raved about the musical.
“I’m such a big fan,” Lee said. “As soon as we found out about it I began listening to the music and really fell in love with it.”
Up to 20,000 city kids are slated to see the show by 2018 in the $1.46 million "Hamilton" educational program funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.
Education Department officials said the next group of students to see the musical will do so in May.