Chicago area students get to bear witness to THE play that everyone wants to see “Hamilton”

HAMILTON’s celebrated Education Program

debuts February 22 in Chicago

when 1,900 students and teachers attend performance

at The PrivateBank Theatre

CHICAGO (Feb. 20, 2017) — The innovative educational program that launched last year at HAMILTON on Broadway, in partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation, will debut in Chicago on February 22 when 1,900 students and teachers from 30 Chicago Public Schools (CPS) attend the matinee performance of the musical at Broadway In Chicago’s The PrivateBank Theatre (18 W. Monroe Street).

The February 22^nd performance is the first of 10 all-student matinee performances in 2017 that will provide 20,000 Chicago high school students the opportunity to experience the musical HAMILTON after having spent several weeks in their classrooms studying American history through a special integrated curriculum about Alexander Hamilton and the nation’s Founding Fathers.

In addition to seeing a performance of HAMILTON, the Chicago students will participate in a Q&A with members of the HAMILTON cast.  As well, students representing various schools in attendance will perform an original work they created based on their classroom studies – songs, rap, poetry, scenes, monologues – on The PrivateBank Theatre stage in front of their peers.

HAMILTON producer Jeffrey Seller – who devised the education program in New York in tandem with HAMILTON creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, The Rockefeller Foundation, the NYC Department of Education and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History – says about the program’s premiere in Chicago, “Our goal is to ensure that students have a shot to see HAMILTON and use its words, music and staging to further their understanding and enjoyment of American History, music and drama.  Now we have the pleasure of expanding the education program outside of New York in Chicago and other cities around the country.”

James G. Basker, President of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, adds, “This project is transformative.  Twenty thousand students in New York City, Chicago and other cities where HAMILTON tours will experience American history in a new way and find their own connections to the Founding Fathers, to the performing arts, and to the future of our country.”

“It will be electrifying to be “in the room where it happens” where 1,900 school students from all across Chicago will come together to see HAMILTON and engage in history through art on February 22nd, the birthday of our first President,” said Judith Rodin, President of the Rockefeller Foundation.”

Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool states, “We are thrilled that so many CPS students are learning about one of our nation’s Founding Fathers through the HAMILTON Education Program, and that they will have the opportunity to see this acclaimed musical.  By combining the study of American history with an appreciation for the arts, we are giving students the well-rounded education they need to become successful thinkers and leaders.  Huge thanks to HAMILTON, the local funders and Gilder Lehrman for providing Chicago’s youth with this unique opportunity.”

Funders of the HAMILTON Education Program in Chicago include:

• The Crown and Goodman Family
• Ken Griffin
• The Joyce Foundation
• Polk Bros. Foundation
• Pritzker Foundation
• Pritzker Traubert Family Foundation
• Robert R. McCormick Foundation

Schools participating in the February 22^nd event include:

·         Al Raby School for the Community and Environment

·         Benito Juarez Community Academy

·         Bowen High School

·         CICS Ralph Ellison

·         Eric Solorio Academy High School

·         Excel Academy of Englewood

·         Gary Comer College Prep

·         George Washington High School

·         George Westinghouse College Prep

·         Hubbard High School

·         Hyde Park Academy

·         Infinity High School

·         John Hancock College Prep

·         Kenwood Academy High School

·         Lake View High School

·         Lindblom Math and Science Academy

·         Muchin College Prep

·         North-Grand High School

·         Perspectives Charter School

·         IIT Math and Science Academy

·         Prosser Career Academy

·         Providence St. Mel School

·         Roald Amundsen High School

·         Senn High School

·         Theodore Roosevelt High School

·         Thomas Kelly High School

·         UNO Charter School Network Rogers Park K-12 Charter School

·         University of Chicago Charter Schools – Woodlawn HS Campus

·         UNO Charter School Network Soccer Academy High School

·         Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center

Tickets are being made available at $70 each and $60 of these dollars is being absorbed by sponsors- students will pay $10 to see the hottest show in the country.

For more information, check out http://www,BroadwayInChicago.com