I spoke with Miranda last week about the process of translating history onto the stage the ways in which Hamilton could alter our perception of history and the role artists play in shaping historical narratives. Alexander Hamilton was an immigrant-a fact that Miranda repeatedly emphasizes throughout the show-and the musical also prominently features the Marquis de Lafayette, a French nobleman who played a crucial role during the revolutionary war. Perhaps the most significant lesson the show might teach audiences, and one that has particular relevance today, is the outsized role immigrants have played in the nation’s history. The primarily black and Hispanic cast reminds audiences that American history is not just the history of white people, and frequent allusions to slavery serve as constant reminders that just as the revolutionaries were fighting for their freedom, slaves were held in bondage. It presents an American history in which women and people of color share the spotlight with the founding fathers. For one thing, as my colleague Alana Semuels writes, it understands Thomas Jefferson to be a deeply flawed individual.

Hamilton, then, has the potential to strongly influence the way Americans think about the early republic.

“This is a story about America then, told by America now,” Miranda explains, “and we want to eliminate any distance between a contemporary audience and this story.” Hamilton’s core elements-its hip-hop and R&B-inspired music and its racially diverse cast-are geared specifically towards making history as relatable as possible. His show follows the trajectory of Hamilton’s life from an orphaned upbringing in the West Indies to his death at the hands of Aaron Burr. Miranda is the writer, composer, and star of Hamilton, as well as the newly minted recipient of a “genius” grant from the MacArthur Foundation.

Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda