Hamilton-Lyrics-ACT-II-0ca4099700.pdf

1

ACT 2

1. What’d I Miss

COMPANY

Seventeen. Se- se- seventeen...

Se- se- seventeen…

BURR

1789.

How does the bastard orphan,

immigrant decorated war vet

unite the colonies through more debt?

Fight the other founding fathers til he has to forfeit?

Have it all, lose it all,

you ready for more yet?

Treasury Secretary. Washington’s the President,

ev’ry American experiment sets a precedent.

Not so fast. Someone came along to resist him.

Pissed him off until we had a two-party system.

You haven’t met him yet, you haven’t had the chance,

‘cause he’s been kickin’ ass as the ambassador to France

but someone’s gotta keep the American promise.

You simply must meet Thomas. Thomas!

COMPANY

Thomas Jefferson’s coming home!

Thomas Jefferson’s coming home!

Thomas Jefferson’s coming home!

Thomas Jefferson’s coming home!

Thomas Jefferson’s coming home Lord he’s

been off in Paris for so long!

Aaa-ooo!

Aaa-ooo!

JEFFERSON

France is following us to revolution,

there is no more status quo.

But the sun comes up and the world still spins.

ENSEMBLE

Aaa-ooo!

2

JEFFERSON

I helped Lafayette draft a declaration,

then I said, ‘I gotta go.

I gotta be in Monticello.’ Now the work at

home begins…

ENSEMBLE

Aaa-ooo!

JEFFERSON

So what’d I miss?

What’d I miss?

Virginia, my home sweet home, I wanna give you a kiss.

I’ve been in Paris meeting lots of different ladies...

I guess I basic’lly missed the late eighties...

I traveled the wide, wide world and came back to this…

ENSEMBLE

Aaa-ooo!

JEFFERSON

There’s a letter on my desk from the President.

Haven’t even put my bags down yet.

Sally be a lamb, darlin’, won’tcha open it?

It says the President’s assembling a cabinet

and that I am to be the Secretary of State, great!

And that I’m already Senate-approved...

I just got home and now I’m headed up to New York.

ENSEMBLE

Headin’ to New York!

Headin’ to New York!

JEFFERSON

Lookin’ at the rolling fields

I can’t believe that we are free.

Ready to face

whatever’s awaiting

me in N.Y.C.

ENSEMBLE

Believe that we are free

Me in N.Y.C.

JEFFERSON

But who’s waitin’ for me when I step in the place?

3

My friend James Madison, red in the face.

JEFFERSON

He grabs my arm and

I respond,

“What’s goin’ on?”

ENSEMBLE

Aaa

-ooo!

MADISON

Thomas, we are engaged in a battle for our nation’s very soul.

Can you get us out of the mess we’re in?

ENSEMBLE

Aaa-ooo!

MADISON

Hamilton’s new financial plan is nothing less

than government control.

I’ve been fighting for the South alone.

Where have you been?

ENSEMBLE

Aaa

-ooo!

JEFFERSON

Uh...France.

MADISON

We have to win.

JEFFERSON

What’d I miss?

What’d I miss?

Headfirst into a political abyss!

I have my first cabinet meeting today,

I guess I better think of something to say,

I’m already on my way,

let’s get to the bottom of this…

ENSEMBLE

Wha? Wha? What’d I miss?

I’ve come home to this?

Headfirst, into the abyss!

Chik

-a-pow!

On my way

What did I miss?

Ahhh ah!

WASHINGTON

Mr. Jefferson, welcome home.

4

HAMILTON

Mr. Jefferson? Alexander Hamilton.

WASHINGTON AND ENSEMBLE

Mr. Jefferson, welcome home.

COMPANY

Mr. Jefferson, welcome home

Sir, you’ve been off in Paris for so long!

JEFFERSON

So what did I miss?

5

2. Cabinet Battle #1

WASHINGTON

Ladies and gentlemen, you coulda been anywhere in the world tonight, but you’re here with us in New

York City. Are you ready for a cabinet meeting???

The issue on the table: Secretary Hamilton’s plan to assume state debt and establish a national bank.

Secretary Jefferson, you have the floor, sir.

JEFFERSON

‘Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’

We fought for these ideals; we shouldn’t settle for less.

These are wise words, enterprising men quote ‘em.

Don’t act surprised, you guys, cuz I wrote ‘em.

JEFFERSON/MADISON

Oww

JEFFERSON

But Hamilton forgets

his plan would have the government assume state’s debts.

Now, place your bets as to who that benefits:

the very seat of government where Hamilton sits.

HAMILTON

Not true!

JEFFERSON

Ooh, if the shoe fits, wear it.

If New York’s in debt—

why should Virginia bear it? Uh! Our debts are paid, I’m afraid.

Don’t tax the South cuz we got it made in the shade.

In Virginia, we plant seeds in the ground.

We create. You just wanna move our money around.

This financial plan is an outrageous demand,

and it’s too many damn pages for any man to understand.

Stand with me in the land of the free

and pray to God we never see Hamilton’s candidacy.

Look, when Britain taxed our tea, we got frisky.

Imagine what gon’ happen when you try to tax our whisky.

WASHINGTON

Thank you, Secretary Jefferson. Secretary Hamilton, your response.

6

HAMILTON

Thomas. That was a real nice declaration.

Welcome to the present, we’re running a real nation.

Would you like to join us, or stay mellow,

Doin’ whatever the hell it is you do in Monticello?

If we assume the debts, the union gets

A new line of credit, a financial diuretic.

How do you not get it? If we’re aggressive and competitive

The union gets a boost. You’d rather give it a sedative?

A civics lesson from a slaver. Hey neighbor,

Your debts are paid cuz you don’t pay for labor.

“We plant seeds in the South. We create.”

Yeah, keep ranting,

we know who’s really doing the planting.

And another thing, Mr. Age of Enlightenment,

Don’t lecture me about the war, you didn’t fight in it.

You think I’m frightened of you, man?

We almost died in a trench

while you were off getting high with the French.

Thomas Jefferson, always hesitant with the President,

reticent—there isn’t a plan he doesn’t jettison.

Madison, you’re mad as a hatter, son, take your medicine.

Damn, you’re in worse shape than the national debt is in,

sittin’ there useless as two shits.

Hey, turn around, bend over, I’ll show you

where my shoe fits.

WASHINGTON

Excuse me? Jefferson, Madison, take a walk! Hamilton, take a walk! We’ll reconvene after a brief recess.

Hamilton!

HAMILTON

Sir!

WASHINGTON

A word.

MADISON

You don’t have the votes.

JEFFERSON/MADISON

You don’t have the votes.

JEFFERSON

7

Aha-ha-ha ha!

JEFFERSON/MADISON

You’re gonna need congressional approval and you don’t have the votes.

JEFFERSON

Such a blunder sometimes it makes me wonder why I even bring the thunder.

MADISON

Why he even brings the thunder…

WASHINGTON

You wanna pull yourself together?

HAMILTON

I’m sorry, these Virginians are birds of a feather.

WASHINGTON

Young man, I’m from Virginia, so watch your mouth.

HAMILTON

So we let Congress get held hostage by the South?

WASHINGTON

You need the votes.

HAMILTON

No, we need bold strokes. We need this plan.

WASHINGTON

No, you need to convince more folks.

HAMILTON

James Madison won’t talk to me, that’s a nonstarter.

WASHINGTON

Winning was easy, young man. Governing’s harder.

HAMILTON

They’re being intransigent.

WASHINGTON

You have to find a compromise.

8

HAMILTON

But they don’t have a plan, they just hate mine!

WASHINGTON

Convince them otherwise.

HAMILTON

What happens if I don’t get congressional approval?

WASHINGTON

I imagine they’ll call for your removal.

HAMILTON

Sir—

WASHINGTON

Figure it out, Alexander. That’s an order from your commander.

9

2. Take a Break

ELIZA

Un deux trois

quatre

Cinq six sept huit neuf.

Good! Un deux trois quatre

Cinq six sept huit neuf.

Sept huit neuf

—

Sept huit neuf

—

PHILIP

Un deux trois quatre

Cinq six sept huit neuf.

Un deux trois quatre

Cinq six sept huit neuf.

Sept huit neuf

—

Sept huit neuf

—

ELIZA AND PHILIP

One two three four five six seven eight nine!

HAMILTON

My dearest, Angelica,

“tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

creeps in this petty pace from day to day”

I trust you’ll understand the reference to

another Scottish tragedy without my having to name the play.

They think me Macbeth, and ambition is my folly,

I’m a polymath, a pain in the ass, a massive pain,

Madison is Banquo, Jefferson’s Macduff

And Birnam Wood is Congress on its way to Dunsinane.

HAMILTON/ANGELICA

And there you are, an ocean away.

Do you have to live an ocean away?

Thoughts of you subside,

then I get another letter,

I cannot put the notion away…

ELIZA

Take a break.

HAMILTON

I am on my way.

ELIZA

There’s a little surprise before supper

and it cannot wait.

10

HAMILTON

I’ll be there in just a minute, save my plate.

ELIZA

Alexander—

HAMILTON

Okay, okay—

ELIZA

Your son is nine years old today.

has something he’d like to say.

He’s been practicing all day.

Philip, take it away—

PHILIP

Daddy, daddy, look

—

My name is

Philip.

I am a poet.

I wrote this poem just

to show it.

And I just turned nine.

You can write rhymes,

but you can’t write mine.

I practice French

and play piano with my mother.

I have a sister but I want a little brother.

My daddy’s trying to start Amer

ica’s bank.

Un deux trois quatre cinq!

HAMILTON

What!

Uh

-huh!

Okay!

Bravo!

ELIZA

Take a break.

HAMILTON

Hey, our kid is pretty great.

ELIZA

Run away with us for the summer.

Let’s go upstate.

11

HAMILTON

Eliza, I’ve got so much on my plate.

ELIZA

We can all go stay with my father.

There’s a lake I know…

HAMILTON

I know.

ELIZA

In a nearby park.

HAMILTON

I’d love to go.

ELIZA

You and I can go when the night gets dark…

HAMILTON

I will try to get away.

ANGELICA

My dearest Alexander,

You must get through to Jefferson.

Sit down with him and compromise,

don’t stop ‘til you agree

your fav’rite older sister,

Angelica, reminds you

there’s someone in your corner all the way across the sea.

In a letter I received from you two weeks ago

I noticed a comma in the middle of a phrase.

It changed the meaning. Did you intend this?

One stroke and you’ve consumed my waking days.

It says:

HAMILTON/ANGELICA

“My dearest Angelica”

ANGELICA

With a comma after “dearest.” You’ve written

12

HAMILTON AND ANGELICA

“My dearest, Angelica.”

ANGELICA

Anyway, all this to say

I’m coming home this summer

at my sister’s invitation,

I’ll be there with your fam’ly

if you make your way upstate.

I know you’re very busy,

I know your work’s important,

but I’m crossing the ocean and I just can’t wait.

HAMILTON AND ANGELICA

You won’t be an ocean away.

You will only be a moment away…

ELIZA

Alexander, come downstairs. Angelica’s arriving today!

ELIZA

Angelica!

ANGELICA

Eliza!

HAMILTON

The Schuyler sisters!

ANGELICA

Alexander.

HAMILTON

Hi.

ANGELICA

It’s good to see your face.

ELIZA

Angelica, tell this man John Adams spends the summer with his family.

HAMILTON

Angelica, tell my wife John Adams doesn’t have a real job anyway.

13

ANGELICA

…you’re not joining us? Wait.

HAMILTON

I’m afraid I cannot join you upstate.

ANGELICA

Alexander, I came all this way.

ELIZA

She came all this way—

ANGELICA

All this way—

ELIZA AND ANGELICA

Take a break.

HAMILTON

You know I have to get my plan through Congress.

ELIZA AND ANGELICA

Run away with us for the summer.

Let’s go upstate.

HAMILTON

I lose my job if I don’t get my plan through Congress.

ELIZA AND ANGELICA

We can all go stay with our father.

ELIZA

There’s a lake I know

In a nearby park

You and I can go

Take a break and get away

—

Let’s go upstate

where we can stay.

ANGELICA

I know I’ll miss your face

—

Screw your courage to the sticking place

—

Eliza’s right

—

Take a break.

Run away with us for the summer

—

Let’s go upstate.

We can all go stay with our father,

14

Look around, look around

at how lucky we are to be alive right now

—

We can go

—

When the night gets dark.

Take a break.

if you take your time—

you will make your mark.

Close your eyes and dream

—

when the night gets dark.

Take a break.

HAMILTON

I have to get my plan through Congress.

I can’t stop until I get this plan through Congress.

15

4. Say No To This

BURR

There’s nothing like summer in the city.

Someone under stress meets someone looking pretty.

There’s trouble in the air, you can smell it.

and Alexander’s by himself. I’ll let him tell it.

HAMILTON

I hadn’t slept in a week.

I was weak, I was awake.

You never seen a bastard orphan

more in need of a break.

Longing for Angelica.

Missing my wife.

That’s when Miss Maria Reynolds walked into my life, she said:

MARIA

I know you are a man of honor,

I’m so sorry to bother you at home

but I don’t know where to go, and I came here all alone…

HAMILTON

She said:

MARIA

My husband’s doin’ me wrong

beatin’ me, cheatin’ me, mistreatin’ me...

Suddenly he’s up and gone.

I don’t have the means to go on.

HAMILTON

So I offered her a loan, I offered to walk her home, she said

MARIA

You’re too kind, sir.

HAMILTON

I gave her thirty bucks that I had socked away,

she lived a block away, she said:

MARIA

This one’s mine, sir.

16

HAMILTON

Then I said, “well, I should head back home,”

she turned red, she led me to her bed,

let her legs spread and said:

MARIA

Stay?

HAMILTON

Hey…

MARIA

Hey…

HAMILTON

That’s when I began to pray:

Lord, show me how to

say no to this.

I don’t know how to

say no to this.

But my God, she looks so helpless

And her body’s saying, “hell, yes”

MARIA

Whoa…

HAMILTON

Nooo, show me how to

HAMILTON/ENSEMBLE

Say no to this.

HAMILTON

I don’t know how to

HAMILTON/ENSEMBLE

Say no to this.

HAMILTON

In my mind, I’m tryin’ to go

ENSEMBLE

Go! Go! Go!

17

HAMILTON

Then her mouth is on mine, and I don’t say…

ENSEMBLE

No! No!

Say no to this!

No! No!

Say no to this!

No! No!

Say no to this!

No! No!

Say no to this!

HAMILTON

I wish I could say that was the last time.

I said that last time. It became a pastime.

A month into this endeavor I received a letter

from a Mr. James Reynolds, even better, it said:

JAMES

Dear Sir, I hope this letter finds you in good health,

and in a prosperous enough position to put wealth

in the pockets of people like me: down on their luck.

You see, that was my wife who you decided to

HAMILTON

Fuuuu—

JAMES

Uh-oh! You made the wrong sucker a cuckold,

so time to pay the piper for the pants you unbuckled.

And hey, you can keep seein’ my whore wife

if the price is right: if not I’m telling your wife.

HAMILTON

I hid the letter and I raced to her place,

screamed “How could you?!” in her face,

she said:

MARIA

No, sir!

HAMILTON

18

Half dressed, apologetic. A mess, she looked

pathetic, she cried:

MARIA

Please don’t go, sir!

HAMILTON

So was your whole story a setup?

MARIA

I don’t know about any letter!

HAMILTON

Stop crying Goddamnit, get up!

MARIA

I didn’t know any better

HAMILTON

I am ruined...

MARIA

Please don’t leave me with him

helpless.

Just give him what he wants and you can have me.

Whatever you want,

HAMILTON

I am helpless

—how could I do this?

I don’t want you

I don’t want you

MARIA

If you pay,

You can stay.

Tonight

Helpless.

Whoa!

How can you

HAMILTON

I don’t…

Lord, show me how to

say no to this.

I don’t know how to

say no to this.

Cuz the situation’s helpless.

And her body’s screaming, “Hell,

yes”

No, show me how to

say no to this.

How can I

ENSEMBLE

Say no to this!

Say no to this!

Say no to this!

19

say no to this?

HAMILTON

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Say no to this?

There is nowhere I can go.

When her body’s on mine I do not

say…

MARIA

Yes!

Yes!

Yes!

Yes!

Say no to this!

Go! Go! Go!

No!

ENSEMBLE

Say no to this!

No!

Say no to this!

No!

Say no

to this!

No!

Say no to this!

HAMILTON

Say no to this…

I don’t say no to this,

there is nowhere I can go.

MARIA

Don’t say no to this.

ENSEMBLE

Go go go...

JAMES

So?

HAMILTON

Nobody needs to know.

20

5. The Room Where It Happens

BURR

Ah, Mister Secretary.

HAMILTON

Mister Burr, sir.

BURR

Didja hear the news about good old General Mercer?

HAMILTON

No.

BURR

You know Clermont Street?

HAMILTON

Yeah.

BURR

They renamed it after him. The Mercer legacy is secure.

HAMILTON

Sure.

BURR

And all he had to do was die.

HAMILTON

That’s a lot less work.

BURR

We oughta give it a try.

HAMILTON

Ha.

BURR

Now how’re you gonna get your debt plan through?

HAMILTON

I guess I’m gonna fin’ly have to listen to you.

21

BURR

Really?

HAMILTON

Talk less. Smile more.

BURR

Ha.

HAMILTON

Do whatever it takes to get my plan on the Congress floor.

BURR

Now, Madison and Jefferson are merciless.

HAMILTON

Well, hate the sin, love the sinner.

MADISON

Hamilton!

HAMILTON

I’m sorry Burr, I’ve gotta go.

BURR

But—

HAMILTON

Decisions are happening over dinner.

BURR

Two Virginians and an immigrant walk into a room.

BURR AND ENSEMBLE

Diametric’ly opposed, foes.

BURR

They emerge with a compromise, having opened doors that were

BURR AND ENSEMBLE

Previously closed,

ENSEMBLE

Bros.

22

BURR

The immigrant emerges with unprecedented financial power,

a system he can shape however he wants.

The Virginians emerge with the nation’s capital.

And here’s the pièce de résistance:

BURR

No one else was in

the room where it happened.

The room

where it happened.

The room where it happened.

No one else was in

the room where it happened.

The room where it happened.

The room where it happened.

No one really knows how the game is played,

The art of the trade,

how the sausage gets made.

We just as

sume that it happens.

But no one else is in

the room where it happens.

ENSEMBLE

The room where it happened.

The room where it happened.

How the sausage gets made.

Assume that it happens.

The room where it happens.

BURR AND COMPANY

Thomas claims—

JEFFERSON

Alexander was on Washington’s doorstep one day

in distress ‘n disarray.

BURR AND COMPANY

Thomas claims—

JEFFERSON

Alexander said—

HAMILTON

I’ve nowhere else to turn!

JEFFERSON

And basic’ly begged me to join the fray.

BURR AND COMPANY

Thomas claims—

23

JEFFERSON

I approached Madison and saids—

“I know you hate ‘im, but let’s hear what he has to say.”

BURR AND COMPANY

Thomas claims—

JEFFERSON

Well, I arranged the meeting.

I arranged the menu, the venue, the seating,

BURR

But!

No one else was in—

BURR AND COMPANY

The room where it happened.

The room where it happened.

The room where it happened.

BURR

No one else was in—

BURR AND COMPANY

The room where it happened.

The room where it happened.

The room where it happened.

BURR

No one

really knows how the

parties get to yesssss.

The pieces that are sacrificed in

ev’ry game of chesssss.

We just assume that it happens.

But no one else is in

the room where it happens.

COMPANY

Parties get to yesssss.

Ev’ry game of chesssss.

Assume that i

t happens.

The room where it happens.

BURR AND COMPANY

Meanwhile—

BURR

Madison is grappling with the fact that not ev’ry issue can be settled by committee.

24

COMPANY

Meanwhile—

BURR

Congress is fighting over where to put the capital—

Company screams in chaos.

BURR

It isn’t pretty.

Then Jefferson approaches with a dinner and invite,

And Madison responds with Virginian insight:

MADISON

Maybe we can solve one problem with another and win a victory for the Southerners, in other words—

JEFFERSON

Oh-ho!

MADISON

A quid pro quo.

JEFFERSON

I suppose.

MADISON

Wouldn’t you like to work a little closer to home?

JEFFERSON

Actually, I would.

MADISON

Well, I propose the Potomac.

JEFFERSON

And you’ll provide him his votes?

MADISON

Well, we’ll see how it goes.

JEFFERSON

Let’s go.

25

BURR

No!

COMPANY

—one else was in

the room where it happened.

BURR AND COMPANY

The room where it happened.

The room where it happened.

No one else was in

the room where it happened.

The room where it happened.

The room where it happened.

BURR

My God!

BURR AND COMPANY

In God we trust.

But we’ll never really know what got discussed.

Click-boom then it happened.

BURR

And no one else was in the room where it happened.

COMPANY

Alexander Hamilton!

BURR

What did they say to you to get you to sell New York City down the river?

COMPANY

Alexander Hamilton!

BURR

Did Washington know about the dinner?

Was there Presidential pressure to deliver?

COMPANY

Alexander Hamilton!

BURR

Or did you know, even then, it doesn’t matter where you put the U.S. Capital?

26

HAMILTON

Cuz we’ll have the banks,

we’re in the same spot.

BURR

You got more than you gave.

HAMILTON

And I wanted what I got.

When you got skin in the game, you stay in the game.

But you don’t get a win unless you play in the game.

Oh, you get love for it. You get hate for it.

You get nothing if you…

HAMILTON AND COMPANY

Wait for it, wait for it, wait!

HAMILTON

God help and forgive me,

I wanna build

something that’s gonna

outlive me.

HAMILTON/JEFFERSON/

MADISON/WASHINGTON

What d

o you want, Burr?

What do you want, Burr?

If you stand for nothing,

Burr, then what do you fall for?

COMPANY

What do you want, Burr?

What do you want, Burr?

What do you want, Burr?

What do you want?

BURR

I

wanna be in

the room where it happens.

The room where it happens.

I

wanna be in

the room where it happens.

The room where it happens.

BURR

I

COMPANY

I wanna be in

27

wanna be

In the room where it happens.

I

I wanna be in the room….

Oh

Oh

I wanna be

I wanna be

I’ve got to be

I’ve got to be

in that room

in that big

ol’ room

the room where it happens.

The room where it happens.

The room where it happens.

I wanna be in the room

where it happens.

The room where it happens.

The room where it happens.

I wanna be in

the room where it happens

The

room where it happens.

The room where it happens.

I wanna be in

the room where it happens.

The room where it happens.

The room where it happens.

COMPANY

The art of the compromise—

BURR

Hold your nose and close your eyes.

COMPANY

We want our leaders to save the day—

BURR

But we don’t get a say in what they trade away.

COMPANY

We dream of a brand new start—

BURR

But we dream in the dark for the most part.

BURR AND COMPANY

Dark as a tomb where it happens.

BURR

I’ve got to be in

the room…

I’ve got

to be...

COMPANY

The room where it happens

28

I’ve got to be...

Oh, I’ve got to be in

the room where it happens…

I’ve got to be, I’ve gotta be, I’ve gotta be…

in the room!

Click

-boom!

The room where it happens

The room where it happens

The room where

it happens

The room where it happens

I wanna be in the room

where it happens!

Click

-boom!

29

6. Schuyler Defeated

PHILIP

Look! Grampa’s in the paper! ‘War Hero Philip

Schuyler loses Senate seat to young upstart Aaron Burr!’

Grampa just lost his seat in the Senate.

ELIZA

Sometimes that’s how it goes.

PHILIP

Daddy’s gonna find out any minute.

ELIZA

I’m sure he already knows.

PHILIP

Further down,

PHILIP AND ELIZA

Further down,

PHILIP

“Let’s meet the newest Senator from New York…”

ELIZA

New York—

PHILIP AND ELIZA

Our Senator!...

HAMILTON

Burr!

HAMILTON

Since when are you a Democratic-Republican?

BURR

Since being one put me on the up and up again.

HAMILTON

No one knows who you are or what you do.

BURR

30

They don’t need to know me. They don’t like you.

HAMILTON

Excuse me?

BURR

Oh, Wall Street thinks you’re great.

You’ll always be adored by the things you create.

But upstate,

HAMILTON

Wait.

BURR

People think you’re crooked!

And Schuyler’s seat was up for grabs, so I took it.

HAMILTON

I’ve always considered you a friend.

BURR

I don’t see why that has to end!

HAMILTON

You changed parties to run against my father-in-law.

BURR

I changed parties to seize the opportunity I saw.

I swear, your pride will be the death of us all!

Beware: it goeth before the fall…

31

7. Cabinet Battle #2

WASHINGTON

The issue on the table: France is on the verge

of war with England. Do we provide aid and

troops to our French allies or do we stay out

of it? Remember, my decision on this matter

is not subject to congressional approval.

The only person you have to convince is me.

Secretary Jefferson, you have the floor, sir.

JEFFERSON

When we were on death’s door, when we were needy,

we made a promise, we signed a treaty.

We needed money and guns and half a chance.

Who provided those funds?

MADISON

France.

JEFFERSON

In return, they didn’t ask for land,

only a promise that we’d lend a hand

and stand with them if they fought against oppressors,

and revolution is messy but now is the time to stand.

Stand with our brothers as they fight against tyranny.

I know that Alexander Hamilton is here and he

would rather not have this debate.

I’ll remind you that he is not Secretary of State.

He knows nothing of loyalty,

smells like new money, dresses like fake royalty,

desperate to rise above his station,

everything he does betrays the ideals of our nation.

ENSEMBLE

Ooh!!

JEFFERSON

Hey, and if ya don’t know, now ya know, Mr. President.

WASHINGTON

Thank you, Secretary Jefferson. Secretary Hamilton, your response.

HAMILTON

32

You must be out of your Goddamn mind if you think

the President is gonna bring the nation to the brink

of meddling in the middle of a military mess,

a game of chess, where France is Queen and Kingless.

We signed a treaty with a King whose head is now in a basket.

Would you like to take it out and ask it?

“Should we honor our treaty, King Louis’ head?”

“Uh… do whatever you want, I’m super dead.”

WASHINGTON

Enough. Hamilton is right.

JEFFERSON

Mr. President—

WASHINGTON

We’re too fragile to start another fight.

JEFFERSON

But sir, do we not fight for freedom?

WASHINGTON

Sure, when the French figure out who’s gonna lead ‘em.

JEFFERSON

The people are leading—

WASHINGTON

The people are rioting.

There’s a difference. Frankly, it’s a little disquieting you would let your ideals blind you to reality.

Hamilton.

HAMILTON

Sir.

WASHINGTON

Draft a statement of neutrality.

JEFFERSON

Did you forget Lafayette?

HAMILTON

What?

33

JEFFERSON

Have you an ounce of regret?

You accumulate debt, you accumulate power,

yet in their hour of need, you forget.

HAMILTON

Lafayette’s a smart man, he’ll be fine.

And before he was your friend, he was mine.

If we try to fight in every revolution in the world, we never stop.

Where do we draw the line?

JEFFERSON

So quick-witted.

HAMILTON

Alas, I admit it.

JEFFERSON

I bet you were quite a lawyer.

HAMILTON

My defendants got acquitted.

JEFFERSON

Huh. Well, someone oughta remind you.

HAMILTON

What?

JEFFERSON

You’re nothing without Washington behind you.

WASHINGTON

Hamilton!

JEFFERSON

Daddy’s calling.

8. Washington On Your Side

BURR

It must be nice, it must be nice to have

Washington on your side

It must be nice, it must be nice to have

Washington on your side.

34

JEFFERSON

Ev’ry action has its equal, opposite reactions.

Thanks to Hamilton, our cab’net’s fractured into factions.

Try not to crack under the stress, we’re breaking down like fractions.

We smack each other in the press, and we don’t print retractions.

I get no satisfaction witnessing his fits of passion.

The way he primps and preens and dresses like the pits of fashion.

Our poorest citizens, our farmers, live ration to ration

as Wall Street robs ‘em blind in search of chips to cash in.

This prick is askin’ for someone to bring him to task.

Somebody gimme some dirt on this vacuous mass so we can at last unmask him.

I’ll pull the trigger on him, someone load the gun and cock it.

While we were all watching, he got Washington in his pocket.

JEFFERSON AND BURR

It must be nice, it must be nice to have

Washington on your side.

It must be nice, it must be nice to have

Washington on your side.

Look back at the Bill of Rights.

MADISON

Which I wrote.

JEFFERSON/MADISON/BURR

The ink hasn’t dried.

It must be nice, it must be nice to have

Washington on your side.

MADISON

So he’s doubled the size of the government.

Wasn’t the trouble with much our previous government size?

BURR

Look in his eyes!

JEFFERSON

See how he lies.

MADISON

Follow the scent of his enterprise.

35

JEFFERSON

Centralizing national credit

and making American credit competitive.

MADISON

If we don’t stop it we aid and abet it.

JEFFERSON

I have to resign.

MADISON

Somebody has to stand up for the South!

BURR

Somebody has to stand up to his mouth!

JEFFERSON

If there’s a fire you’re trying to douse,

MADISON AND JEFFERSON

You can’t put it out from inside the house.

JEFFERSON

I’m in the cabinet. I am complicit in

watching him grabbin’ at power and kiss it.

If Washington isn’t gon’ listen

to disciplined dissidents, this is the difference:

This kid is out!

MADISON/BURR/JEFFERSON

Oh!

This immigrant isn’t somebody we chose.

Oh!

This immigrant’s keeping us all on our toes.

Oh!

Let’s show these Federalists who they’re up against!

Oh!

JEFFERSON/MADISON

Southern motherfuckin’—

JEFFERSON/MADISON/BURR

Democratic-Republicans!

36

JEFFERSON/MADISON/BURR/ENSEMBLE

Oh!

JEFFERSON/MADISON/BURR

Let’s follow the money and see where it goes.

ENSEMBLE

Oh!

JEFFERSON/MADISON/BURR

Because every second the Treasury grows.

ENSEMBLE

Oh!

JEFFERSON/MADISON/BURR

If we follow the money and see where it leads,

get in the weeds, look for the seeds of

Hamilton’s misdeeds.

JEFFERSON/MADISON/BURR

It must be nice. It must be nice.

MADISON

Follow the money and see where it goes.

JEFFERSON/MADISON/BURR

It must be nice. It must be nice.

JEFFERSON

The emperor has no clothes.

JEFFERSON/MADISON/BURR

We won’t be invisible. We won’t be denied.

Still,

it must be nice, it must be nice to have

Washington on your side.

37

9. One Last Time

HAMILTON

Mr. President, you asked to see me?

WASHINGTON

I know you’re busy.

HAMILTON

What do you need, sir? Sir?

WASHINGTON

I wanna give you a word of warning.

HAMILTON

Sir, I don’t know what you heard,

But whatever it is, Jefferson started it.

WASHINGTON

Thomas Jefferson resigned this morning.

HAMILTON

You’re kidding.

WASHINGTON

I need a favor.

HAMILTON

Whatever you say, sir, Jefferson will pay for his behavior.

WASHINGTON

Shh. Talk less.

HAMILTON

I’ll use the press,

I’ll write under a pseudonym, you’ll see what I can do to him—

WASHINGTON

I need you to draft an address.

HAMILTON

Yes! He resigned. You can finally speak your mind—

WASHINGTON

38

No, he’s stepping down so he can run for President.

HAMILTON

Ha. Good luck defeating you, sir.

WASHINGTON

I’m stepping down. I’m not running for President.

HAMILTON

I’m sorry, what?

WASHINGTON

One last time.

Relax, have a drink with me

one last time.

Let’s take a break tonight

and then we’ll teach them how to say goodbye,

to say goodbye.

You and I.

HAMILTON

No, sir, why?

WASHINGTON

I wanna talk about neutrality.

HAMILTON

Sir, with Britain and France on the verge of war, is this the best time—

WASHINGTON

I want to warn against partisan fighting.

HAMILTON

But—

WASHINGTON

Pick up a pen, start writing.

I wanna talk about what I have learned.

The hard-won wisdom I have earned.

HAMILTON

As far as the people are concerned,

you have to serve, you could continue to serve—

39

WASHINGTON

No! One last time

the people will hear from me

one last time

and if we get this right

we’re gonna teach ‘em how to say

goodbye.

You and I—

HAMILTON

Mr. President, they will say you’re weak.

WASHINGTON

No, they will see we’re strong.

HAMILTON

Your position is so unique.

WASHINGTON

So I’ll use it to move them along.

HAMILTON

Why do you have to say goodbye?

WASHINGTON

If I say goodbye, the nation learns to move on.

It outlives me when I’m gone.

Like the scripture says:

“Everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree

and no one shall make them afraid.”

They’ll be safe in the nation we’ve made.

I wanna sit under my own vine and fig tree.

A moment alone in the shade,

at home in this nation we’ve made.

One last time.

HAMILTON

One last time.

HAMILTON

Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of intentional error, I am

nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. I

shall also carry with me

40

HAMILTON

The hope

that my country will

view them with indulgence;

And that,

after forty

-five years of my life dedicated to its

service with an

upright zeal

the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned

to oblivion, as I myself must soon be to the

mansions of rest.

I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat in

which I promise myself to realize the sweet

enjoyment of partaking, i

n the midst of my fellow-

citizens, the benign influence of good laws

Under a free government, the ever

-favorite object of

my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust,

Of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers.

WASHINGTON

The hope

View them with indulgence

After forty

-five years of my life dedicated to its

service with an upright zeal

Consigned to oblivion, as I myself must soon be to

the mansions of rest.

I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat in

which I promise myself to realize the sweet

e

njoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-

citizens, the benign influence of good laws

Under a free government, the ever

-favorite object of

my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust,

Of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers.

WASHINGTON

One last time.

ALL WOMEN

George Washington’s going home!

HAMILTON

Teach ‘em how to say goodbye.

WASHINGTON

You and I

Going home

History has its eyes on you

We’re gonna teach ‘em how to

say goodbye!

Teach ‘em how to

say goodbye!

To say goodbye!

Say goodbye!

One last time!

COMPANY

George Washington’s going home

George Washington’s going home

George Washington’s going home

George Washington’s going home

Teach ‘em how to say goodbye!

Teach ‘em how!

Say goodbye!

Say goodbye!

One last time!

41

10. I Know Him

KING GEORGE

They say

George Washington’s yielding his power and stepping away.

‘Zat true?

I wasn’t aware that was something a person could do.

I’m perplexed.

Are they gonna keep on replacing whoever’s in charge?

If so, who’s next?

There’s nobody else in their country who looms quite as large…

A sentinel whispers in King George’s ear.

John Adams?!

I know him.

That can’t be.

That’s that little guy who spoke to me

all those years ago.

What was it, eighty-five?

That poor man, they’re gonna eat him alive!

Oceans rise.

Empires fall.

Next to Washington, they all look small.

All alone,

watch them run.

They will tear each other into pieces,

Jesus Christ, this will be fun!

Da da da dat da dat da da da da ya da

Da da da dat dat da ya daaaaa!

“President John Adams”

Good Luck.

42

11. The Adams Administration

BURR

How does Hamilton, the short-tempered,

protean creator of the Coast Guard,

Founder of the New York Post,

ardently abuse his cab’net post,

destroy his reputation?

Welcome, folks, to

BURR/COMPANY

The Adams administration!

BURR

Jefferson’s the runner-up, which makes him the Vice President.

JEFFERSON

Washington can’t help you now, no more mister nice President.

BURR

Adams fires Hamilton.

Privately calls him “creole bastard” in his taunts.

JEFFERSON

Say what?!

BURR

Hamilton publishes his response.

HAMILTON

Sit down, John, you fat motherf—

BURR

Hamilton is out of control.

MADISON

This is great! He’s out of power. He holds no

office. And he just destroyed President John

Adams, the only other significant member

of his party.

JEFFERSON

Hamilton’s a host unto himself. As long as

he can hold a pen, he’s a threat. Let’s let him

know what we know.

43

12. We Know

HAMILTON

Mr. Vice President.

Mr. Madison.

Senator Burr.

What is this?

JEFFERSON

We have the check stubs. From separate accounts…

MADISON

Almost a thousand dollars, paid in different amounts…

BURR

To a Mr. James Reynolds way back in

seventeen ninety-one.

HAMILTON

Is that what you have? Are you done?

MADISON

You are uniquely situated by virtue of your position—

JEFFERSON

Though ‘virtue’ is not a word I’d apply to this situation—

MADISON

To seek financial gain, to stray from your sacred mission—

JEFFERSON

And the evidence suggests you’ve engaged in speculation—

BURR

An immigrant embezzling our government funds—

JEFFERSON/MADISON

I can almost see the headline, your career is done.

BURR

I hope you saved some money for your daughter and sons.

BURR/JEFFERSON/MADISON

Ya best g’wan run back where ya come from.

44

HAMILTON

Ha! You don’t even know what you’re asking me to confess.

JEFFERSON/MADISON/BURR

Confess.

HAMILTON

You got nothing. I don’t have to tell you anything at all.

Unless.

JEFFERSON/MADISON/BURR

Unless?

HAMILTON

If I can prove that I never broke the law,

do you promise not to tell another soul what you saw?

BURR

No one else was in the room where it happened.

HAMILTON

Is that a yes?

JEFFERSON/MADISON/BURR

Um, yes.

BURR

“Dear Sir, I hope this letter finds you in good health

and in a prosperous enough position to put wealth

in the pockets of people like me: down on their luck.

You see, it was my wife who you decided to—”

JEFFERSON

Whaaaat—

HAMILTON

She courted me.

Escorted me to bed and when she had me in a corner

that’s when Reynolds extorted me

for a sordid fee.

I paid him quarterly.

I may have mortally wounded my prospects

but my papers are orderly!

45

As you can see I kept a record of every check in my checkered

History. Check it again against your list n’ see consistency.

I never spent a cent that wasn’t mine,

you sent the dogs after my scent, that’s fine.

Yes, I have reasons for shame

but I have not committed treason and sullied my good name.

As you can see I have done nothing to provoke legal action.

Are my answers to your satisfaction?

JEFFERSON

My God.

MADISON

Gentlemen, let’s go.

HAMILTON

So?

JEFFERSON AND MADISON

The people won’t know what we know.

HAMILTON

Burr!

How do I know you won’t use this against me

the next time we go toe to toe?

BURR

Alexander, rumors only grow. And we both

know what we know.

46

13. Hurricane

HAMILTON

In the eye of a hurricane

there is quiet

for just a moment,

a yellow sky.

When I was seventeen a hurricane

destroyed my town.

I didn’t drown.

I couldn’t seem to die.

I wrote my way out,

wrote everything down far as I could see.

I wrote my way out.

I looked up and the town had its eyes on me.

They passed a plate around.

Total strangers

moved to kindness by my story.

Raised enough for me to book passage on a

ship that was New York bound…

I wrote my way out of hell.

I wrote my way to revolution.

I was louder than the crack in the bell.

I wrote Eliza love letters until she fell.

I wrote about The Constitution and defended it well.

And in the face of ignorance and resistance,

I wrote financial systems into existence.

And when my prayers to God were met with indifference,

I picked up a pen, I wrote my own deliverance.

In the eye of a hurricane

there is quiet

for just a moment,

a yellow sky.

I was twelve when my mother died.

She was holding me.

We were sick and she was holding me.

I couldn’t seem to die.

47

BURR

Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it…

BURR AND ENSEMBLE

Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it…

Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it,

wait…

HAMILTON

I’ll write my way out…

Write ev’rything down, far as I can

see…

I’ll write my way out…

Overwhelm them with honesty.

WASHINTON/ELIZA/

ANGELICA/MARIA

History has its eyes on you.

HAMILTON

This is the eye of the hurricane, this is the only

way I can protect my legacy…

COMPANY (EXCEPT HAMILTON)

Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it, wait…

HAMILTON

The Reynolds Pamphlet.

48

14. The Reynolds Pamphlet

FULL COMPANY

The Reynolds Pamphlet.

JEFFERSON/MADISON/ANGELICA

Have you read this?

BURR/JEFFERSON/MADISON

Alexander Hamilton had a torrid affair.

And he wrote it down right there.

MADISON

Highlights!

HAMILTON/JEFFERSON

“The charge against me

is a connection with one

James Reynolds!

For purposes of

improper speculation.

My real crime is an

amorous connection with his wife

for a considerable time with his

knowing consent

JAMES

James Reynolds!

BURR

My real crime is an

amorous connection with his wife

MADISON/BURR/JEFFERSON

Damn!

HAMILTON/JEFFERSON/MADISON

“I had frequent meetings with her. Most of

them at my own house.”

BURR

At his own house!

MADISON

At his own house!

DEEP VOICE

Damn!

HAMILTON/JEFFERSON

“Mrs. Hamilton with our children being absent

on a visit to her father.”

49

MADISON/BURR

No…

COMPANY

Boooo!

MADISON/BURR

Have you read this?

JEFFERSON

Well, he’s never gon’ be President now.

MADISON/BURR

Never gon’ be President now.

JEFFERSON

Well, he’s never gon’ be President now.

MADISON/BURR

Never gon’ be President now.

JEFFERSON

He’s never gon’ be President now.

MADISON/BURR

Never gon’ be President now.

JEFFERSON

That’s one less thing to worry about.

JEFFERSON/MADISON/BURR

That’s one less thing to worry about!

ANGELICA

I came as soon as I heard.

JEFFERSON

What?!

HAMILTON

Angelica—

COMPANY

50

All the way from London?!

Damn.

HAMILTON

Angelica, thank God.

Someone who understands what I’m

struggling here to do.

ANGELICA

I’m not here for you.

ENSEMBLE

Oooooh!

ANGELICA

I know my sister like I know my own mind,

you will never find anyone as trusting or as kind.

I love my sister more than anything in this life,

I will choose her happiness over mine every time.

Put what we had aside.

I’m standing at her side.

You could never be satisfied.

God, I hope you’re satisfied.

JEFFERSON/MADISON/BURR

Well, he’s never gon’ be President now.

Well, he’s never gon’ be President now.

Well, he’

s never gon’ be President now.

That’s one less thing to worry about.

ENSEMBLE MEN

Never gon’ be President now.

Never gon’ be President now.

Never gon’ be President now.

That’s one less thing to worry about.

JEFFERSON/

MADISON

Hey!

At least he was

honest with our money!

HAMILTON

Hey!

At least I was

honest with our money!

ENSEMBLE WOMEN

Well he’s never gon’ be

President now.

Well he’s never gon’ be

President now.

ENSEMBLE MEN

Well he’s never gon’ be

President now.

Well he’s never gon’ be

President now.

51

Hey!

At least he was

honest with our money!

Hey!

At least he was

honest with our money!

Well he’s never gon’ be

President now.

That’s one less thing to

worry about.

Well he’s never gon’ be

President now.

FULL COMPANY

That’s one less thing to worry about!

The Reynolds Pamphlet.

JEFFERSON/MADISON/BURR

Have you read this?

You ever see somebody ruin their own life?

COMPANY (EXCEPT HAMILTON/ELIZA)

His poor wife.

52

15. Burn

ELIZA

I saved every letter you wrote me.

From the moment I read them

I knew you were mine.

You said you were mine.

I thought you were mine.

Do you know what Angelica said

when we saw your first letter arrive?

She said,

“Be careful with that one, love.

He will do what it takes to survive.”

You and your words flooded my senses.

Your sentences left me defenseless.

You built me palaces out of paragraphs,

you built cathedrals.

I’m re-reading the letters you wrote me.

I’m searching and scanning for answers

in every line,

for some kind of sign,

and when you were mine

the world seemed to

Burn.

Burn.

You published the letters she wrote you.

You told the whole world how you brought

this girl into our bed.

In clearing your name, you have ruined our lives.

Do you know what Angelica said

When she read what you’d done?

She said,

“You have married an Icarus.

He has flown too close to the sun.”

You and your words, obsessed with your legacy...

Your sentences border on senseless,

and you are paranoid in every paragraph

how they perceive you,

53

You, you, you…

I’m erasing myself from the narrative.

Let future historians wonder

how Eliza reacted when you broke her heart.

You have torn it all apart.

I am watching it

burn.

Watching it burn.

The world has no right to my heart.

The world has no place in our bed.

They don’t get to know what I said.

I’m burning the memories,

Burning the letters that might have redeemed you.

You forfeit all rights to my heart.

You forfeit the place in our bed.

You sleep in your office instead,

with only the memories

of when you were mine.

I hope that you burn.

54

16. Blow Us All Away

PHILIP

Meet the latest graduate of King’s College!

I prob’ly shouldn’t brag, but, dag, I amaze and astonish!

The scholars say I got the same virtuosity and brains as my pops!

The ladies say my brain’s not where the resemblance stops!

I’m only nineteen but my mind is older,

gotta be my own man, like my father, but bolder.

I shoulder his legacy with pride,

I used to hear him say

that someday

I would—

ENSEMBLE

Blow us all away.

PHILIP

Ladies, I’m lookin for a Mr. George Eacker.

Made a speech last week, our Fourth of July speaker.

He disparaged my father’s legacy in front of a crowd.

I can’t have that, I’m making my father proud.

MARTHA

I saw him just up Broadway a couple of blocks.

He was goin’ to see a play.

PHILIP

Well, I’ll go visit his box.

DOLLY

God, you’re a fox.

PHILIP

And y’all look pretty good in ya’ frocks.

How ‘bout when I get back, we all strip down to our socks?

BOTH

Ok!

COMPANY

Blow us all away!

PHILIP

55

George!

GEORGE

Shh.

PHILIP

George!

GEORGE

Shh! I’m tryin’ to watch the show!

PHILIP

Ya’ shoulda watched your mouth before you

talked about my father though!

GEORGE

I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.

You father’s a scoundrel, and so, it seems, are you.

ENSEMBLE

Ooooooooooh!

PHILIP

It’s like that?

GEORGE

Yeah, I don’t fool around.

I’m not your little schoolboy friends.

PHILIP

See you on the dueling ground.

That is, unless you wanna step outside and go now.

GEORGE

I know where to find you, piss off.

I’m watchin’ this show now.

PHILIP

Pops, if you had only heard the shit he said about you

I doubt you would have let it slide and I was not about to—

HAMILTON

Slow down.

56

PHILIP

I came to ask you for advice. This is my very first duel.

They don’t exactly cover this subject in boarding school.

HAMILTON

Did your friends attempt to negotiate a peace?

PHILIP

He refused to apologize, we had to let the peace talks cease.

HAMILTON

Where is this happening?

PHILIP

Across the river, in Jersey.

HAMILTON/PHILIP

Everything is legal in New Jersey…

HAMILTON

Alright. So this is what you’re gonna do:

Stand there like a man until Eacker is in front of you.

When the time comes, fire your weapon in the air.

This will put an end to the whole affair.

PHILIP

But what if he decides to shoot? Then I’m a goner.

HAMILTON

No. He’ll follow suit if he’s truly a man of honor.

To take someone’s life, that is something you can’t shake.

Philip, your mother can’t take another heartbreak.

PHILIP

Father—

HAMILTON

Promise me. You don’t want this

young man’s blood on your conscience.

PHILIP

Okay, I promise.

HAMILTON

57

Come back home when you’re done.

Take my guns. Be smart. Make me proud, son.

PHILIP

My name is Philip

I am a poet

I’m a little nervous, but I can’t show it.

I’m sorry, I’m a Hamilton with pride.

You talk about my father, I cannot let it slide.

Mister Eacker! How was the rest of your show?

GEORGE

I’d rather skip the pleasantries.

Let’s go.

Grab your pistol.

PHILIP

Confer with your men.

The duel will commence after we count to ten.

ENSEMBLE

Count to ten!

PHILIP

Look ‘em in the eye, aim no higher.

Summon all the courage you require.

Then slowly and clearly aim your gun towards the sky—

MALE ENSEMBLE

One two three four

FULL ENSEMBLE

Five six seven—

58

17. Stay Alive (Reprise)

ENSEMBLE WOMEN

Stay alive…

Stay alive…

Stay alive...

HAMILTON

Where’s my son?

Is he alive?

DOCTOR

Mr. Hamilton, come in. They

brought him in a half an hour ago.

He lost a lot of blood on the way

over.

DOCTOR

Yes. But you have to understand

the bullet entered just above his hip and

lodged in his right arm.

HAMILTON

Can I see him please?

DOCTOR

I’m doing ev’rything I can but the wound was

already infected when he arrived—

HAMILTON

Philip.

PHILIP

Pa.

I did exactly as you said, Pa.

I held my head up high.

HAMILTON

I know, I know. Shh.

I know, I know.

Shh. I know you did

ev’rything just right.

Shh.

I know, I know.

I know, I know.

I know,

Save your strength and

PHILIP

High.

Even before we got to ten

—

I was aiming for the sky.

I was

aiming for the sky.

ENSEMBLE MEN

59

stay alive…

Stay alive...

ELIZA

No!

HAMILTON

Eliza.

ELIZA

Is he breathing? Is he going to survive this?

ENSEMBLE MEN

Stay alive...

ELIZA

Who did this, Alexander, did you know?

PHILIP

Mom, I’m so sorry for forgetting what you taught me.

ELIZA

My son—

PHILIP

We played piano.

ELIZA

I taught you piano.

PHILIP

You would put your hands on mine.

ELIZA

You changed the melody every time.

PHILIP

Ha. I would always change the line.

ELIZA

Shh. I know, I know.

PHILIP

I would always change the line.

ELIZA

I know, I know.

60

ELIZA

Un deux trois quatre

Cinq six sept huit neuf.

Good.

Un deux trois quatre

Cinq six sept

Huit neuf.

Sept huit neuf

—

Sept huit…

PHILIP

Un deux trois quatre

Cinq six sept huit neuf.

PHILIP

Un deux trois…

61

18. It’s Quiet Uptown

ANGELICA

There are moments that the words don’t reach.

There is suffering too terrible to name.

You hold your child as tight as you can

and push away the unimaginable.

The moments when you’re in so deep,

it feels easier to just swim down.

ANGELICA/ENSEMBLE

The Hamiltons move uptown

and learn to live with the unimaginable.

HAMILTON

I spend hours in the garden.

I walk alone to the store,

and it’s quiet uptown.

I never liked the quiet before.

I take the children to church on Sunday,

a sign of the cross at the door, and I pray.

That never used to happen before.

ANGELICA AND WOMEN

If you see him in the street, walking by

himself, talking to himself, have pity.

HAMILTON

Philip, you would like it uptown.

It’s quiet uptown.

ANGELICA AND WOMEN

He is working through the unimaginable.

ALL MEN (EXCEPT HAMILTON)

His hair has gone grey. He passes every day.

They say he walks the length of the city.

HAMILTON

You knock me out, I fall apart.

COMPANY (EXCEPT HAMILTON AND ELIZA)

Can you imagine?

62

HAMILTON

Look at where we are.

Look at where we started.

I know I don’t deserve you, Eliza.

But hear me out. That would be enough.

If I could spare his life,

If I could trade his life for mine,

he’d be standing here right now

and you would smile, and that would be enough.

I don’t pretend to know

the challenges we’re facing.

I know there’s no replacing what we’ve lost

and you need time.

But I’m not afraid,

I know who I married.

Just let me stay here by your side,

That would be enough.

COMPANY (EXCEPT HAMILTON AND ELIZA)

If you see him in the street, walking by her

side, talking by her side, have pity.

HAMILTON

Eliza, do you like it uptown? It’s quiet uptown.

COMPANY (EXCEPT HAMILTON AND ELIZA)

He is trying to do the unimaginable.

See them walking in the park, long after dark,

taking in the sights of the city.

HAMILTON

Look around, look around, Eliza.

COMPANY (EXCEPT HAMILTON AND ELIZA)

They are trying to do the unimaginable.

ANGELICA

There are moments that the words don’t reach.

There is a grace too powerful to name.

We push away what we can never understand,

we push away the unimaginable.

They are standing in the garden,

Alexander by Eliza’s side.

63

She takes his hand.

ELIZA

It’s quiet uptown.

COMPANY (EXCEPT HAMILTON AND ELIZA)

Forgiveness. Can you imagine?

Forgiveness. Can you imagine?

If you see him in the street, walking by her

side, talking by her side, have pity.

They are going through the unimaginable.

64

19. The Election of 1800

FULL COMPANY

The election of 1800.

JEFFERSON

Can we get back to politics?

MADISON

Please?

JEFFERSON

Yo. Ev’ry action has an equal, opposite reaction.

John Adams shat the bed. I love the guy, but he’s in traction.

Poor Alexander Hamilton? He is missing in action.

So now I’m facing—

JEFFERSON AND MADISON

Aaron Burr!

JEFFERSON

With his own faction.

MADISON

He’s very attractive in the North. New Yorkers like his chances.

JEFFERSON

He’s not very forthcoming on any particular stances.

MADISON

Ask him a question: it glances off, he obfuscates, he dances.

JEFFERSON

And they say I’m a Francophile: at least they know I know where France is!

MADISON

Thomas that’s the problem, see, they see Burr as a less extreme you.

JEFFERSON

Ha!

MADISON

You need to change course, a key endorsement might redeem you.

65

JEFFERSON

Who did you have in mind?

MADISON

Don’t laugh.

JEFFERSON

Who is it?

MADISON

You used to work on the same staff.

JEFFERSON

Whaaaat.

MADISON

It might be nice, it might be nice

to get Hamilton on your side.

JEFFERSON AND MADISON

It might be nice, it might be nice

To get Hamilton on your side.

BURR

Talk less!

Smile more!

Don’t let ‘em know what you’re against or what

you’re for!

Shake hands with him!

Charm her!

It’s eighteen hundred, ladies, tell your husbands:

vote for

Burr!

ENSEMBLE

Burr!

Burr!

Burr!

Burr!

Burr!

Burr!

MALE VOTER

I don’t like Adams.

FEMALE VOTER

66

Well, he’s gonna lose, that’s just defeatist.

ANOTHER MALE VOTER

And Jefferson—

TWO MEN

In love with France!

ANOTHER FEMALE VOTER

Yeah, he’s so elitist!

TWO WOMEN

I like that Aaron Burr!

A WOMAN

I can’t believe we’re here with him!

A MAN

He seems approachable…?

ANOTHER MALE VOTER

Like you could grab a beer with him!

ENSEMBLE

Dear Mr. Hamilton: your fellow Fed’ralists would like to know how you’ll be voting.

HAMILTON

It’s quiet uptown.

ENSEMBLE

Dear Mr. Hamilton: John Adams doesn’t stand a chance, so who are you promoting?

HAMILTON

It’s quiet uptown.

MEN

Jefferson or Burr?

We know it’s lose

-lose.

Jefferson or Burr?

But if you had to choose

WOMEN

Jefferson or Burr?

We

know it’s lose-lose.

Jefferson or Burr?

But if you had to choose

EVEN MORE VOTERS

MEN

67

Dear Mr. Hamilton:

John Adams doesn’t stand a

chance so who are you promoting?

But if you had to choose

Jefferson or Burr?

We know it’s lose-lose.

Jefferson or Burr?

But if you had to choose

WOMEN

Jefferson or Burr?

We know it’s lose

-lose.

Jefferson or Burr?

But if you had to choose

HAMILTON

Well, if it isn’t Aaron Burr. Sir!

BURR

Alexander!

HAMILTON

You’ve created quite a stir, sir!

BURR

I’m going door to door!

HAMILTON

You’re openly campaigning?

BURR

Sure!

HAMILTON

That’s new.

BURR

Honestly, it’s kind of draining.

HAMILTON

Burr—

BURR

Sir!

HAMILTON

Is there anything you wouldn’t do?

BURR

No. I’m chasing what I want.

And you know what?

68

HAMILTON

What?

BURR

I learned that from you.

ENSEMBLE

If you had to choose

If you had to choose

MADISON

It’s a tie!

ENSEMBLE

If you had to choose

If you had to choose

JEFFERSON

It’s up to the delegates!

ENSEMBLE

If you had to choose

If you had to choose

JEFFERSON/MADISON

It’s up to Hamilton!

VOTERS

If you had to choose,

If you had to choose,

If you had to

Choose,

Choose,

Choose!

MADISON/ENSEMBLE

Jefferson or Burr?

Choose,

Choose,

Choose!

ENSEMBLE

Jefferson or Burr?

Choose,

Choose,

Choose!

HAMILTON

Yo.

ENSEMBLE

Oh!

HAMILTON

The people are asking to hear my voice

69

ENSEMBLE

Oh!

HAMILTON

For the country is facing a difficult choice.

ENSEMBLE

Oh!

HAMILTON

And if you were to ask me who I’d promote—

ENSEMBLE

Oh!

HAMILTON

—Jefferson has my vote.

JEFFERSON/MADISON/ENSEMBLE

Oh!

HAMILTON

I have never agreed with Jefferson once.

JEFFERSON/MADISON/ENSEMBLE

Oh!

HAMILTON

We have fought on like seventy-five diff’rent fronts.

JEFFERSON/MADISON/ENSEMBLE

Oh!

HAMILTON

But when all is said and all is done,

Jefferson has beliefs. Burr has none.

ENSEMBLE

Oooooooooooooh.

MADISON AND JEFFERSON

Well, I’ll be damned.

Well, I’ll be damned.

70

MADISON

Hamilton’s on your side.

ENSEMBLE

Well, I’ll be damned.

Well, I’ll be damned.

JEFFERSON

And?

MADISON

You won in a landslide.

BURR

Congrats on a race well-run.

I did give you a fight.

JEFFERSON

Uh-huh.

BURR

I look forward to our partnership.

JEFFERSON

Our partnership?

BURR

As your vice-President.

JEFFERSON

Ha. Yeah, right.

You hear this guy? Man openly campaigns against me, talkin’ bout, “I look forward to our partnership.”

MADISON

It’s crazy that the guy who comes in second becomes vice President.

JEFFERSON

Yeah, you know what? We can change that. You know why?

MADISON

Why?

JEFFERSON

‘cuz I’m the President. Hey, Burr, when you see Hamilton, thank him for the endorsement.

71

20. Your Obedient Servant

BURR

How does Hamilton,

an arrogant,

immigrant, orphan,

bastard, whoreson,

somehow endorse

Thomas Jefferson, his enemy,

a man he’s despised since the beginning,

just to keep me from winning?

I wanna be in the room where it happens—

BURR AND COMPANY

The room where it happens.

The room where it happens.

BURR

You’ve kept me from—

BURR AND COMPANY

The room where it happens.

BURR

For the last time.

Dear Alexander:

I am slow to anger,

but I toe the line

as I reckon with the effects

of your life on mine.

I look back on where I failed,

and in every place I checked,

the only common thread has been your disrespect.

Now you call me “amoral,”

a “dangerous disgrace,”

if you’ve got something to say,

name a time and place,

face to face.

I have the honor to be Your Obedient Servant,

A dot Burr.

72

HAMILTON

Mr. Vice President,

I am not the reason no one trusts you.

No one knows what you believe.

I will not equivocate on my opinion,

I have always worn it on my sleeve.

Even if I said what you think I said,

you would need to cite a more specific grievance.

Here’s an itemized list of thirty years of disagreements.

BURR

Sweet Jesus.

HAMILTON

Hey, I have not been shy.

I am just a guy in the public eye

Tryin’ to do my best for our republic.

I don’t wanna fight,

But I won’t apologize for doing what’s right.

I have the honor to be Your Obedient Servant,

A dot Ham.

BURR

Careful how you proceed, good man.

Intemperate indeed, good man.

Answer for the accusations I lay at your feet or

prepare to bleed, good man.

HAMILTON

Burr, your grievance is legitimate.

I stand by what I said, every bit of it.

You stand only for yourself.

It’s what you do.

I can’t apologize because it’s true.

BURR

Then stand, Alexander.

Weehawken. Dawn.

Guns. Drawn.

HAMILTON

You’re on.

73

BURR AND HAMILTON

I have the honor to be Your Obedient Servant,

HAMILTON

A dot Ham.

BURR

A dot Burr.

74

21. Best of Wives and Best of Women

ELIZA

Alexander, come back to sleep.

HAMILTON

I have an early meeting out of town.

ELIZA

It’s still dark outside.

HAMILTON

I know. I just need to write something down.

ELIZA

Why do you write like you’re running out of time?

HAMILTON

Shhh.

ELIZA

Come back to bed. That would be enough.

HAMILTON

I’ll be back before you know I’m gone.

ELIZA

Come back to sleep.

HAMILTON

This meeting’s at dawn.

ELIZA

Well, I’m going back to sleep.

HAMILTON

Hey. Best of wives and best of women.

75

22. 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.

76

COMPANY

Five!

BURR

Now I didn’t know this at the time

But we were—

BURR AND PHILIP

Near the same spot

your son died, is that

why

—

HAMILTON

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!

77

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

78

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.

79

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.

80

23. Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story

WASHINGTON

Let me tell you what I wish I’d known

when I was young and dreamed of glory.

You have no control:

WASHINGTON AND COMPANY

Who lives,

who dies,

who tells your story?

BURR

President Jefferson:

JEFFERSON

I’ll give him this: his financial system is a

work of genius. I couldn’t undo it if I tried.

And I tried.

WASHINGTON AND COMPANY

Who lives,

who dies,

who tells your story?

BURR

President Madison:

MADISON

He took our country from bankruptcy to

prosperity. I hate to admit it, but he doesn’t

get enough credit for all the credit he gave us.

WASHINGTON AND COMPANY

Who lives,

who dies,

who tells your story?

ANGELICA

Every other founding father story gets told.

Every other founding father gets to grow old.

BURR

And when you’re gone, who remembers your name?

81

Who keeps your flame?

BURR AND MEN

Who tells your story?

Who tells your story?

ANGELICA AND WOMEN

Who tells your story?

Your story?

WOMEN

Eliza.

ELIZA

I put myself back in the narrative.

WOMEN

Eliza.

ELIZA

I stop wasting time on tears.

I live another fifty years.

It’s not enough.

FULL COMPANY

Eliza.

ELIZA

I interview every soldier who fought by your side.

MULLIGAN/LAFAYETTE/LAURENS

She tells our story.

ELIZA

I try to make sense of your thousands of pages of writings.

You really do write like you’re running out of—

ELIZA AND COMPANY

Time.

ELIZA

I rely on—

ELIZA AND ANGELICA

Angelica.

ELIZA

82

While she’s alive—

ELIZA AND ANGELICA

We tell your story.

ELIZA

She is buried in Trinity Church,

ELIZA AND ANGELICA

Near you.

ELIZA

When I needed her most, she was right on—

ELIZA AND COMPANY

Time.

ELIZA

And I’m still not through.

I ask myself, “What would you do if you had more—”

ELIZA AND COMPANY

Time.

ELIZA

The Lord, in his kindness,

He gives me what you always wanted.

He gives me more—

ELIZA AND COMPANY

Time.

ELIZA

I raise funds in D.C. for the Washington Monument.

WASHINGTON

She tells my story.

ELIZA

I speak out against slavery.

You could have done so much more if you only had—

ELIZA AND COMPANY

Time.

83

ELIZA

And when my time is up, have I done enough?

ELIZA

Will they tell our story?

COMPANY

Will they tell your story?

ELIZA

Oh. Can I show you what I’m proudest of?

COMPANY

The orphanage.

ELIZA

I establish the first private orphanage in New York City.

COMPANY

The orphanage.

ELIZA

I help to raise hundreds of children.

I get to see them growing up.

COMPANY

The orphanage.

ELIZA

In their eyes I see you, Alexander.

I see you every—

ELIZA AND COMPANY

Time.

ELIZA

And when my time is up,

Have I done enough?

Will they tell my story?

COMPANY

Will they tell your story?

ELIZA

Oh, I can’t wait to see you again.

It’s only a matter of—

ELIZA AND COMPANY

Time.

84

COMPANY

Will they tell your story?

Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?

Will they tell your story?

Who lives, who dies

—

COMPANY

Time…

Time…

Time...

FULL COMPANY

Who tells your story?