Before hip hop Hamilton, was operatic Hamilton—
five-act verse-tragedy Hamilton


Set during the last three days of the US presidential election of 1801, thrown into the House of Representatives because of a tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, the play shifts focus from the political to the personal, centered around the affections of the one man who will decide the election—Alexander Hamilton

This ultra-romantic tragedy delves into love and hate and jealousy and rage, as Hamilton chooses his hated rival Jefferson over the amoral and dangerous Burr. During this maelstrom, Hamilton's son Philip is killed in a duel and his daughter Angelica loses her senses. Seeking solace and advice, Hamilton calls forth a ghostly George Washington, who points out the difficult way Hamilton in his heart already knew to take

Love and true feeling triumph even as Hamilton dies in his duel with Burr, and the election's winner, and true shadow of the piece, Jefferson, is left alone at the end, bereft, unloved