(First act)

Narrator: How does an orphan, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean

By providence, impoverished, grow up to be a hero and a scholar?

By being a self-starter by 14, they placed him in charge of a trading charter

And everyday while slaves were being slaughtered and carted away

Across the waves, he struggled and kept his guard up

Inside he was longing for something to be a part of

Then a hurricane came, and devastation reigned

Our man saw his future drip, dripping down the drain

Put a pencil to his temple, connected it to his brain

And he wrote his first refrain, a testament to his pain

Burr: Well the word got around, they said

"This kid is insane, man!"

Took up a collection just to send him to the mainland

"Get your education, don't forget from whence you came

And the world's gonna know your name. What's your name, man?"

Alexander Hamilton: "Alexander Hamilton"

My name is Alexander Hamilton

And there's a million thing I haven't done

But just you wait.

I knew that I was poor

I knew it was the only way to rise up

If they tell my story

I am either gonna die on the battlefield in glory or rise up!

Burr: When he was 10, his father split, full of it, debt ridden

2 years later, see Alex and his mother bedridden

Half-dead, sitting in their own sickness, the scent thick

And Alex got better, but his mother went quick

Moved in with a cousin, the cousin committed suicide

Left him with nothing but ruined pride, something new inside

A voice saying, "Alex you gotta fend for yourself"

Narrator: He would've been dead and destitute without a cent of restitution

Started working, clerking for his late mother's landlord

Trading sugar cane and rum and all the things he can't afford

Burr (looking at Alexander Hamilton): Will they know what you overcame?

And will they know you rewrote the game?

The world will never be the same.

Burr: Mr. secretary, Did you hear the news about the good old General Mercer?

Alexander Hamilton: No

Burr: You know Claremont street?

Alexander Hamilton: Yeah

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

Alexander Hamilton: Sure.

Burr: And all he had to do is die, and that's a lot less work!

Alexander Hamilton: We ought to give it a try.

Burr: And how you gonna get your debt plan through?

Alexander Hamilton: I guess I'm gonna have to finally listen to you.

Burr: Really? Talk less, smile more. Do whatever it takes to get my plan on the congress floor.

Alexander Hamilton: decisions are happening over dinner.

Narrator: Two Virginians and an immigrant walk into a room. Diametrically opposed, foes.

They emerge with a compromise

Having open doors that were previously closed

The immigrant emerges with unprecedented financial power

A system he can shape however he wants

The Virginians emerge with the nation's capital.

But no one else was in 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 assume that it happens.
Narrator: Thomas claims

Thomas: Alexander was on Washington's doorstep one day in distress and disarray

Alexander said,

Alexander Hamilton: "I've nowhere else to turn"

Thomas: And basically begged me to join the fray

I approached Jefferson and said

"I know you hate him but let's hear what he has to say"

Well, I arranged the meeting

I arranged the menu, the venue, the seating

Narrator: No one really knows how the parties get to "Yes"

The pieces that are sacrificed in every game of chess

We just assume that it happens

But no one else is in the room where it happens

Burr: Meanwhile, Jefferson is grappling with the fact

That not every issue can be settled by committee

Congress is fighting over where to put the capital

It isn't pretty

Thomas: Maybe we could solve one problem with another

And win a victory for the Southerners.

Jefferson: I suppose, wouldn't you like to work a little closer to home?

Thomas: Actually, I would. And you'll provide him his votes?

Narrator: And one else was in the room where it happened

Alexander Hamilton: My God, In God We Trust. But we never really know what got discussed.

Burr: Alexander Hamilton, What did they say to you to get you to sell New York City down the river?

Did Washington know about the dinner?

Was there Presidential pressure to deliver?

Or did you know even then it doesn't matter where you put the U.S. capital?

Alexander Hamilton: Cause we'll have the banks, we're in the same spot.

Burr: You got more than you gave

Alexander 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

But you get nothing if you wait for it.

God help and forgive me

I wanna build something that's gonna outlive me

What do you want Burr?

If you stand for nothing then what will you fall for?

Burr: I wanna be in the room where it happens!

Burr: Hold your nose and close your eyes

Alexander Hamilton: We want our leaders to save the day

Jefferson: But we don't get a say in what they trade away

Thomas: We dream of a brand new start

Narrator: But we dream in the dark for the most part

Burr: Dark as a tomb where it happens

Alexander Hamilton: We've got to be in the room where it happened.