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Celebrating The “Hamilton” Experience at the Mark Twain House & Museum

Look who's coming to town.

Have you seen “Hamilton: The Musical” and want more? Can’t get tickets to the hottest Broadway show of this century? Want to be prepared when the touring show comes to The Bushnell next year? 

Then share in an experience that explains why “Hamilton” is not simply a landmark show but part of a zeitgeist that is affecting American education, politics, and culture.

In two audio/visual-filled classes especially designed for The Mark Twain House & Museum, Variety theater critic and Connecticut arts writer Frank Rizzo explains why the musical has become a phenomenon. He then partially deconstructs the show to demonstrate the brilliance of the musical work created by Wesleyan University alumnus Lin Manual Miranda and his collaborators and analyze how and why the show has made history of its own.

“Hamilton! has changed the way we view musicals as well as our own American history,” says Rizzo, who also writes for The Hartford Courant, Hartford and Connecticut magazines, American Theatre magazine and The New York Times. “Analyzing why -- while not the same as watching the show live -- is one way to experience communally its inspirational spirit.”

Rizzo teaches a Hamilton! class for the University of Hartford’s Presidents’ College program and will teach a full undergraduate course next year at Quinnipiac College. “Hamilton” will play for a three-week run when it comes to The Bushnell in the 2018-2019 season.

The two 90-minute lectures will take place on Thursday, April 20, and Thursday, April 27, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at The Mark Twain House & Museum. NO SINGLE-LECTURE TICKETS WILL BE SOLD.

Tickets for the two-class event are $60; $55 for members of The Mark Twain House & Museum and Let’s GO Arts! members.

Registration for the lecture series – which sold out three times when Rizzo presented it at the University of Hartford’s Presidents’ College – opens at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, March 29: purchase tickets here or call 860-247-0998.

The Mark Twain House & Museum is the restored Hartford, Connecticut home where American author Samuel Clemens -- Mark Twain -- and his family lived from 1874 to 1891. Twain wrote his most important works, including Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, during the years he lived there. In addition to providing tours of Twain's restored home, a National Historic Landmark, the institution offers activities and education programs that illuminate Twain's literary legacy and provide information about his life and times.  

The house and museum at 351 Farmington Ave. are open daily 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Info: 860-247-0998 and marktwainhouse.org.