As someone who has always been fond of the acting industry, I’ve had to read and perform in various musicals. However, despite doing this for many years, I had never watched Hamilton. Being able to watch this musical in class I was able to finally see the hype. Lin Manuel, the creator of Hamilton, took many risks in the production of this musical and was able to open doors for what a musical could look like. Hamilton reimagines the representation of American history by elevating discriminated voices throughout history. Through casting many white historians as people of color, it symbolizes how the backbone of this country are the people of color that had to build this country up. One song I particularly liked that did this was the song “Burn” sung by the character Eliza, Hamilton’s wife. During this time, women were much more oppressed and often had little autonomy to do what they actually pleased. The song “Burn” takes the affair situation Eliza had to endure and brings power to character as she is choosing to erase herself from history and preserve her heart. A line in the song states “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”. This line is important because society often feels entitled to women and what they expect out of them, so by Eliza denying this towards the world, she is reclaiming her power. This goes back to our reading of Stuart Hall who stated “Meaning is produced by the practice, the ‘work’ of representation. It is constructed through signifying” (Hall 28). Hamilton is a prime example of how adding more diverse characters and focusing on unrepresented stories, brings greater overall meaning to the musical. Lin Manuel was able to take the history of our country and bring a modern take on it through its more upbeat/ hip-hop songs, fast-paced scenes, and diverse cast. He broke barriers for many actors who are of color and showed a new way of embracing diversity.