WASHINGTON — First lady Michelle Obama greeted a roomful of giddy high school students in the State Dining Room on Monday, as cast members from the Broadway musical Hamilton trailed in behind her. Performers from the wildly popular show based on the life of Alexander Hamilton were there for a day of events at the White House, and Mrs. Obama was quite giddy herself.
"We do a lot of really cool things," she said, standing under a portrait of Abraham Lincoln in the ornate room usually used for parties. "But this, for me personally, is the coolest."
The students laughed and nodded in agreement. She called them some of the "luckiest young people," as they got to spend the day lobbing questions at cast members from the hip-hop-inflected, historically based Hamilton.
In words that can only hearten the show's producers, several of whom were there, Mrs. Obama called Hamilton the "best piece of art in any form that I have ever seen in my life." Later in the day, President Barack Obama praised the show's diverse cast and its depiction of the nation's origins, while also joking about the high ticket prices it now commands.
The show's creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda, joined by cast members Daveed Diggs, Leslie Odom Jr., Christopher Jackson, Phillipa Soo and others, were there to perform 15 selections from the score and to try out a new educational curriculum with a workshop and Q&A for students from around the area.
Some wanted to know how important diversity was in the casting of the show (very!). Others thanked Miranda for making U.S. history a fun topic.