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The 2016 Grammys let everyone watch (part of) Hamilton for free

Also: Lin-Manuel Miranda accepted his Grammy with a rap.

Caroline Framke
Caroline Framke wrote about culture, which usually means television. Also seen @ The A.V. Club, The Atlantic, Complex, Flavorwire, NPR, the fridge to get more seltzer.

If you’re not able to get a Hamilton ticket for the foreseeable ever, you can now watch the original cast perform the musical’s opening number, thanks to the 2016 Grammys.

After an introduction from Stephen Colbert (why not?!), the Hamilton cast — led by composer and star Lin-Manuel Miranda — performed “Alexander Hamilton” live from the Richard Rodgers Theatre, the musical’s home since August 2015.

Then, surprising no one, Hamilton won the Grammy for Best Musical Theater album — and again, surprising no one, Miranda had an acceptance rap ready for the occasion. It was half an acceptance speech and half a recap of the Grammy telecast itself (including “King Kendrick” Lamar):

This wasn’t the first time Miranda’s pulled this move; in 2011, he wrote a memorable wrap-up rap for host Neil Patrick Harris at the end of the Tony Awards.

Before this Grammy performance, though, the only chance people really had to see “Alexander Hamilton” in action if they couldn’t make it to the Broadway show was seven years ago, at Miranda’s very first public performance of an early draft of the song — during the White House’s Poetry Jam in 2009.

Debuting a song at the White House is pretty cool, but having your full cast perform it at the Grammys to thunderous applause — and then capping off the night by taking home a trophy — isn’t half bad, either.

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