'EduHam' Program Puts NC Students On Hamilton Stage

CHARLOTTE, NC — The cast of the broadway smash “Hamilton” has left Charlotte. Before the production packed up, however, it offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to more than 2,000 high school students from Title-1 schools throughout North Carolina to see the show inspired by an American founding father and, for a lucky few, perform on the stage against the backdrop of the iconic set.

Through an educational iniative between the production and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History -- dubbed "EduHam" -- students spent weeks studying American history and Alexander Hamilton. In addition to learning the special curriculum in their classes, students participating in the EduHam program complete their own research, produce their own original pieces, and perform them in their school.

On Nov. 1, more than a dozen of the best original student pieces were selected for presentation on the Hamilton theater stage in uptown Charlotte before a crowd of 2,000 high school students. Afterward, the theater of students were treated to a special full performance of the Broadway production.

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“One of the things that happens is that students dig deep into history, in this period of history, and they find relevance,” Tim Bailey, director of Education at the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, told Patch. “They find how the people who lived in that period, the events of that period reflect many of the things they see in today’s society, or they see as issues in their lives. Those relationships and observations come out in their performance pieces,” he said.

Through the process of research and reflection, the program has created a “huge boost in general citizenship” among the students, he said.

“One of the byproducts of this process is that students find that relevance, they find those hooks in this seminal period of American history that do relate to them,” Bailey said.

On the day of the EduHam performance in Uptown Charlotte, students chatted with excitement as they filled the Belk Theater at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. Student performers selected to showcase their two-minute pieces took to the stage, some earning thunderous applause and calls from the audience of peers.

One such performance group from Winston-Salem experienced the crowd’s adulation for their original rap about the Boston Tea Party, called “Tea THYME.”

The experience left an impact on the high school juniors, who want to go into performing arts in college.

“It’s like, we’re so close now. It’s like we’re right there!” said Mason Gumbs, who performed alongside North Forsyth High School classmate Dorrian Perkins. The excitement of performing on a Broadway stage would benefit him going forward, when applying to colleges, he said.

“I loved every second of it. I felt so much energy,” Gumbs said.

The EduHam experience is life changing for students, said North Rowan High School theater teacher Leigh Alexander, who said the vast majority of the 120 students from her school had never experienced seeing a Broadway play. She attended the event alongside two students from the Spencer, N.C. high school who were selected to perform.

They had been given three days notice, she said.

The over-the-top opportunity was remarkable for her students for another reason.

“They’ve never been on stage before today,” she said.

Photo by Patch Editor Kimberly Johnson