20,000 Chicago students to see 'Hamilton,' study US history

CHICAGO (AP) - An education program that debuted last year with the megahit musical "Hamilton" on Broadway is coming to the touring company in Chicago.

Broadway in Chicago says 1,900 Chicago Public Schools students and teachers will attend the Wednesday matinee performance of the Tony Award-winning musical. It's the first of ten all-student matinee performances during this year. In all about 20,000 Chicago high school students will have the opportunity to see "Hamilton" after spending several weeks studying American history with a special accompanying curriculum about Alexander Hamilton and the U.S. founding fathers.

Students also will participate in question-and-answer sessions with the "Hamilton" cast and get to perform an original work they created in their classrooms on the theater stage.

"Hamilton" is Lin-Manuel Miranda's hip-hop-flavored biography about the first U.S. treasury secretary.