This summer, Hamilton is celebrating its 10th anniversary on Broadway. While it's famed for its hip-hop score and its casting of actors of color to play the Founding Fathers, it's also become popular with history teachers for its accurate portrayal of some real-life events—and how it makes what has past feel incredibly present.
But Hamilton isn't the only show running in New York that is rooted in historical events. School's out for the summer, but that doesn't mean you can't still learn something. Here are five other shows currently running that offer an entertaining, and educational, evening at the theatre.
Operation Mincemeat
The Broadway musical Operation Mincemeat takes many cues from Hamilton—it is a musical about a real-life event, it has a cast who look nothing like the characters they're portraying (and they point it out), and it even has rapping. But to say that the show, from British company SpitLip, is a Hamilton knock-off is to discount its particular brand of mad genius. The rollicking musical details the very real attempt to trick the Nazis during World War II by using a corpse. I won't reveal any more—except to say it's all so insane that you think they were making it all up, which they're not. Yet through some propulsive songs and lightning-fast quick changes among its five-member cast, Operation Mincemeat proves that a history lesson doesn't have to be boring. In fact, it can leave you on the edge of your seat in excitement. Find out why this show has been a hit since it first opened in London in 2019 and why it's continued to play to sold-out houses on Broadway at the Golden Theatre.
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Six: The Musical
Another show that also provides a history lesson is the long-running Broadway musical Six at the Lena Horne Theatre. Created by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, this musical details the lives of every wife of King Henry VIII, with a musical score modeled after Beyonce, Adele, and other contemporary pop divas. It's entertaining, it's engaging, and at 75 minutes, it's perfect for younger people as well who can't sit through a 2.5-hour musical (Six is recommended ages 10 and up). You don't need to know much about British history to enjoy this musical, especially because it's overall message about sisterhood and uplifting women's voices is timeless.
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MJ The Musical
Broadway isn't just documenting events from long ago, it's also presenting contemporary stories. MJ the Musical, which has been continually selling out shows on Broadway since 2022, is one such musical. And as its name denotes, it's about King of Pop Michael Jackson. But unlike other biomusicals, which tend to follow familiar beats of childhood to success, MJ takes place during one moment in Jackson's life, when he was preparing for his Dangerous world tour in 1992 and facing doubt about his own artistry, which is heightened by the invasive public scrutiny about his personal life. Beyond pure hagiography, MJ paints a portrait of an artist wrestling with his own demons and despite that, is able to create music that helped define the 20th century. And MJ has also allowed audiences to pretend, even for a moment, that Jackson is still alive, while introducing them to new talent that is more-than-worthy of filling his sparkling white glove.
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Buena Vista Social Club
Okay, now we're going to get to shows that are set during a historically important time period, but aren't necessarily about real people. One of those shows is Buena Vista Social Club. While the musical is based on the album and the group of Cuban musicians of the same name, the personal details in the musical itself are largely fictionalized. The musical follows a singer named Omara (Natalie Venetia Belcon, who earned a Tony for her performance), who in her old age has given up on music. When a record producer invites her to sing on an album of Cuban music from the '50s, Omara remembers her past and how she fell in love with music, and how the Cuban Revolution tore everything apart. While the album Buena Vista Social Club was a hit when it was released in 1996, winning a Grammy in the process, many who listen may not be as aware of the Cuba where that music came from, and why it took over 40 years for many of those players to perform that music again. The musical provides that important context, while also featuring virtuosic musicians and singers that will make you want to get up and dance. And you'll also leave marveling at the lasting impact of music.
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Duke & Roya
This is another show that's not about real people, but it does take place during a very historically significant time. In this Off-Broadway play starring Jay Ellis (of HBO's Insecure) and Stephanie Nur (Paramount+'s Lioness), a rapper named Duke flies to Afghanistan to perform, where he meets and falls in love with an Afghan translator named Roya. Americans are used to footage from America's war in Afghanistan, but what's been underrepresented is the Afghan perspective and what they were fighting for, and how American intervention ended up hurting as much as it helped. Charles Randolph-Wright's brilliantly complex Duke & Roya offers that important background while also telling a moving love story. Duke & Roya is running at Off-Broadway's Lucille Lortel Theatre until August 23, and I can guarantee, you haven't seen a story like it.
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