Arts, Dining & Entertainment

Presidential biographer discusses hit Hamilton musical

Wednesday, Jan. 2, 7 p.m. —RUTLAND— Presidential biographer Willard Sterne Randall will discuss how the life of Alexander Hamilton inspired a major Broadway musical in a talk at Rutland Free Library on Wednesday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. His talk, “Hamilton: The Man and the Musical,” is part of the Vermont Humanities Council’s First Wednesdays lecture series and is free and open to the public.

From his birth in the Caribbean to his death in a duel, Alexander Hamilton’s life was part romance, part tragedy – and the inspiration for the blockbuster Broadway musical. Randall will discuss the man and the musical, with excerpts from its score.

Willard Sterne Randall is the author of 13 books, including “Benjamin Franklin and His Son,” which won a Frank Luther Mott Award for research from University of Missouri Graduate School of Journalism; “Benedict Arnold, Patriot and Traitor,” a runner-up for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; “Thomas Jefferson, A Life,” selected as one of Publishers Weekly’s best biographies of 1993; “George Washington, A Life,” included in Readers Digest’s Best Nonfiction of 1997; and “Alexander Hamilton: A Life.” He teaches American history at Champlain College in Burlington.

The Vermont Humanities Council’s First Wednesdays series is held on the first Wednesday of every month from October through May in nine communities statewide, featuring speakers of national and regional renown. Talks in Rutland are held at Rutland Free Library unless otherwise noted. All First Wednesdays talks are free and open to the public.

Rutland Free Library is located at 10 Center St., Rutland. For more information, call 802-773-1860 or visit vermonthumanities.org.

Photo courtesy Rutland Free Library

Alexander Hamilton

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