History And Theater Evening Panel Discussion Announced At Museum of the American Revolution

Broadway's smash hit Hamilton: An American Musical has undoubtedly ignited a revival of interest in early American history, but where does history end and theater begin? On Wednesday, April 3, 2019 from 6 - 8 p.m., the Museum of the American Revolution will host an evening panel discussion on balancing artistic license with historical accuracy, and how theater professionals and historians can work together to inspire new generations of audiences through storytelling.

The panel will include Renee C. Romano and Claire Bond Potter, co-editors of the book Historians on Hamilton: How a Blockbuster Musical is Restaging America's Past (Rutgers University Press, 2018), a collection of 15 essays that explore the Hamilton phenomenon and what it might mean for our understanding of America's history. Also joining the panel will be Philadelphia-based performer and playwright James Ijames and writer, teacher, and scholar Brian Eugenio Herrera, a contributor to Historians on Hamilton and Associate Professor of Theater in the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University.

The discussion will include a question-and-answer session with the audience and will be followed by a book signing for Historians on Hamilton. Tickets are $20 for general admission, $15 for museum members and Organization of American Historians (OAH) Conference attendees, and $10 for students and theater professionals. They are now available for purchase here.

The Museum's Hamilton Was Here: Rising Up in Revolutionary Philadelphia exhibit closes March 17, 2019, but the Museum's "Year of Hamilton" continues through September with special programs, tours, and artifacts related to Alexander and Eliza Hamilton on display in the core exhibit. For more information, visit www.amrevmuseum.org/year-hamilton.

Renee C. Romano is co-editor of Historians on Hamilton and is the Robert S. Danforth Professor of History and Professor of Comparative American Studies and Africana Studies at Oberlin College in Ohio. A specialist in 20th-century American cultural and political history and in the field of historical memory, she is the author or editor of numerous books, including Racial Reckoning; Reopening America's Civil Rights Trials, Race Mixing: Black-White Marriage in Postwar America, and The Civil Rights Movement in American Memory. For more information, visit www.reneeromano.com or find her on Twitter at @reneeromano8.

James Ijames is an award-winning Philadelphia based performer, playwright, and assistant professor of theater at Villanova University. Ijames is the 2011 F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Artist recipient and has won three Barrymore Awards. He is currently directing "Gem of the Ocean" at the Arden Theater through March 31, 2019. Ijames is a founding member of Orbiter 3, Philadelphia's first playwright producing collective. For more information, visit www.jamesijames.com or find him on Twitter at @jwilli1867.

Brian Eugenio Herrera is the author of Latin Numbers: Playing Latino in Twentieth-Century U.S. Popular Performance and assistant professor of theater at Princeton University, The Lewis Center for the Arts. His work, both academic and artistic, examines the history of gender, sexuality and race within and through U.S. popular performance. He contributed an essay to Historians on Hamilton on "Looking at Hamilton from Inside the Broadway Bubble." For more information, visit https://www.latin-numbers.com/ or find him on Twitter at @stinkylulu.

Claire Bond Potter, co-editor and contributor to Historians on Hamilton, is a professor of history and the executive editor of Public Seminar at The New School in New York. She is the author of War on Crime: Bandits, G-Men, and the Politics of Mass Culture. Her writing has appeared in general audience publications such Dissent, The Washington Post, Jacobin, and the New York Times. Potter received her bachelor's degree from Yale University and her doctoral degree from New York University. Currently, she is writing a biography of political media titled Click Bait Nation: The Origins of American iPolitics. For more information, visit https://clairepotter.com/ or find her on Twitter at @TenuredRadical.

The Museum of the American Revolution explores the dramatic, surprising story of the American Revolution through its unmatched collection of Revolutionary-era weapons, personal items, documents, and works of art. Immersive galleries, powerful theater experiences, and digital touchscreens bring to life the diverse array of people who created a new nation against incredible odds. Visitors gain a deeper appreciation for how this nation came to be and feel inspired to consider their role in the ongoing promise of the American Revolution. Located just steps away from Independence Hall, the Museum serves as a portal to the region's many Revolutionary sites, sparking interest, providing context, and encouraging exploration. The Museum, which opened on April 19, 2017, is a private, non-profit, and non-partisan organization. For more information, visit www.AmRevMuseum.org or call 877.740.1776.

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