It's one thing to memorize the lyrics of popular musicals like "Hamilton," but it's another thing to put together a whole production, costumes and all.
For Toronto's Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts, a public arts school located in the city's east end of Scarborough, performing the musical for a Canadian audience would be a dream come true.
Ann Merriam, a teacher at the school, says after she saw the show on Broadway in New York City, the first thought she had after the first act was to play the soundtrack for her students.
"They were over the moon," she tells The Huffington Post Canada. "They lived and breathed [the soundtrack], walked up and down the hallways memorizing the words and even had weekend parties practicing."
Merriam says the students (all 150 of them) learned the music and choreography easily — and they instantly fell in love with it.
On Monday, the school released three videos on YouTube of their students performing three of the musical's numbers including "Right Hand Man," "Yorktown," and "Burn."
One of the videos, posted above, shows students with passion, talent and excitement for musical theatre, which Merriam says is a great sign.
"With the price of the musical now [which can cost up to $1,000] how are young people going to be able to afford it? The musical resonates with young people and creates community, positivity and the values of friendship," she says, adding that it also (more importantly) focuses on diversity and inclusion.
"Musicals like 'Hamilton' need to be the new face of theatre, every colour," she says.
The school has also been in touch with a lawyer who is interested in getting this message across to the producers of "Hamilton" in New York City.
And although the musical itself is about American history, Merriam says her students can still relate to it, even as Canadians. She adds the school released the videos because they wanted to showcase their students, but also point out how a musical can impact and resonate with young people.
According to a statement from the school, Wexford Collegiate hopes to reach producers to secure the rights to perform the entire show in Toronto. Merriam adds prices at home would be anywhere from $5 during the day and $25 at night.
"Hamilton," which picked up 11 Tony Awards over the weekend, is also in discussion with Mirvish to bring the show to Toronto, the Globe and Mail reports.
Also on HuffPost
