All at once, 111 united voices loudly and passionately begin to sing: “I am not throwing away my shot. I am not throwing away my shot. Hey yo, I’m just like my country. I’m young, scrappy, and hungry and I’m not throwing away my shot.”

What are they singing about, you may ask? None other than the face of the $10 bill, Alexander Hamilton.

“Hamilton” is an acclaimed Broadway musical that follows the story of Alexander Hamilton’s rise to glory, and his eventual downfall. From growing up in poverty to becoming a founding father, Hamilton “got a lot farther by working a lot harder, by being a lot smarter, by being a self starter.”

This musical has been raved about since its first show in August 2015 and was the second-highest grossing show on Broadway during Labor Day weekend. “Hamilton” was nominated a record-breaking number of 16 times for the 2016 Tony Awards. It won 11 of those 16 nominations, including “Best Musical.”

This Thursday at Niles West’s annual Artzapalooza event, the entire choir will be singing the song “My Shot” from “Hamilton.” Choir director Matthew Hunter decided to sing this song not only because he knew “Hamilton” was so popular, but because he wanted his students to make a connection to the music and be able to apply that to their own life.

“No matter what choir I’m teaching, I need them to make a personal connection to the music,” Hunter said. “We had a conversation with what ‘Alexander Hamilton’s shot’ is in his interpretation of the song. Sometimes we feel our voices, our opportunities are small compared to what we think it needs to be. We had a discussion so that my students know they all have a shot to make a difference. They all have their own shot to change their lives, the government, and their families.

“I really want our students to know that even at the high school level, they have a voice. We will have our own personal understanding of what our shot is and what our shot means to us. We will stand on the stage with all of our own interpretations of what our shot is but we will all sing the same song, ‘My Shot,'” he said.

For people like senior and choir president Asma Akram, being able to protest about something by singing this song has had an impact on her.

“To me, ‘My Shot’ means that this is your chance to finally be able to make a difference,” Akram said. “You only have one shot and you better make it your best. If you come to class, you’ll see it’s made people more confident and more diverse with their intellectual thinking.” 

Outside of the choir classroom, “Hamilton” has impacted Niles West students as well. In U.S. History classes, some social studies teachers such as Joseph Meyer has noticed an increase in students’ interest in the subject since the musical hit the stage.

“I think it makes history more relevant for our students. A lot of the kids really liked it, some not so much.  I’ve got kids this year who are understanding these things historically in the musical that they didn’t understand before. ‘Hamilton’ is opening up an avenue to allow kids to be more interested in history, and I think that’s a great thing,” Meyer said.

On a larger scale, “Hamilton” has the same effects on the general public. More people are now interested in not only history, but musical theater as well. Lin-Manuel Miranda, the writer and star of “Hamilton,” has redefined what musical theater sounds like.

“No one would have thought hip hop has a place on the same stage as musical theater,” Hunter said. “People are now going to think of new characters and new ideas that are beautiful. It’s amazing that these new ideas, such as ‘Hamilton,’ are coming to the stage of musical theater.”

Not only does “Hamilton” change what musical theater sounds like, but what it looks like as well.

“We need something new and innovative. Artists need to create something new, something fresh and not just do the same things and offer opportunities for diversity on the stage. Lin-Manuel is very adamant about hiring people of color. That’s what we need, equality on the stage. That’s why I love everything ‘Hamilton’ is standing for and what it’s doing in our communities and around the world. I think it’s great,” Hunter said.

Miranda was right. There was a revolution in that century, and there is one in this century as well. Hamilton’s success has shown that it is not just a moment, it’s a movement.