young, scrappy and hungry | a hamilton story | √

Chapter 1

Kasey Winslow stepped into the Richard Rodgers Theatre for the first time along with the rest of the cast and crew. Her new best friend, Carleigh Bettiol, spun in a pirouette.

"It's so pretty!" Carleigh exclaimed happily.

"Yeah, it is," Kasey said wonderingly. "It's so big."

They were standing in amongst the seats facing the stage, which had set builders making the set pieces. All the cast members were standing there open-mouthed.

"Do you want to know why I brought you here?" Lin asked. Everyone nodded. "I brought you here today to announce that this is the theatre in which Hamilton will perform eight nights a week, on Broadway!"

There was a moment of stunned silence. Then cheers exploded in the theatre. Everyone was hugging. Kasey flung her arms around whoever was closest.

"Don't touch me, rat," Megan Anderson spat. Kasey rolled her eyes and turned away from Megan, instead hugging Carleigh, who picked Kasey up and spun her around.

"We're going to be on Broadway!" she squealed. Kasey couldn't believe it. She had been waiting her whole life for this moment, and now, she couldn't even register the idea that she was finally going to be on Broadway. "Come on, small Brit, get excited!"

"I am, I am!" Kasey laughed. Everyone was still screaming and jumping up and down. Lin was looking over all of them like a proud father. Jazzy Jones picked Kasey up and spun her around just like Carleigh had.

"WE'RE GOING TO BROADWAY!!!" Jazzy exclaimed.

That night was insane. Lin told them all how they were closing down the Public Theatre runs and would soon move into the Richard Rodgers to begin rehearsals for Broadway. They were going to assist in making the set and adjust the blocking and choreography to better fit the Richard Rodgers.

"I expect you all to keep this under wraps until we have permission to announce this. We will be announcing that the run here at the Public is closing, but we will not be announcing the Broadway run until our time here at the Public is over," Lin said. "For now, we'll be starting to clean up the theatre so it looks exactly how we found it. Our final show date is in one month."

Kasey and Carleigh went to the ensemble dressing room to start getting ready for the show. They'd been performing at the Public Theatre for a while now, and had a routine down. Kasey would curl her hair into a ponytail, and Carleigh would do hers half-up.

In the show, Kasey's favorite part was 'Yorktown'. She loved the energy levels of that song, and she enjoyed the choreography the most. She was also obsessed with 'Satisfied' because of the rewind section. It was so much fun to do.

Kasey put on her costume and scrolled through her Instagram notifications.

"Kase, do you have bobby pins? I think I lost most of mine," Carleigh asked. Kasey stood and looked through her hair and makeup bag until she found some.

"Here," Kasey said.

"Places in ten minutes," the stage manager announced over the intercom. Kasey waited for Carleigh to put on her boots and they headed to the stage together.

They met Pippa, Renee, and Jazzy coming out of their dressing room. They exchanged high-fives and hugs.

"Just think, soon we'll be on Broadway!" Pippa exclaimed. "Are you excited?"

"I'm super pumped," Carleigh said.

"I'm still in shock," Kasey admitted, laughing. "It's unbelievable that I'll finally be on Broadway, and in Hamilton, especially."

"Aw, Kasey, you're such a small cinnamon roll," Jazzy laughed, playing with the end of Kasey's ponytail. "You're our tiny Brit."

"I'm not that short," Kasey protested.

"You are short, and extremely British," Carleigh told her. "Accept it, girl."

They reached the stage and Pippa, Renee, and Jazzy left to their respective spots. Kasey and Carleigh hung out for a bit longer before the five minute to places call, when Daveed and Lin came around and put them all on the spot for freestyle rapping.

Carleigh made up some rap about rainbow unicorns that fought in the revolution, and Kasey made a rap about disgustingly weak tea and how it tasted much better when it was tea from Boston.

It was a kind of reference to Kasey's English background. Most of the fans didn't realize that she was British because she did the entire show in an American accent. She usually started talking in her American accent during places or else she'd get to the show and have a strange mix of accents.

"Great! Thanks!" Lin said happily. "Carleigh and Kasey, you made the Youtube channel today."

Carleigh and Kasey high-fived.

"I have to go to my place," Carleigh said. "The British are gonna lose tonight!"

"That may be so, but I'm still a spy for the British," Kasey shot back.

Two minutes later, Kasey heard Jonathan Groff's announcement at the beginning of the show. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this evening's performance of Hamilton: An American Musical. Tonight, Thayne Jasperson will be portraying the roles of Laurens/Philip. All recording is strictly forbidden and I will send a British battalion to punish anyone caught doing so. Please silence all cell phones. This can also result in punishment by the British empire. Enjoy the show."

With that, the audience fell silent and the opening bars of 'Alexander Hamilton' sounded and they were off once more.