The Broadway musical Hamilton has become both a financial and cultural phenomenon. It is the MUST-SEE show on Broadway today and is poised to become the most financially success- ful show of all time. The “revolutionary” aspect of this show about the American Revolution is that the actors playing our Founding Fathers are being played by non-whites and the score is a blend of hip-hop and rap music. At first glance, the score for Hamilton seems like a total departure from classical Broadway music. However, the show’s composer points out that “hip-hop” is simply the latest form of the “patter song” first refined by Gilbert & Sullivan in operettas like HMS Pinafore and The Pirates Of Penzance. This technique of sung-speech later reappeared in shows like The Music Man (“Trouble”) and My Fair Lady (“I’m An Ordinary Man”). Later, Stephen Sondheim “rapped” in Company (“I’m Not Getting Married Today”) and Into The Woods (“Greens, Greens and Nothing But Greens!”).