Williamsburg Torch Club 

If you missed the January dinner of the Torch Club of Williamsburg, then you missed a great presentation. Dan Sherman presented on “Hamilton: Man and Musical,” which led to an informative evening where the story of one of our Founding Fathers was recalled through song, with minor commentary at the edges by our speaker to ensure we had the full story.

Just the story behind the very creation of the musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda is an impressive tale in its own right. He was on vacation in Mexico when he read the 2004 biography of Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, the richness of which gave him the idea of a musical. Soon after, he drafted a song about Hamilton that he presented at a White House function, and the rest is history.

Whether you concentrate on the lyrics attributed to Hamilton and his friends, or the pompous statements by King George III, you benefit from having a key moment in American history stamped in your mind along with some fun songs. For instance, you cannot help but remember these lines by King George III:

You’ll be back like before
I will fight the fight and win the war
For your love, for your praise
And I’ll love you ’til my dying days
When you’re gone, I’ll go mad
So don’t throw away this thing we had
‘Cause when push comes to shove
I will kill your friends and family to remind you of my love

Our February dinner will feature member Lynn Bernard presenting on “A Cup of Joe by Any Other Name: The History of Coffee.” We are going from Hamilton in the time of tea parties to the present day obsession with coffee. After this presentation, you may look at your morning coffee in a completely new way.

Please consider visiting our Torch Club if you are interested in presentations such as this one as well as many others planned through the season. Go to this link for a full list of past and upcoming presentations.