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Right Hand Man

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Cast List:

Company | Ensemble | Hamilton | Burr | Mulligan |
Lafayette | Laurens | Washington | Eliza | Angelica |
Peggy | Schuyler Sisters | Women

(The company sees a full armada, offstage.)

COMPANY
British Admiral Howe’s got troops on the water
Thirty-two thousand troops in New York harbor

ENSEMBLE 1
Thirty-two thousand troops in New York harbor
When they surround our troops!
They surround our troops!
When they surround our troops!

ENSEMBLE 2
Thirty-two thousand troops in New York harbor
They surround our troops!
They surround our troops!

HAMILTON
As a kid in the Caribbean I wished for a war
I knew that I was poor
I knew it was the only way to—

HAMILTON/BURR/MULLIGAN/LAFAYETTE/LAURENS
Rise up!

HAMILTON
If they tell my story
I am either gonna die on the battlefield in glory or—

HAMILTON/BURR/MULLIGAN/LAFAYETTELAURENS
Rise up!

HAMILTON
I will fight for this land
But there’s only one man
Who can give us a command so we can—

HAMILTON/BURR/MULLIGAN/LAFAYETTELAURENS
Rise up!

HAMILTON
Understand? It’s the only way to—

HAMILTON/BURR/MULLIGAN/LAFAYETTE/LAURENS
Rise up! Rise up!

HAMILTON
Here he comes!

(George Washington enters, heralded by soldiers.)

ENSEMBLE
Here comes the General!

BURR
Ladies and gentlemen!

ENSEMBLE
Here comes the General!

BURR
The moment you’ve been waiting for!

ENSEMBLE
Here comes the General!

BURR
The pride of Mount Vernon!

ENSEMBLE
Here comes the General!

BURR
George Washington!

WASHINGTON
We are outgunned

ENSEMBLE
What?

WASHINGTON
Outmanned

ENSEMBLE
What?

WASHINGTON
Outnumbered
Outplanned

ENSEMBLE
Buck, buck, buck, buck, buck!

WASHINGTON
We gotta make an all out stand
Ayo, I’m gonna need a right-hand man.

ENSEMBLE
Buck, buck, buck, buck, buck!

WASHINGTON
Check it—
Can I be real a second?
For just a millisecond?
Let down my guard and tell the people how I feel a second?
Now I’m the model of a modern major general
The venerated Virginian veteran whose men are all
Lining up, to put me up on a pedestal
Writin’ letters to relatives
Embellishin’ my elegance and eloquence
But the elephant is in the room
The truth is in ya face when ya hear the British cannons go…

ENSEMBLE
Boom!

WASHINGTON
Any hope of success is fleeting
How can I keep leading when the people I’m
Leading keep retreating?
We put a stop to the bleeding as the British take Brooklyn
Knight takes rook, but look
We are outgunned

ENSEMBLE
What?

WASHINGTON
Outmanned

ENSEMBLE
What?

WASHINGTON
Outnumbered
Outplanned

ENSEMBLE
Buck, buck, buck, buck, buck!

WASHINGTON
We gotta make an all out stand
Ayo, I’m gonna need a right-hand man.

ENSEMBLE
Buck, buck, buck, buck, buck!

WASHINGTON
Incoming!

HAMILTON
They’re battering down the Battery check the damages

MULLIGAN
Rah!

HAMILTON
We gotta stop ‘em and rob ‘em of their advantages

MULLIGAN
Rah!

HAMILTON
Let’s take a stand with the stamina God has granted us
Hamilton won’t abandon ship
Yo, let’s steal their cannons—

MULLIGAN
Shh-boom!

COMPANY
Boom!

WASHINGTON
Goes the cannon, watch the blood and the shit spray and…

COMPANY
Boom!

WASHINGTON
Goes the cannon, we’re abandonin’ Kips Bay and…

COMPANY
Boom!

WASHINGTON
There’s another ship and…

COMPANY
Boom!

WASHINGTON
We just lost the southern tip and…

COMPANY
Boom!

WASHINGTON
We gotta run to Harlem quick, we can’t afford another slip
Guns and horses giddyup
I decide to divvy up
My forces, they’re skittish as the British cut the city up
This close to giving up, facing mad scrutiny
I scream in the face of this mass mutiny:
Are these the men with which I am to defend America?
We ride at midnight, Manhattan in the distance
I cannot be everywhere at once, people
I’m in dire need of assistance…
(Washington's tent. Burr enters.)

BURR
Your excellency, sir!

WASHINGTON
Who are you?

BURR
Aaron Burr, Sir?
Permission to state my case?

WASHINGTON
As you were

BURR
Sir
I was a captain under General Montgomery
Until he caught a bullet in the neck in Quebec
And well, in summary
I think that I could be of some assistance
I admire how you keep firing on the British
From a distance

WASHINGTON
Huh

BURR
I have some questions, a couple of suggestions on how to fight instead of fleeing west

WASHINGTON
Yes?

BURR
Well—

HAMILTON
Your excellency, you wanted to see me?

WASHINGTON
Hamilton, come in, have you met Burr?

HAMILTON
Yes, sir

HAMILTON/BURR
We keep meeting

BURR
As I was saying, sir, I look forward to seeing your strategy play out

WASHINGTON
Burr?

BURR
Sir?

WASHINGTON
Close the door on your way out
(Burr exits.)

HAMILTON
Have I done something wrong, sir?

WASHINGTON
On the contrary
I called you here because our odds are beyond scary
Your reputation precedes you, but I have to laugh

HAMILTON
Sir?

WASHINGTON
Hamilton, how come no one can get you on their staff?

HAMILTON
Sir!

WASHINGTON
Don’t get me wrong, you’re a young man of great renown
I know you stole British cannons when we were still downtown
Nathaniel Green and Henry Knox wanted to hire you…

HAMILTON
To be their Secretary? I don’t think so

WASHINGTON
Why’re you upset?

HAMILTON
I’m not—

WASHINGTON
It’s alright, you want to fight, you’ve got a hunger
I was just like you when I was younger
Head full of fantasies of dyin’ like a martyr?

HAMILTON
Yes

WASHINGTON
Dying is easy, young man. Living is harder

HAMILTON
Why are you telling me this?

WASHINGTON
I’m being honest
I’m working with a third of what our Congress has promised
We are a powder keg about to explode
I need someone like you to lighten the load. So?

COMPANY EXCEPT HAMILTON
I am not throwin’ away my shot!
I am not throwin’ away my shot!
Ayo, I’m just like my country, I’m young
Scrappy and hungry!

HAMILTON
I am not throwing away my shot!

WASHINGTON
Son

WASHINGTON/COMPANY
We are outgunned, outmanned!

HAMILTON
You need all the help you can get
I have some friends. Laurens, Mulligan
Marquis de Lafayette, okay, what else?

WASHINGTON/COMPANY
Outnumbered, outplanned!

HAMILTON
We’ll need some spies on the inside
Some King’s men who might let some things slide

COMPANY
Boom!

ELIZA/ANGELICA/PEGGY/WOMEN
Whoa, whoa, whoa...

HAMILTON
I’ll write to Congress and tell ‘em we need supplies, you rally the guys,
Master the element of surprise

COMPANY
Chicka-boom!

ANGELICA/ELIZA/PEGGY/WOMEN
Whoa, whoa, whoa...

HAMILTON
I’ll rise above my station, organize your information, ‘til we rise to the occasion of our new nation. Sir!

ENSEMBLE
Here comes the General!

HAMILTON
Rise up!

MULLIGAN/LAFAYETTE/LAURENS
What?

ENSEMBLE
Here comes the General!

HAMILTON/SCHUYLER SISTERS/WOMEN
Rise up!

LAURENS/LAFAYETTE/MULLIGAN
What?

ENSEMBLE
Here comes the General!

HAMILTON/SCHUYLER SISTERS
Rise up!

MULLIGAN/LAFAYETTE/LAURENS
What?

COMPANY
Here comes the General!

HAMILTON
What?

WASHINGTON
And his right hand man!

COMPANY
Boom!