'Hamilton' cast visits Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The touring production of the award-winning Broadway hit musical 'Hamilton' is on stage at The Academy of Music in Philadelphia.

The show famously brings history to life through song, rap, and dance.

Action News joined cast members at the Museum of the American Revolution to feel even closer to our country's story, in the birthplace of American freedom.

"This is General Washington's private sleeping and office tent," explained Scott Stephenson, president and CEO of the Museum of the American Revolution.

"This is the room where it actually happened," he laughed, quoting show lyrics.

The cast was in awe of the museum. It's the story they bring to life every night on stage.

"There's no tent on stage, but there's a 'tent scene' when we're talking to George Washington," said Nathan Haydel, who plays both John Laurens and Philip Hamilton. "It's wild to see this and see what it really looked like."

'Hamilton' tells the story of our founding fathers.

For almost a decade, the show has inspired a new passion for American history.

"We've had a million and a half visitors through the Museum of the American Revolution," Stephenson explains. "We opened in 2017. We are a Hamilton-era museum."

Marja Harmon plays Angelica Schuyler. She says she feels the show's impact every time the curtain rises.

"I mean, it's completely changed the cultural landscape of musical theater," Harmon explains. "And we get to see ourselves reflected. Growing up, that's something I never got to see."

Action News also had a chance to see a new artifact before it went on display at the museum, a sword used in the battle of Yorktown.

"That was probably within yards of Hamilton, and Laurens was there," Stephenson explained. "This was an eyewitness to that fight. Lafayette had them inscribed with USA on them."

That inscription is one of the first places where we would see the name of our new nation.

The sword is now on display at the Museum of the American Revolution.

Hamilton runs until November 23 at the Academy of Music.