Chicago author takes readers behind the scenes of 'Hamilton'

CHICAGO (WLS) -- "Hamilton" fever is taking over Chicago with the musical coming here in September! A bestselling book has all the backstage details about how this phenomenon came together and caught fire.

Chicago author Jeremy McCarter wrote the book "Hamilton: The Revolution" with creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda.

It's the story of two revolutions. There's the one that's in the show - the American revolution of the 18th century. But the most important revolution of all is what it will mean to kids who grow up having this be their way of accessing the story of the founding of the country.

McCarter calls "Hamilton: The Revolution" a Chicago book, all written in his North Side home and haunts. He spoke with ABC7's Janet Davies at the Women and Children First bookstore he loves.

"The book alternates between chapters about a phase in the creation of the show and then the lyrics to one of the songs," McCarter said. "These funny, moving insightful looks at how this popped out of his brain and landed on the page and my chapters try to explain how those songs have gone out and changed the world."

"When I think about a 16-year-old kid, a 17-year-old kid who is seeing a black man playing George Washington, getting to play George Washington, getting to play Angelica Skyler, I don't know what that does for the way that this generation coming up is going to think about America, but I think it's going to be profound," McCarter said.

"Looking at the sea of people who are waiting to see the actors and get an autograph, just to be close to the experience and that is the tapestry of America, it's every color, every age, every background," McCarter said. "It's the story of how my friend Lin told a story that changed the world."