There are currently five official productions of Hamilton around the world: the Broadway, West End, and Chicago fixtures, plus two national tours. A week ago, all of those casts teamed up to lip-sync “The Hamilton Polka,” and the spirit of unity continues into this week with a brand-new collaboration, “First Burn.” Lin-Manuel Miranda explained on Twitter that the song is a recording of his first draft of Act II’s “Burn,” which he started writing in 2014.
The song was arranged by Hamilton maestro Alex Lacamoire and produced by Mike Elizondo. Each actress currently playing the role of Eliza—that’s Arianna Afsar, Julia Harriman, Lexi Lawson, Rachelle Ann Go, and Shoba Narayan—lends her voice to the song. Noticeably missing from that lineup is Eliza Prime, aka Phillipa Soo, who originated the role on Broadway . Miranda’s response to a fan who pointed this out was to quote his own musical:
Lest you think the different Hamilton casts are getting too cozy, you should know that they are currently embroiled in a dance competition with the painfully punny hashtag #SoYouThinkYouHamDance.
