“Hamilton” the musical is returning to Washington state on Feb. 4 at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle.

A Federal Way “Hamilton” fan and one of Alexander Hamilton’s descendants formed a connection to the show and to the history it portrays, which manifested into a published book in 2023.

“Hamilton” is a musical that presents the history of George Washington and his right-hand man Alexander Hamilton through music, rap and dance, pulling from a diverse history of American creative tradition.

Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the musical became extremely popular, selling out shows across the country and, along with his show “In the Heights,” earned Miranda a MacArthur Fellowship “genius” award for “expanding the conventions of musical theater with a popular culture sensibility and musical styles and voices that reflect the diverse cultural panorama of the American urban experience.”

The local journey began with a group of South King County “Hamilton” fans who would get together to use the musical as a jumping off point to learn the history surrounding the show and, of course, enjoy the songs.

Helena Reynolds started the group in 2017 after hearing the soundtrack for the first time in a borrowed car. She was excited about the opportunity to learn more about this chapter of American history.

“I called the Paramount Theatre to find any resources relating history to the musical ‘Hamilton.’ The director said there were educational options for children in certain school circumstances, but none for adults,” Reynolds said. When the director she spoke to suggested she start something herself, she formed the group that began to meet in Kent.

Through her research for the group, she connected with the Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society (AHA Society). This society was founded by Rand Scholet in 2011 with the goal to “enhance the public understanding of Hamilton’s contributions to the founding of the United States.”

Across the country, an 82-year-old Mary Anne Hamilton saw the “Hamilton” show on Broadway in New York City for the first time in 2016. Fifty years earlier, she had married a Hamilton descendant — heir of Alexander Hamilton and J.P. Morgan, Laurens Morgan Hamilton.

Realizing the legacy she was connected to, she began traveling the country through the Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society to share it.

In 2022, Hamilton began writing down her life stories including how she became part of the Hamilton line. In 1965, in a Washington, D.C., cocktail lounge, Hamilton was a 31-year-old waitress and soon-to-be-divorced mother of five when she served then-65-year-old Laurens Morgan Hamilton. According to Reynolds, “she tried to rebuff him but he was persistent, so they married in 1966. He soon lost his wealth and health, so she became his caregiver until he died in 1978.”

Through two very different life paths, Reynolds and Hamilton connected over their appreciation for the family legacy through a mutual friend and the AHA society.

“When Rand learned that I, like Hamilton, was from an immigrant family, he asked about my parents’ WWII romance stories. I had been writing a memory book for over 40 years, so I sent him a few excerpts. Unbeknownst to me, he had been sharing my stories with his various Hamilton contacts,” Reynolds said.

One of those contacts was Mary Anne Hamilton.

The two began to meet online over Zoom as Reynolds continued the Hamilton appreciation group, and together they created a book.

At age 89, Hamilton lived to see the launch of their book “Destined to be a Hamilton” via Zoom in 2023.

Federal Way business owners Ted and Sharon Gentry hosted the launch party at the Curves gym, bringing together members of the local “Hamilton” fan chapter to hear Hamilton’s life story and her personal connection to the Hamilton family.

The eBook of “Destined to be a Hamilton” was released in January 2024 and became an Amazon number one bestseller and an Amazon number one “Hot New Release” prior to Mary Anne Hamilton’s 90th birthday. She passed away in August 2024.

As just one more Federal Way connection, Reynolds even purchased an ad for the book ad in the “Hamilton” event program that was inspired by FW Curves member Maija Pratt’s review, she said.

When the “Hamilton” musical opens this year, the first performance will be on what would have been Mary Anne Hamilton’s 91st birthday.

“I’m grateful to friends at the Federal Way Curves for propagating our unusual Hamilton-Washington connections,” Reynolds said.