“HOW does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean, by providence impoverished in squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar?” So begins the opening rap in “Hamilton”, a hip-hop opera about Alexander Hamilton, which is about to open on Broadway.

The co-author of the Federalist Papers, first treasury secretary, creator of the national bank and America’s financial system, is having a moment. In addition to his musical, suggestions that Hamilton should be removed from the $10 bill to make way for a woman brought howls from his admirers, who pointed out that if anyone is to be taken off a greenback it should be the uncouth Andrew Jackson, whose portrait adorns the $20 bill.

Hamilton, a rather pompous sort, would probably disapprove of musicals. But his life, which came to an end on the banks of the Hudson in a duel with Aaron Burr, the sitting vice-president, is ready-made for one. The show’s off-Broadway run at the Public Theatre earlier this year collected a trophy-case of awards and attracted theatre-lovers as well as Beltway types like the Clintons, Michelle Obama and Dick Cheney (who understands about vice-presidential accidents with firearms). Advance tickets sales for the Broadway run are robust.

The musical is really two stories in one: Mr Hamilton’s and America’s. The songs, which mix R&B with rap and pay homage to comic operas by the likes of Gilbert and Sullivan, are catchy. A number sung by George III evokes a 1960s break-up ballad: “I’ll send a fully armed battalion to remind you of my love,” he croons to the colonists. The rap battles between Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson depicting clashes in fiscal policy and states’ rights are particularly fine. “Man, when the British taxed our tea, we got frisky. Imagine what’s gon’ happen when you try to tax our whiskey.”

Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Hamilton’s” lyricist and composer, stars as the man himself. Mr Miranda, the son of Puerto Rican parents, clearly feels an affinity for his fellow transplant from the Caribbean (Hamilton was born on Nevis, an island about the size of Manhattan). The political history of America is sometimes simplified to a scrap between the heirs of Hamilton and of Jefferson. Right now, the federalist-in-chief seems the friskier.