Ottawa teacher parodies 'Hamilton' in school talent show video
An Ottawa teacher has put a cap on a school year like no other after two of his students helped him parody a song from the musical "Hamilton" for their virtual talent show.
Hamilton is one of the most famous musicals on Broadway, and now John Henry MacDonald, a math teacher at St. Mother Teresa High School in Barrhaven, is becoming famous in his own right.
“The atmosphere in that classroom is very much 'sense of humour,'” says MacDonald. “The kids are really good with teasing me. And I like to take a joke once in a while just to lighten the mood.”
MacDonald wanted to end the school year on a high note, and his video parody of the song "You’ll Be Back" did just that.
“Making something together, when we were actually all apart, helped us laugh the tough times off and get through these last two months of virtual (learning) that were pretty slow and hard to get through at times,” says MacDonald. “When we went virtual at the end of the year, I thought it would be funny if we redid one of the songs. And literally the next day they came back with lyrics.”
MacDonald’s Grade 7 students Olivia and Faith say they're obsessed with "Hamilton" and this was the perfect opportunity for them to put their own lyrics to paper and screen.
“We just instantly started writing,” says Olivia. “It just consisted of Faith and I on FaceTime and just brainstorming ideas. And if an idea pops into our heads we just write it down and make sure the words rhyme and everything.”
Faith adds, “We’d kind of just think of a funny lyric to do and just kind of think of something that rhymes with that so the song would just kind of flow.”
The whole process took about two weeks to complete with the help of MacDonald’s wife who shot and edited the video.
For the students, this was the perfect way to remember a school year like no other.
“I think I just really enjoyed talking to Olivia and deciding the lyrics and coming up with funny lines and making jokes about it,” says Faith.
“It gave us something to do to distract us from everything else that is happening,” says Olivia.
And this experience is also something that MacDonald won’t soon forget either.
“I feel like it helped them get though a tough year, with a little sense of humour.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by N.Y. appeals court
New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren't part of the case.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.