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Why Chicago's Hamilton is using his platform to help kids with epilepsy.

Have you ever been in the room where it happens? The actual room where Broadway musicals happen?

Imagine walking into that room. Now imagine seeing Lin-Manuel Miranda sitting there next to other iconic theater legends, waiting for you to begin your audition. It’s the biggest job interview of your life.

You start sweating. You get this random twitch. Dry mouth — you get the driest mouth ever. You forget all your lines.

All of the above would happen to anyone. Except for Miguel Cervantes.

At the very moment of his audition, he was thinking of another room.

All photos are taken by Joan Marcus, courtesy of "Hamilton: An American Musical" in Chicago.

The birth of his daughter Adelaide in 2015 brought indescribable joy to the Cervantes family.

At that time, Miguel had starred in several Broadway shows, including "If/Then," "American Idiot," and "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee." His wife Kelly was working successfully as an NYC event planner. Everything was going as planned for the young family.

But then, Adelaide started to get sick. Doctors couldn’t properly diagnose what was going on with her at first. Miguel — who was booking fewer and fewer auditions — decided to step away from theater to focus on taking care of Adelaide and his son, Jackson, while trying his hand at other business opportunities.

“I’m done with theater, unless Lin-Manuel Miranda calls me,” Cervantes recalls telling his friends. But then, Miranda called.

On the same day Adelaide had just been hooked up to a myriad of test machines, Miranda called Cervantes to come audition in the final callback to become Alexander Hamilton. He had to leave one room for another.

“Half of my brain was over there wondering what's going to happen back at the hospital. The other half was ... auditioning for the biggest show and the biggest role ever,” Cervantes says.

Spoiler alert: He crushed it. Miguel Cervantes is Chicago’s Alexander Hamilton. He credits his worry about Adelaide for helping to land the role.

He didn’t have the dry mouth, the sweat, the random twitches brought about by nervousness. Even legendary theater producer Oskar Eustis seemed to notice something in Cervantes’ face, in his demeanor and body during his audition. Cervantes had only one thought going through his mind: “This is an errand. I've got to run this errand so I can get back to the hospital to my daughter," he recalls. “And I wasn't overwhelmed.”

As he takes the stage each night as Hamilton, Cervantes recognizes this role gives him the opportunity to help his daughter and other children like her.

Since moving to Chicago, Kelly and Miguel haven’t throw away their shot at making a huge difference for children with epilepsy like Adelaide, who was diagnosed with infantile spasms — one of the rarer forms of childhood epilepsy that can have serious long-term consequences.

Kelly reached out to Chicago-based Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE) and together they launched a successful fundraising campaign. This included a raffle of Hamilton-themed prizes, like the chance to go caroling with the cast.

The support from the Hamilton community was nothing short of incredible, said Cervantes. “When I asked who [of the cast] was coming with me, who wanted to be a part of this, everyone, everyone was willing to do it, and as incredibly talented people they are all ready to share it and help the cause in any way they can,” he says.

The Hamilton world has supported several other causes along the way as well, from Miranda’s work with Planned Parenthood, to Javier Muñoz's work with STOMP Out Bullying, and the company's work with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

“I know how lucky I am to be able to use this platform for so much good,” Miguel says of the opportunity to help find a cure.

“My daughter’s fight is the most important part of my life, and Hamilton is the vehicle that allows me to lead that charge. My daughter is absolutely why I was able to get here, and now Hamilton is helping us to get where we need to go.”

Every night Miguel Cervantes gets to be in both rooms. The first one is the room where one of the greatest musicals of all time happens. The second one is the room where his beautiful daughter falls asleep. Both always elicit standing ovations.

Watch the story of Adelaide and how Miguel and his family aren't throwing away their shot at finding a cure for her and the millions of others affected by epilepsy.

Lin-Manuel Miranda just dropped 9 truths about the power of education.

Educators deserve a break. That's just as true for teachers as it is for Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator and star of "Hamilton."

You've heard of it, right? The smash Broadway hit with a talented and diverse cast spitting rhymes about our country's Founding Fathers that's been fetching an average of $1,000 per ticket?

Miranda has been going nonstop for more than a year and a half in the eponymous role of the first secretary of the treasury of the United States — after first, ya know, writing the entire musical — so now the time has come for him to take his own summer vacation.

Miranda, center, at his final performance of "Hamilton" on July 9, 2016. Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images.

But just two days before his final on-stage performance, Miranda also found the time to speak with 200 high school teachers in Manhattan.

The MacArthur Award-winning genius went to the Broadway Teachers Workshop and talked about the power and value of education and the important lessons of youth.

But this conversation was far more than some fun celebrity fluff. As a former high school teacher himself — and as someone who wrote an historical musical that teaches about the founding of our nation in a fresh, new, and delightfully anachronistic way — Miranda had some pretty insightful things to say to those often overworked and underappreciated shapers-of-minds.

Here are a few highlights from Miranda's lecture and the Q&A that followed:

1. Teaching is its own reward, and nothing's better than watching students learn and grow.

2. You might not learn about cooperation and collaboration in a textbook, but they'll carry you far beyond the classroom.

3. Students see the world in ways that grown-ups can't — and that's a good thing.

4. It's one thing to memorize facts and figures. But it's even more important for students to understand and relate to other people.

5. Things like high school theater can help you learn and grow by working closely with other students toward a larger goal. (Even if you don't plan to take it all the way to Broadway.)

6. History books are full of facts and details. But they're also full of real people who lived and breathed and struggled, just like you.

7. Everyone sees the world differently, so it's OK for students to disagree — just as long as they can have a conversation about it.

8. If you hate something, don't shut it out. It might be able to teach you something about yourself or the world around you.

9. And perhaps most importantly: Don't throw away your shot. That goes for teachers and students alike.

In a time of inefficient standardized tests and shrinking school budgets, Miranda's words are a moving reminder of the true value of education — and the arts — in enriching our lives.

If you're a teacher, thanks for all the incredible work you to do encourage kids to keep learning.

And if you're not a teacher? There was probably at least one teacher who taught you how to think — really think — and that's a gift that deserves way more appreciation than it gets.

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