Lin-Manuel Miranda Freestyles for Obama + More Highlights From His Trip to the White House

The cast of Hamilton kicked off their week by rubbing elbows with Michelle and Barack Obama. First, Michelle geeked out as she introduced the cast for a Q&A session with high school students. “I have been waiting for this day for a long, long time,” she said, before talking about the first poetry slam the White House held seven years ago.

“Lin will remember right before the event we do a photo line with all the artists in the Blue Room,” she continued. “So Lin walks up and Barack and I go, ‘Oh, it’s great to meet you, Lin. What are you going to do tonight?’ And he’s like, ‘I’m going to do a piece about Alexander Hamilton.’ Now, Barack and I, we’re open-minded, we consider ourselves creative people, but we both kind of looked at each other like uh, oh, okay.”

That night Michelle became a Lin-Manuel fan, and first saw Hamilton, which she called “the best piece of art in any form,” off-Broadway. Mobama loved it so much she saw it again when it hit Broadway, and she’s the reason Barack and her daughters (who were hella skeptical at first) saw it, too.

Other than getting a ton of compliments from Michelle and Barack, the cast performed a selection of songs (which you can watch here) and photographed themselves in the White House.

Here’s everything that went down during the casts’ visit to the Obamas’ home: