New Utrecht High Grad Anthony Ramos Wins Grammy For Role In ‘Hamilton’ [Video]

New Utrecht High School graduate Anthony Ramos won his first Grammy award last night for his breakout role in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s acclaimed new Broadway show “Hamilton.”

The multi-ethnic cast of the hip hop-infused musical about the founding fathers put on an electrifying performance before winning “Best Musical Theater Album” at the award show, reports the New York Daily News.

Ramos — who plays the roles of both John Laurens and Hamilton’s son Philip in “Hamilton” — recently opened up to Colorlines about how New Utrecht High’s SING competition allowed him to explore his musical gift:

I mean, it was totally an accident. In high school, baseball was, like, my thing. I was sitting in class my junior year, and there was an announcement on the loudspeaker about an audition for this show called “Sing.” I had no idea what it was. I thought, “Maybe it’s a talent show.” So I go and sing for this talent show thing and they gave me the lead role in the show. I did it, and I fell in love, man.

It was Ramos’s high school theater director who recommended him for a scholarship at his dream school — American Musical and Dramatic Academy — where he would go on to hone his craft.

“I wasn’t even going to go to the audition because I didn’t have the money to pay the application fee. But my teacher paid for it,” he told Colorlines. “After I got in, the school threw me these numbers and I was like, ‘There’s no way. I can’t even pay for this!’ So my teacher gave my name to this scholarship fund. I told them my story, about how I came from the ‘hood and how my grades, which were not that good, weren’t a reflection of me. I told them, ‘All I need is one shot.'”

Here is Ramos with the rest of the cast:

Councilman Mark Treyger, who taught at New Utrecht High when Ramos was there, commended the former high school theater star on his recent accomplishment on Facebook:

“Proud of one of New Utrecht High School’s graduates, Anthony Ramos, for winning a Grammy award for his role in Broadway’s Hamilton!” he wrote. “When I taught there, I used to be amazed by his gifted talents on New Utrecht’s stage and now the world gets to enjoy them on a much larger stage!”

Did you go to high school with Ramos? What was he like at New Utrecht? Share your memories in the comments!

Correction [12:26pm]: An earlier version of this article mistakenly used the photo of another Anthony Ramos. We sincerely regret the error.