[2] Alex Lacamoire, Hamilton's musical director, explained how he came to add a banjo to a hip-hop band: "'The Room Where it Happens' just cried for it.
Their discussion is interrupted as Hamilton is ushered to a secret dinner table meeting, at which he, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison agree upon an unprecedented political compromise: the capital city of their new nation will be situated on the Potomac River—politically and geographically placing it in the South, Jefferson and Madison's home region—in exchange for the Democratic-Republican Party's support of Hamilton's financial plan.
Burr decides to rectify this by running for political office so as to be in the metaphorical "room where it happens"—in other words, to be a party to important decisions.
Claire Lampen of Yahoo News explained "History has drawn much of its information on the compromise from Thomas Jefferson's account of the evening, according to PBS; neither Miranda nor anyone else can be entirely certain what happened behind those closed doors".
[5] Film and stage theater columnist Elizabeth Logan of The Huffington Post said the "slick" song is "just Fosse enough", and that it is "yet another reminder that American politicians have always, always made secret deals.
[8] Theater critic Peter Marks of The Washington Post called it "a bluesy elucidation of a politician's urge to be at the center of the action".
[11] Theater staff writer Anna Maples of MOVE Magazine says the song was her "personal favorite" and has a "blend of New Orleans and Dixieland jazz.
[14] Playwright and ATCA member Lou Harry of IBJ argued that the song "demonstrates an awareness and respect for 'Someone In a Tree', from Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures score".
[15] Theater critic Robert Cushman of the National Post expanded on this comparison, writing that "like its predecessor, this song grows in intensity as it proceeds, spurred on by its staging.
"[21] The Los Angeles Times "grooved" to the song and appreciated how "Aaron Burr ditches his usual political double talk for no-holds-barred showmanship".
[27] National Post wrote that the song is the show's most exciting number, aided by the "brilliance of Andy Blankenbuehler's choreography, an almost ceaseless but never excessive swirl, precisely keyed to the beats.