Lin-Manuel Miranda, 2016
Grand Central Publishing
288 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781455539741
Summary
Winner, 2016 Pulitizer Prize (Drama)
Lin-Manuel Miranda's groundbreaking musical Hamilton is as revolutionary as its subject, the poor kid from the Caribbean who fought the British, defended the Constitution, and helped to found the United States.
Fusing hip-hop, pop, R&B, and the best traditions of theater, this once-in-a-generation show broadens the sound of Broadway, reveals the storytelling power of rap, and claims our country's origins for a diverse new generation.
Hamilton: The Revolution gives readers an unprecedented view of both revolutions, from the only two writers able to provide it. Miranda, along with Jeremy McCarter, a cultural critic and theater artist who was involved in the project from its earliest stages—"since before this was even a show," according to Miranda—traces its development from an improbable performance at the White House to its landmark opening night on Broadway six years later.
In addition, Miranda has written more than 200 funny, revealing footnotes for his award-winning libretto, the full text of which is published here.
Their account features photos by the renowned Frank Ockenfels and veteran Broadway photographer, Joan Marcus; exclusive looks at notebooks and emails; interviews with Questlove, Stephen Sondheim, leading political commentators, and more than 50 people involved with the production; and multiple appearances by President Obama himself.
The book does more than tell the surprising story of how a Broadway musical became a national phenomenon: It demonstrates that America has always been renewed by the brash upstarts and brilliant outsiders, the men and women who don't throw away their shot. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth— January 16, 1980
• Where—New York City, New York, USA
• Education—B.A., Weslyan University
• Awards—Pulitizer Prize for Drama (more below)
• Currently—lives in New York City
Lin-Manuel Miranda is an American actor, playwright, composer, rapper, and writer, best known for creating and starring in the Broadway musical Hamilton, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album, 16 Emmy Awards, including Best Musical, among othes. For his performance in the lead role of Alexander Hamilton, Miranda received the 2016 Drama League Distinguished Performance Award.
Prior to Hamilton, Miranda wrote the music and lyrics for the 2008 musical In the Heights, which earned him numerous accolades, including the 2008 Tony Award for Best Original Score and the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. Miranda's performance in the show's lead role of Usnavi also earned him a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, and the show won Best Musical.
Backgrond
Miranda was born in the Upper Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights, the son of Luz Towns, a clinical psychologist, and Luis A. Miranda, Jr., a Democratic Party consultant who advised New York City mayor Ed Koch. Miranda has one older sister, Luz, who is the CFO of the MirRam Group.
He grew up in the Latino neighborhood of Inwood but would spend a month every year in his grandparents' home town, Vega Alta, in Puerto Rico. He is of mostly Puerto Rican descent, and his mother's ancestors also include an interracial couple who, from the early 1800s, spent their entire married life outrunning slavery.
The name "Lin-Manuel" was inspired by a poem about the Vietnam War, Nana Roja Para Mi Hijo Lin Manuel, by the Puerto Rican writer Jose Manuel Torres Santiago.
Growing up, Lin helped create campaign jingles, including one used for Eliot Spitzer's 2006 New York gubernatorial campaign. After graduating from Hunter College Elementary and High Schools, Miranda received his B.A. from Wesleyan University in 2002.
During his time there, he co-founded a hip hop comedy troupe called Freestyle Love Supreme. He wrote the earliest draft of In the Heights in 1999, his sophomore year of college. After the show was accepted by Second Stage, Wesleyan's student theater company, Miranda worked on adding "freestyle rap…and salsa numbers." It played for a week in April, 1999. He wrote and directed several other musicals at Wesleyan, all the while acting in other productions, ranging from musicals to Shakespeare.
Personal life
In 2010, Miranda married a high school friend, Vanessa Adriana Nadal. At their reception, Miranda, along with the bridal party, presented a group rendition of "To Life" from Fiddler on the Roof. The video, posted on YouTube, has been viewed more than five million times. Nadal is a litigation associate at the global law firm Jones Day. The couple's son was born in 2014.
In 2015, Miranda was honored as a recipient of the both the MacArthur "Genius" Award and an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Wesleyan. In 2016, the University of Pennsylvania awarded him an honorary Doctorate of the Arts; he also gave that year's commencement speech.
Hamilton
Miranda read Ron Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton while on vacation in 2008. Inspired, he decided to write a rap about Hamilton, revising it countless times in order to capture Alexander Hamilton's intellect. Almost a year later, in 2009, he performed "My Shot" at the White House Evening of Poetry, Music, and the Spoken Word (he was accompanied by Alex Lacamoire). By 2012, Miranda was performing an extended set piece of Hamilton's life, which was referred to as the Hamilton Mixtape. The New York Times called it "an obvious game changer."
The musical, an off-shoot of the Hamilton Mixtape, premiered Off-Broadway at The Public Theater in January 2015. Miranda wrote both book and score and starred in the title role. The show received highly positive reviews, and its engagement was sold out. Seven months later, it began previews on Broadway and opened in August of 2015. On its first night of Broadway previews, over 700 people lined up for lottery tickets, and the show won rave reviews.
On July 9, 2016, Miranda played his final performance in Hamilton, and his role was taken over by previous understudy, Javier Muñoz. Miranda vowed to return to the show in the near future.
Other
Miranda contributed music for the film Star Wars: The Force Awakens for the scene in Maz Kanata's Cantina, an homage to the classic Mos Eisley Cantina scene and song by legendary Star Wars composer John Williams.
On January 24, 2016, Miranda performed the role of Loud Hailer in the Broadway production of Les Misérables, fulfilling his childhood dream of being in the show, as it was the first production he ever saw on Broadway.
On March 15, 2016, a portion of the cast of Hamilton performed at the White House and hosted workshops, and afterwards, in the Rose Garden Miranda performed freestyle rap from prompts held up by President Obama.
On April 24, 2016, Miranda performed on the show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver in the tenth episode of its third season. The segment explained the debt crisis in Puerto Rico and, at the end, featured Miranda performing an emotional rap about allowing the island to restructure its debt. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 3/1/2017.)
Book Reviews
For those who may not get into the theater for a while, if ever, Hamilton: The Revolution, a lavishly illustrated new companion book, can help ease the pain. Its yellowed, rough-edged pages are redolent of the founding era.
John Williams - New York Times Book Review
With its back and forth between narrative and song, the [book] is structured like a conventional musical.… It’s a mediated representation that tries to get fans as close as they can get to the immediate experience of the audience member. And it does so through the medium of the moment, print.… Miranda’s annotations bring us into all stages of his writing process.… If you want to know what kind of legacy a Broadway musical is claiming, look at its book.
Sunny Stalter-Pace - Wall Street Journal
[The] backstage “making-of” book. Hamilton: The Revolution is the kind of colorful, big-format souvenir peddled with show posters and cast recordings, and it’s a cinch to delight buffs who can’t get enough of writer-composer-star Lin-Manuel Miranda’s history-as-hip-hop phenomenon. But like the dizzyingly dense show it chronicles — Hamilton, we are told, has nearly 24,000 words, more than many Shakespeare plays — it’s unusually inquisitive and smart.
Ron Pressley - Washington Post
No one could tell Hamilton's story more comprehensively than the man who conceived it, and for that reason Revolution is a must-read for admirers — whether you've scored a ticket or not.
Elysa Gardner - USA Today
Miranda [is] the composer, lyricist, and star of Broadway's…Hamilton, the trailblazing, diverse-cast, hip hop-crazy musical…a Tony favorite.… Here, having told the story of Alexander Hamilton, Miranda tells the story of Hamilton.
Library Journal
This glorious, oversize testament to the uplifting, gorgeous, diverse, multiple Tony Award—winning musical Hamilton is a must-have for initiated and new listeners alike. —Sarah Hill, Lake Land College, Mattoon, IL
School Library Journal
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