Lin-Manuel Miranda, the writer of two breakthrough Broadway musicals, could possibly become the next Andrew Lloyd Webber. Broadway has always been a diverse and welcoming place. But, only recently has there been such a buzz about all diversity. One man has been such a big part of why all people of colour casting has become such a big deal. Award-winning playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda could possibly be the answer to giving everyone, no matter what their background is, an equal chance in the theatre.
Miranda grew up on music from, Broadway Show Tunes like “Camelot” and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”, to Rap and Hip-Hop like Boogie Down Productions and The Beastie Boys. While writing “Hamilton”, Lin-Manuel recognised echoes of Jay-Z, Biggie Smalls, and Eminem. “I'm actually, working on a hip hop album. It's a concept album about the life of someone who I think embodies hip hop, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton - (laughter) You laugh?! But it's true!” (60 Minutes).
“In the Heights”
Lin Miranda
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first started writing his first full musical “In the Heights” in 2002, right after he graduated from Wesleyan University. “In the Heights” takes place in the mostly Latino community in the poor neighborhood of Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York. Charles Isherwood wrote in the Times “In many ways ‘In the Heights’ suggests an uptown ‘Rent,’ plus some salsa fresca and without the sex, drugs and disease.” (The New Yorker). “In the Heights” ran on Broadway for 3 years at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, which coincidentally, Miranda’s second show “Hamilton” is currently running. “In the Heights” won two Drama Desk Awards in 2007, one Grammy for Best Musical Show Album, and four Tony Awards in 2008, beating recordings of shows such as ‘Young Frankenstein” and the revival of “Gypsy”. “In the Heights” centers on a community of people, mostly immigrants from the Caribbean Islands, who now live in the Washington Heights of Manhattan, New York. Usnavi, originally played by Lin-Manuel Miranda, owns a bodega, or a corner store that his parents left him when they died. The entire community takes care of an older Cuban lady named Claudia, which everyone has nick-named Abuela Claudia. Everyone takes care of her, she takes care of everyone in return. Usnavi is in love with Vanessa, the gorgeous hairdresser next door who wishes to leave the barrio. Nina, one of Usnavi’s childhood friends, is back from her first year at Stanford, the first one to go to college. Not too long after Abuela Claudia wins 96 thousand dollars in the lottery, she passes away leaving Sonny and Usnavi the money. Usnavi plans to leave New York, and go back to the Dominican Republic where his family was from. Throughout a series of events, the residents of the barrio learn what is is to become a family, and where and what home is. “Hamilton” The world’s obsession with Lin-Manuel Miranda’s new American Musical: “Hamilton” is completely understandable. The quirky, upbeat, hip-hop musical is based on the Founding Father, and the first Secretary of the Treasury from the West Indies, Alexander Hamilton. The musical covers Hamilton’s life from age 19 to his death at age 47, and then his wife Elizabeth Schuyler’s accomplishments. The musical encapsulates the importance of immigrants, like Hamilton and Lafayette in the starting of our country. We follow the story of how “the bastard, orphan, son of a whore, go on and on grow into more of a phenomenon”(“Winter’s Ball”, “Hamilton”). “Hamilton” instills the importance of the minorities in society and the organized chaos that was the beginning of the United States Government. Miranda got the idea for writing this award-winning musical on vacation with his wife Vanessa, in Mexico.
He had, on an impulse, bought a copy of the 800-page biography Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. He was inspired by Hamilton’s eloquent, poet like writing, to write a hip-hop musical. Like previously stated, Hamilton embodies hip-hop. The genre helps Hamilton’s story quite a bit because Hamilton was such a smart aleck and really did write like he was running out of time. The depth and characterization the songs give the characters, and it helps develop a more relatable situation to younger or a non-history buff audience.
The beauty of Hamilton is that it appeals to everyone. Lin-Manuel Miranda purposefully cast it so it was full of people of colour; there are so many cast members from different backgrounds, so everyone can somehow relate to the show. The music, being hip-hop, dancehall, soul, R&B, and ballads reciprocates with everyone, starting with theatre
kids. Not everything can be perfect. Many white people are complaining that they cannot audition for “Hamilton”, because even the originally caucasian Founding Fathers, are played by people of colour. For example, shows like “The colour Purple”, “Memphis”, and “The Lion King” have people of colour cast in almost every role, not because they are not being anyway racist by the way the shows are written or cast. The fact that it 2016, you would think people would be fine with having a cast full people of colour, yet there is still controversy. Yes, there is lots of diversity in theatre, but the majority of big Broadway shows have been cast with fully, or almost all white casts, where people of a minority have not been cast. The reason “Hamilton” has become so popular and relatable, is because the cast looks like a normal sample group of people from today’s society. “The reason 'Hamilton' works is because there is no distance between that story that happened 200-some-odd years ago and now, because it looks like America now. It helps create a connection that wouldn't have been there if it was 20 white guys on stage” (Lin-Manuel Miranda).
You may of heard about the musical Hamilton, witch is about the great founding father Alexander Hamilton. Do you know all the other facts about his life? Here are some of his biggest facts.
Alexander Hamilton was born an illegitimate child in 1755 in the West Indies to a financially struggling family (Alexander Hamilton, n.d., para. 2). He did not receive his formal education until he was sponsored by family friends who were impressed by his ambition. He chose a military career and served as George Washington’s secretary and aid. After the revolutionary war, he became a lawyer, served Congress, and founded the Bank of New York. He was also the first secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton had no faith in common people and wanted to control them, “In the general course of human nature, a power over a man's subsistence amounts to a power over his will” (brainquote.com, 2011, p.1).
Alexander Hamilton was born a bastard child in the West Indies and demonstrated great intellectual potential at an early age. He was sent to New York City for schooling and studied at King’s College, now Columbia University. His vision of America took a more capitalistic tone and “he was determined to transform an economically weak and fractious cluster of states into a powerful global force” (Tindall & Shi, 2010). Hamilton advocated a strong central government. He was bold and persuasive and his philosophies quite extraordinary for his time.
Lin-Manuel Miranda summed up his feelings about art in an interview: "The ultimate way art can be political is that I think it engenders empathy which is the thing politicians can't seem to do" (Watson). Throughout history, many forms of art have created new ideas in our society and will continue to challenge new ways of thinking and how we communicate with one another. In the last fifteen years, artist Lin-Manuel Miranda has written two Broadway Musicals that have had a major impact on how we historically view our country. By writing stories based on the traditional ideas of the "American Dream" and contemporizing the history of our nation's birth, he has captivated a broad and diverse audience. Lin-Manuel's genius, coupled with his passion for the arts, plays an integral role on how we should view our nation's history, to uphold American values for all of us, not just some of us.
After his death, Hamilton’s legacy was mainly carried on by his wife, Eliza, who dedicated her life to preserving his legacy and making sure that he was not forgotten while she was alive. After Alexander’s death, Eliza told his story through doing things such as helping raise money for his mentor and friend, George Washington’s, memorial, and founding the first private orphanage in New York City which paid respect to her late husband who was an orphan. She also made Hamilton’s life and letters accessible, so that Alexander’s history would be easier to trace back to. She also spoke out about issues that Hamilton felt strongly about, such as slavery. Eliza made it her life goal to continue Hamilton’s legacy onto generations to come, which, indeed it has. Since Alexander’s death, his life has been documented through several biographies, most popularly, Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow which inspired the Grammy and Tony award winning Broadway show, Hamilton: An American Musical. Since Hamilton first came to Broadway, Alexander and Eliza Hamilton have been given the recognition that they had not been given, but rightfully deserve.
Alexander Hamilton was disliked by many people but, he is now popular because of a hit Broadway show created by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Hamilton was born on January 11, 1755 or 1757 in Charleston, Nevis in the British West Indies. He was abandoned by his father which made him an orphan at the age of 13. Hamilton started attending school in Elizabethtown, New Jersey but, plans changed, and he entered Kings College. At the age of 17 he was already interested in government. Later, in 1776 he was introduced to George Washington. He became Washington’s advisor not long after that. Some main events that changed Hamilton’s life were his family, his accomplishments, and George Washington.
Hamilton found a job as a merchant’s apprentice with the help of his aunts. By the time he was fifteen, his employers paid attention to his honesty and intelligence and they were impressed. Therefore, they collaborated with his aunts to send him for a formal schooling in New York. First, he attended Francis Barber's Preparatory School in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. Hamilton always displayed an unusual capacity for impressing older, influential men: so he gained his social footing in Elizabethtown with the surpassing spe...
Alexander Hamilton was a great man that will be remembered for being a great major general of the armed forces of the United States of America. As well as the secretary of the treasury. In 1769, at twelve years old he had a job as a clerk in a general store and Alexander dreaded spending the rest of his life there. He wanted something more for his future. He wished for a war to occur. He wanted to prove himself to be more worthy then a clerk. To his thinking, only some brilliant and heroic act on the battle field would give me a chance to achieve his hopes. He seemed to be doomed to a life of clerking. For one thing, he was at the bottom of a social ladder. His parents, who never married, separated when Hamilton was nine, and his mother was forced to support her two sons by running a grocery from one of the rooms in their tiny home. When she died two years later, the boys were all alone. There was not even a cousin who could afford to take them in.
Born in the British West Indies, Alexander Hamilton was a bright and talented young man. In 1772, he moved to the mainland to attended King’s College in New York City. Soon after, he quickly embarked on an extraordinary career. Between his arrival in America and his death, Alexander Hamilton contributed greatly to establish our governmental framework. He fought under George Washington in the Revolutionary war and was a member of the Continental Congress. He was an advocate for the ratification of the Constitution and established a prestigious law career. He then served as the nation’s first Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton was always one step ahead, his leadership skills and intelligence demonstrated to be valuable in his political path.
The broadway hit play Hamilton, written by Lin Manuel Miranda, is viewed as an educational play about Alexander Hamilton, one of the United States’ founding fathers and the first Secretary of the Treasury. The play captures the spirit of Alexander Hamilton’s ambition, eloquence, and mistakes in a revolutionary format-as revolutionary as Hamilton himself! Combining rap, musical theater, and history, Hamilton is an enthralling and entertaining play that is mostly accurate to the real Alexander Hamilton. The details of Hamilton’s life and relationships that were misrepresented in the play to achieve the theatrical flair.
Miranda’s most famous works incorporate his descent and the environment he grew up in. This has had a great influence on pop culture. Many people view rap music as “hood”, “ghetto”, “street”, or “gangster” type music. In Miranda’s first musical was In the Heights, which was a musical with a story set over three days involving characters in the largely Dominican part of New York
...t could be done based on ethnicity. The history of America has an important effect as to why such limitations for African-Americans existed. With slavery and segregation African-Americans have been through a lot and being accepted was not always easy. It did not stop African-Americans from trying, but only made them work that much harder to gain their acceptance within the theatre. The establishments of various groups and movements inspired African-Americans to fight for what they wanted and they continue to do so today! The involvement of African-Americans within the theatre has changed overtime but has always existed. Their works became more publicized as the acceptance and African-Americans changed overtime throughout America. No matter the race or color of our skin all humans are capable of producing their own unique style of theatre and will continue to do so.
The musical Hamilton, by Lin-Manuel Miranda tells of Alexander Hamilton’s impressive journey from an all but irrelevant street child, to one of the most important men in American politics. It is based off of a true story of growth, heroism, and determination. In writing this musical, Miranda takes a dry, historic story, and turns it into a captivating performance. His project to take the story of Alexander Hamilton and make it relatable to the average American is extraordinarily successful, mostly because the methods by which he does this are unprecedented. His unique methods and practices have resulted in Hamilton being so popular that it was awarded a record breaking sixteen Tony nominations (Paulson). The musical tells how Hamilton doesn’t
Forman, Murray. “Conscious Hip-Hop, Change, and the Obama Era.” American Study Journal. American Study Journal. 2010. Web. 9 Mar. 2014.
The 2000s/ 2010s brought in a wave of movie musicals- adapted from the stage shows. These brought new audiences into the theatre world, and for the first time in 20 years, brought a love to some of the timeless musicals. With slightly altered songs to appeal to a newer audience, these films brought in much needed money into the industry, with films including: Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Hairspray, Mamma Mia, Fame- and many more. Together with this, musicals began to push the concept of the songs in them, with a wave of new styles being written. Rap musicals such as ‘Hamilton’ and ‘In The Heights’, Pop musicals including ‘Waitress’ and ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ and Rock musicals of ‘American Idiot’ and ‘Spring Awakening’. Together they pushed boundaries of a ‘traditional’ musical theatre sound, and brought in something never before seen. Due to the influence of ‘Rent’, controversial issues and themes began to be explored more, such as Teen suicide, Murder, Ethnic barriers and everything else, which brought with them, a world of opportunities. It was clear that musical theatre was once again showing for a promising