Historical Figure
Lin-Manuel Miranda
b. 1980
American songwriter, actor, filmmaker and librettist (born 1980)
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Biography
Lin-Manuel Miranda is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, filmmaker and librettist. He created the Broadway musicals In the Heights and Hamilton, and the soundtracks for the animated films Moana, Vivo, and Encanto. He has received numerous accolades including a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, three Tony Awards, two Laurence Olivier Awards, two Emmy Awards, and five Grammy Awards, along with nominations for two Academy Awards. He received the Kennedy Center Honor in 2018.
In Their Own Words (4)
…I think if you want to make a recipe for making a writer, have them feel a little out of place everywhere, have them be an observer kind of all the time, and that's a great way to make a writer…
On how code switching between social environments informed his writing in “Lin-Manuel Miranda On Disney, Mixtapes And Why He Won't Try To Top 'Hamilton'” in NPR (2017 Dec 26) , 2017
There are a few people who only like hip-hop music, and a few who only like theatre music, and the rest of us just like good shit. It doesn’t matter what form it comes in. I think we’re all a lot more eclectic than we give ourselves credit for…
On the combining of musical genres in Hamilton in “Lin-Manuel Miranda on his Broadway smash Hamilton: 'the world freaked out'” in The Guardian (2016 Sep 25) , 2016
The honest answer is there are things inside me I want to make – Hamilton is one of those things, Heights was another. And since the success of Hamilton, my life has been about finding the balance between the things I always wanted to make and the opportunities that are so incredible I’d be angry if they opened and I wasn’t in them. So Mary Poppins and Little Mermaid definitely fall into that category. I think there is always a part of me that is checking in with childhood Lin and asking: ‘Would little Lin be freaking out about this?’ If the answer is yes, then I say yes.
On his career post-Hamilton in “Lin-Manuel Miranda: ‘A Trump musical? I don't know how to score that yet’” in The Guardian (2018 Dec 1) , 2018
I think that if we’ve done our job well and we articulate this individual’s life well, the themes inherent in that translate…It’s about legacy, about how much do we do with the time we’re given? And then there are themes that wrestle with the American character, but only in that Hamilton’s life is a rough-draft version of the arguments we still have as a country.
On his work Hamilton in “Lin-Manuel Miranda on his Broadway smash Hamilton: 'the world freaked out'” in The Guardian (2016 Sep 25) , 2016
Timeline
The story of Lin-Manuel Miranda, told in moments.
In the Heights opens on Broadway after years of workshops and an off-Broadway run. A musical about his own neighborhood in Washington Heights. It wins four Tonys, including Best Musical. Miranda is 28.
Reads Ron Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton on vacation. The idea hits him poolside. An immigrant founding father who wrote his way out of poverty. Hip-hop. He starts writing the opening number that week.
Hamilton opens on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. Tickets become impossible to get. The cast album goes to number one. Obama invites them to the White House. The show wins 11 Tonys, a Pulitzer, and changes what Broadway audiences expect musicals to sound like.
Writes songs for Moana while still performing in Hamilton. "How Far I'll Go" earns an Oscar nomination. Disney had asked him to audition for the role of Maui. He said no. He knew where his talents were.
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