On Friday 3 July 2020, the film of Hamilton will be made available to stream on Disney Plus, giving millions the opportunity to see the show from the comfort of their own homes for the very first time. To celebrate the occasion, here is a brief history of writer/star Lin-Manuel Miranda’s remarkable career to date:
In the Heights
While studying theatre at Wesleyan University, a young Miranda began writing In the Heights: a hip-hop and salsa-infused musical based loosely upon his experiences growing up in Washington Heights, New York. Over the next nine years he developed the show with book writer Quiara Alegría Hudes before it finally made its Broadway debut in 2008. It won four Tony Awards that year, including Best New Musical and Best Original Score.
Freestyle Love Supreme
While developing In the Heights, Miranda formed relationships with a team of incredibly talented people with whom he still works to this day. These included Heights/Hamilton collaborators Thomas Kail (director) and Alex Lacamoire (musical director), as well as rap-comedy troupe Freestyle Love Supreme. Their jaw-dropping feats of improvised hip-hop continue to astound audiences (a pre-lockdown Broadway residency was a smash success) and an upcoming Hulu film will document their unlikely success story.
Social Media
These early years also saw the beginning of Miranda’s notoriety as a source of endless joy and enthusiasm on social media. He has an uncanny knack for creating uplifting content and using his ever-growing platform towards positive and constructive ends. In 2018, Headline even published a mindfulness book of his inspirational Gmorning Gnight tweets. Conversely, he also does silly things, such as this hilarious High School Musical homage.
Marriage and Family
Shortly after leaving In the Heights, Miranda married scientist/lawyer Vanessa Nadal. The theatre-world assumption that this must have been the sweetest wedding in history was confirmed by the release of this wedding reception performance of ‘To Life’ from Fiddler on the Roof. Lin and Vanessa (her sharing a name with his In the Heights character’s love interest is no coincidence: they have known one another since high school) live together in Washington Heights with their children Sebastian and Francisco and their dog Toby.
Bring It On: The Musical
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdehFSDhLOQ
While on vacation with his soon-to-be wife in 2008, Miranda was struck by an idea that would go on to become the most successful and critically acclaimed musical of all time. That musical was Hamilton, not Bring It On: The Musical. However, knowing that the writing of a show about America’s first treasury secretary would be long and complicated, Miranda accepted a stopgap job as co-composer for Bring It On: The Musical. Though it did not match the critical success of In the Heights or Hamilton, Bring It On proved to be the perfect training ground for Miranda’s writing skills, as well as an incredibly fun show in its own right.
Merrily We Roll Along – Encores
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNrSa88N7nE
Perhaps wanting to also level up his acting skills in anticipation of Hamilton – or more likely just to indulge his inner theatre nerd – Miranda took on the role of Charley Kringus in the 2012 Encores revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along. The two composers share a mutual admiration for each other’s work and even collaborated on a 2009 Broadway revival of West Side Story featuring Spanish lyrics.
Hamilton
By 2015, the groundwork was laid, and the intense eight-year writing process was finally at an end. Hamilton – the story of America’s first treasury secretary told with hip-hop showtunes – opened to unprecedented critical and public adoration. The show has gone on to win awards around the world, including 11 Tonys, seven Oliviers, and a Pulitzer Prize – just rewards for a years-long journey that all started with a nervous sixteen bars at a White House poetry slam.
Saturday Night Live
Hamilton’s success afforded Miranda the opportunity to live out some lifelong dreams. As well as becoming a regular and reliably entertaining guest star on sitcoms and talk shows, Miranda hosted the 8 October 2016 episode of the iconic comedy programme, Saturday Night Live. The above clip demonstrates his admirable commitment: not only did he get involved in the writing for the episode, but also made sure to throw in a healthy dose of politics to ensure he was using his success for the greater good.
Moana
Speaking of lifelong dreams, being part of an animated Disney film must surely be up there on most people’s wish lists. Miranda worked with composers Opetaia Foa’i and Mark Mancina to compose the soundtrack to 2016’s Moana, the tale of a Polynesian princess on a quest to restore order to her world. The song ‘Where You Are’ features Miranda singing the lead vocal line.
Mary Poppins Returns
Is there anything Lin-Manuel Miranda can’t do? Yes: a cockney accent. So, it turns out that the man isn’t some perfect superhero after all, but he is always an entertaining performer. His turn as the lamplighter Jack in 2018’s Mary Poppins Returns was an absolutely delightful addition to a film that was already practically perfect in every way.
As for the future, Miranda’s upcoming projects include a new Disney animated feature, a cinematic adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s Tick, Tick… Boom!, as well as a movie of his very first hit: In the Heights. As much as we cannot wait to see these, the release of his masterwork Hamilton will surely tide us over until they arrive. We hope you are as excited as we are.
Ian Bowkett
- Hamilton premieres on Disney Plus on 3 July 2020
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