Lin-Manuel Miranda

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Lin-Manuel Miranda
File:Miranda 2015 hi-res-download 2 (cropped).jpg
Miranda in September 2015
Born (1980-01-16) January 16, 1980 (age 44)
New York City, New York, United States
Alma mater
Occupation
  • Actor
  • composer
  • rapper
  • writer
Spouse(s) Vanessa Nadal (m. 2010)
Children 1
Website www.linmanuel.com

Lin-Manuel Miranda (born January 16, 1980) is a Puerto Rican actor, composer, rapper and writer, best known for creating and starring in the Broadway musicals In the Heights and Hamilton.

Miranda wrote the music and lyrics for the musical In the Heights, which opened on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in March 2008. Miranda's written work for the show earned him numerous accolades, including the 2008 Tony Award for Best Original Score[1] and the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.[2] Further, Miranda's performance in the show's lead role of Usnavi earned him a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

Miranda is currently performing on Broadway in the lead role of Alexander Hamilton in Hamilton, a musical for which he wrote the book, music and lyrics—and which earned the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2016 Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album. Miranda received the 2016 Drama League Distinguished Performance Award for his work in the role. Hamilton is currently nominated for a record-setting 16 Tony Awards, the winners of which will be announced on June 12, 2016.

Miranda is a 2015 recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Award.[3][4]

Early life

Miranda was born in the northern Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights, and grew up in the adjacent Latino neighborhood of Inwood, but would spend a month every year in his grandparents' home town Vega Alta in Puerto Rico.[5] Miranda's parents are Puerto Rican.[6] His father is a former political advisor, who advised New York City mayor Ed Koch. Growing up, Lin helped create jingles, including one used for Eliot Spitzer's 2006 campaign.

After graduating from Hunter College High School, Miranda went on to attend Wesleyan University,[6][7] graduating 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 ... bodegas, and salsa numbers."[6] It played from April 20-April 22, 1999. He wrote and directed several other musicals at Wesleyan. He also acted in many other productions, ranging from musicals to Shakespeare. In 2015, he received an honorary doctorate from Wesleyan.[8]

Career

2000–2010: In the Heights

In 2002, Miranda and John Buffalo Mailer worked with director Thomas Kail and wrote five separate drafts of In the Heights that were dissected. During this time, Miranda worked as an English teacher at his former high school. After success off-Broadway, the musical went to Broadway in 2008.[6] It won the Tony Award for Best Musical and for Best Original Score[1] and the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.[2] Miranda's performance earned him a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Miranda made his last performance in the Broadway show on February 15, 2009.[9]

Miranda reprised his role of Usnavi when the national tour of In the Heights played in Los Angeles, California from June 23 to July 25, 2010.[10][11] The tour continued without him at the helm until it played in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he played Usnavi.[citation needed] The Broadway production played its final performance on January 9, 2011 after 29 previews and 1,185 regular performances. Miranda reprised the role of Usnavi from December 25, 2010 until the closing of the production.[12]

External video
210px
video icon Playwright, Composer, and Performer Lin-Manuel Miranda, 2015 MacArthur Fellow, MacArthur Foundation[13]
video icon Lin-Manuel Miranda Performs at the White House Poetry Jam, White House[14]

Miranda wrote, directed, and acted in an independent film, Clayton's Friends (1996). In 2007, he made a guest appearance on the television series The Sopranos in the episode "Remember When."[15] Miranda also worked as an English teacher at his former high school, wrote for the Manhattan Times as a columnist and restaurant reviewer, and composed music for commercials.[16] In 2008, he was invited by composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz to contribute two new songs to a revised version of Schwartz and Nina Faso's 1978 musical Working, which opened in May 2008 at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida.[17]

Miranda wrote Spanish language dialogue and worked with Stephen Sondheim to translate into Spanish song lyrics for the revival of West Side Story, which opened on Broadway in March 2009.[18][19] He is also a composer and actor on the 2009 revival of The Electric Company. Miranda also appeared in the CollegeHumor sketch "Hardly Working: Rap Battle", playing himself working as an intern and rapper.[20]

In September 2009, Miranda played Alvie, Gregory House's roommate in a psychiatric hospital, in the two-hour season six premiere episode of House. He reprised the role in May 2010. He also has done work for Sesame Street, where he has played occasional roles and sings the theme song to Murray Has a Little Lamb.[21]

2010–present: Hamilton

Miranda co-wrote the music and lyrics for Bring It On: The Musical with Tom Kitt and Amanda Green. Bring It On premiered at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia in January 2011. The cast included Amanda LaVergne as Campbell, Adrienne Warren as Danielle, Nick Blaemire as Randall, Ryann Redmond as Bridget, and "award-winning competitive cheerleaders from across the country". The musical opened on October 30, 2011 at the Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, California at the start of a US National tour.[22][23] After its national tour, the show played a limited engagement on Broadway at the St. James Theatre, beginning previews on July 12, 2012, and officially opening on August 1, 2012. It closed on December 30, 2012. It was nominated for Tony Awards in the categories of Best Musical and Best Choreography.[24]

In 2011, Miranda appeared as a guest on the TV series Modern Family in the episode "Good Cop Bad Dog".[25] He appeared as Charley in an Encores! staged concert of Merrily We Roll Along at the New York City Center in February 2012. Later that year, he appeared in a small role in The Odd Life of Timothy Green as Reggie[citation needed] and played a recurring role on the 2013 NBC drama Do No Harm.[26]

In 2013, Miranda appeared in the episode "Bedtime Stories" (Season 9, Episode 11) on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother.[citation needed] In 2014, he performed with The Skivvies, an indie-rock comedy duo consisting of Nick Cearley and Lauren Molina[27] and participated in the live show of This American Life held at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on June 7, 2014. For that show, Miranda wrote the music and lyrics for 21 Chump Street: The Musical, a production based on an earlier piece of journalism from TAL by reporter Robbie Brown.[28] Also in 2014, Miranda appeared in the revival of Tick, Tick... Boom! as part of the Encores! Off-Center series under the artistic direction of Jeanine Tesori. The show was directed by Oliver Butler.[29]

In 2007, Miranda read Ron Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton on vacation and, inspired by the book, wrote a rap about Hamilton for the White House Evening of Poetry, Music, and the Spoken Word on May 12, 2009, accompanied by Alex Lacamoire. Miranda later said he spent a year writing the Hamilton song "My Shot," revising it countless times for every verse to reflect Alexander Hamilton's intellect.[30][31] By 2012, Miranda was performing an extended set of pieces based on the life of Hamilton, referred to as the Hamilton Mixtape; the New York Times called it "an obvious game changer".[32] In 2015, Chernow and Miranda received the 2015 History Makers Award by the New York Historical Society for their work in creating Hamilton.[33]

Hamilton, a musical based on the Hamilton Mixtape, premiered Off-Broadway at The Public Theater in January 2015, directed by Thomas Kail. Miranda wrote the book and score and stars as the title character.[34][35] The show received highly positive reviews,[36] and its engagement was sold out.[37] It began previews on Broadway in July 2015 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre and officially opened on August 6, 2015,[38] earning rave reviews.[39] On the first night of Hamilton previews over 700 people lined up for lottery tickets.[40]

Miranda has been engaged to write songs for Walt Disney Animation Studios' 56th feature, Moana.[41] Miranda also contributed music for the film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the invitation of director J. J. Abrams, specifically writing a song for the scene in Maz Kanata's Cantina, an homage to the classic Mos Eisley Cantina scene and song after legendary Star Wars composer John Williams declined to write a new cantina song, wishing to instead focus on the film's orchestral score.

On January 24, 2016 Miranda performed the role of Loud Hailer in the Broadway production of Les Misérables,[42] fulfilling his childhood dream of being in the show, as it was the first production he ever saw on Broadway.[43]

On March 15, 2016, a portion of the cast of Hamilton performed at the White House and hosted workshops, and in the Rose Garden afterwards Miranda performed freestyle rap from prompts held up by President Obama.[44]

In April 2016 Miranda and Jeremy McCarter's book, Hamilton: The Revolution, was released; it is 285 pages long and details Hamilton's journey from an idea to a successful Broadway musical. It includes an inside look at not only Hamilton's revolution, but the cultural revolution that permeates the show. It also has footnotes from Miranda and behind the scene glimpses of the show.[45]

On April 24, 2016 Miranda performed on the show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.[46] The show was explaining the debt crisis in Puerto Rico and had Miranda, the son of parents from Puerto Rico, perform an emotional rap about the allowing the island to restructure its debt.[46]

On May 16, 2016, he was given an honorary Doctorate of the Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, and also gave the commencement speech.[47]

On May 20, 2016, for his work in the role of Alexander Hamilton in Hamilton, Miranda received the Drama League Distinguished Performance Award—an honor that a performer can only receive once during his or her career.

Personal life

Miranda married Vanessa Adriana Nadal, a high school friend, in 2010.[48] At the wedding reception, Miranda, along with the engagement party, presented a group rendition of the Fiddler on the Roof song "To Life".[49] The video was posted on YouTube, where it has been viewed more than four million times.[50] Nadal is a litigation associate at the global law firm Jones Day.[51]

Miranda received an honorary degree from Yeshiva University, along with his lifelong friend Johannah Ward, during its May 14, 2009 graduation ceremony. He is the youngest person to receive an honorary degree from Yeshiva University.[52] In the Heights is based in the upper Manhattan community of Washington Heights, also home to Yeshiva's campus. Ed Koch, former mayor of New York City, presented Miranda with the degree and remarked about first meeting him when Miranda was seven years old.[citation needed]

Miranda and Nadal's son Sebastian was born on November 10, 2014. According to an interview with Maximum Fun podcast Can I Pet Your Dog?, Miranda has a dog named "Tobi" or "Tobillo" from the Dominican Republic.[53][54]

In 2015, Miranda was honored as a recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Award, a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 individuals, working in any field, who have shown "extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction" and are citizens or residents of the United States.[55]

In March 2016, a day after a meeting at the White House with President Barack Obama,[56] Miranda joined New York Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other Democratic lawmakers to call for congressional action to back a Senate bill in Washington that would allow Puerto Rico to declare bankruptcy and significantly ease its $70 billion debt burden.[57]

Theatre credits

Acting

Writing

Film credits

Acting

Writer

Producer

Director

  • Clayton's Friends, 1996

Editor

  • Clayton's Friends, 1996

Television credits

Actor

Writer

Books

  • Hamilton: The Revolution (2016) with Jeremy McCarter

Discography

  • In the Heights (original Broadway cast recording), 2008
    • Winner of the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album
  • 21 Chump Street (original Broadway cast recording), 2014
  • Hamilton (original Broadway cast recording), 2015
    • Also producer
    • Peaked at #1 US Top Cast Albums, #1 US Top Rap Albums, #11 on US Top Albums
    • Certified gold
    • Winner of the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album
  • "Jabba Flow," 2016 (single)

Awards and achievements

Year Award Category Work Result
2007 Theatre World Award Outstanding Debut Performance In the Heights Won
Broadway.com Audience Awards Favorite off-Broadway Musical Won
Clarence Derwent Award Most Promising Male Performer Won
Obie Award Music and Lyrics Won
Drama Desk Award Outstanding Ensemble Performance Won
Outstanding Lyrics Nominated
Outstanding Music Nominated
Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Musical Won
Lucille Lortel Award Outstanding Musical Won
2008 Tony Award Best Actor in a Musical Nominated
Best Original Score Won
Best Musical Won
Broadway.com Audience Awards Favorite New Broadway Musical Nominated
Favorite New Song ("In the Heights") Won
Favorite Breakthrough Performance (Male) Won
Favorite Ensemble Cast Nominated
Favorite Leading Actor in a Musical Nominated
Dramatists Guild of America Frederick Loewe Award[59] Won
2009 Grammy Award Best Musical Theater Album Won
Pulitzer Prize Drama Nominated
2013 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Lyrics Bring It On the Musical Nominated
Tony Award Best Musical Nominated
Broadway.com Audience Awards Favorite New Musical Nominated
2014 Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Original Song ("Rhymes With Mando") Sesame Street Nominated
Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics (shared with Tom Kitt) 67th Tony Awards Won
2015 Lucille Lortel Awards[60] Outstanding Musical Hamilton Won
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical Won
Outer Critics Circle Awards[61] Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical Won
Taylor Fox's Heart Award Won
Outstanding New Score Won
Drama League Awards[62] Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical Nominated
Distinguished Performance Nominated
Drama Desk Awards[63] Outstanding Musical Won
Outstanding Actor in a Musical Nominated
Outstanding Music Won
Outstanding Lyrics Won
Outstanding Book of a Musical Won
New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards[64] Best Musical Won
Off Broadway Alliance Awards[65] Best New Musical Won
Obie Awards[66] Best New American Theatre Work Won
Edgerton Foundation New American Play Awards[67] Won
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation[3][4] The MacArthur Fellowship Won
2016 Grammy Award Best Musical Theater Album Won
Dramatists Guild of America Awards[68] Frederick Loewe Award for Dramatic Composition Won
Edward M. Kennedy Prize[69] Drama Inspired by American History Won
Laurence Olivier Award Outstanding Achievement in Music In the Heights Won
Pulitzer Prize Drama Hamilton Won
Drama League Awards[70] Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical Won
Distinguished Performance Won
Broadway.com Audience Awards Favorite New Musical Won
Favorite Leading Actor in a Musical Won
Favorite Onstage Pair (with Phillipa Soo) Nominated
Favorite Onstage Pair (with Leslie Odom, Jr.) Won
Favorite New Song ("Alexander Hamilton") Nominated
Favorite New Song ("My Shot") Nominated
Favorite New Song ("The Room Where It Happens") Nominated
Favorite New Song ("Satisfied") Won
Favorite New Song ("The Schuyler Sisters") Nominated
Tony Award Best Actor in a Musical Pending
Best Book of a Musical Pending
Best Original Score Pending
Best Musical Pending

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Playbill News: Lin-Manuel Miranda to Leave In the Heights in February
  10. ↑ Ng, David. Lin-Manuel Miranda returning to 'In the Heights' at Pantages Theater, Los Angeles Times, 10 May 2010.
  11. ↑ Lin-Manuel and In The Heights Say Bye-Bye to Los Angeles, Broadway.com
  12. ↑ In the Heights to Close on Broadway in January; Miranda to Return to Cast, Playbill.com, October 27, 2010, accessed July 11, 2015
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lin-Manuel Miranda at Broadway.com
  16. ↑ Lin-Manuel Miranda profile, bigsight.org; accessed July 11, 2015.
  17. ↑ Jones, Kenneth. Working, with Two New Songs by Heights Writer Miranda, Opens in FL May 16, Playbill, May 16, 2008.
  18. ↑ Cohen, Patricia. "Same City, New Story", nytimes.com, March 15, 2009; accessed July 11, 2015.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Hardly Working: Rap Battle, collegehumor.com; accessed July 11, 2015.
  21. ↑ Profile, latina.com; accessed July 11, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Stage Tube: Highlights from 'Bring It On: The Musical' Day!" broadwayworld.com, October 28, 2011
  23. ↑ "'Bring It On: The Musical' Listing", centertheatregroup.org; accessed July 11, 2015.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ "Lin-Manuel Miranda To Recur On NBC Drama Series 'Do No Harm'" deadline.com, September 12, 2012
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ This American Life, recorded June 7, 2014, aired on June 20, 2014.
  29. ↑ Lin-Manuel Miranda and Karen Olivo to star in Tick, Tick... Boom!, broadwayworld.com; accessed July 11, 2015.
  30. ↑ Lin-Manuel Miranda Performs at the White House Poetry Jam: 8 of 8, whitehouse.gov; accessed July 11, 2015.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Hamilton profile, nytimes.com, March 6, 2014
  35. ↑ "Lin-Manuel Miranda's 'Hamilton' Starts Previews Off-Broadway", Broadway.com; retrieved January 22, 2015.
  36. ↑ Stasio, Marilyn. "Off Broadway Review: 'Hamilton' by Lin-Manuel Miranda" Variety, February 17, 2015
  37. ↑ Gioia, Michael. "History in the Making – Revolutionary Musical 'Hamilton' Opens on Broadway Tonight", Playbill, August 6, 2015
  38. ↑ "Revolutionaries, Turn Up! Lin-Manuel Miranda's 'Hamilton' Will Head To Broadway This Summer", playbill.com, February 24, 2015.
  39. ↑ Brantley, Ben. "Review: Hamilton, Young Rebels Changing History and Theater", The New York Times, August 6, 2015
  40. ↑ "Hundreds Mob the First 'Hamilton' Lottery" Playbill
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Alexandra Alter (May 3, 2016) ‘Hamilton: The Revolution’ Races Out of Bookstores, Echoing the Musical’s Success The New York Times Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Gans, Andrew. "Watch Lin-Manuel Miranda Deliver Passionate Commencement Speech" Playbill, May 16, 2016
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. ↑ "L'Chaim" performance at Miranda wedding, YouTube
  51. ↑ Vanessa Adriana Miranda Nadal, "Jones Day", retrieved 2016-04-10.
  52. ↑ Yeshiva University News webpage,"Commencement Speaker David Shatz Lauds YU Students for 'Historic" Innovations'", Yeshiva University, May 14, 2009; retrieved 2010-09-10.
  53. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  54. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  55. ↑ Programs macfound.org
  56. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  57. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  58. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  59. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  60. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  61. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  62. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  63. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  64. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  65. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  66. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  67. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  68. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  69. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  70. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Script error: The function "top" does not exist.

Script error: The function "bottom" does not exist.

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Lin-Manuel_Miranda&oldid=723193591"