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| Lin-Manuel Miranda Photograph: John D. & Catherine T. (MacArthur Foundation) |
I'm usually very stubborn when it comes to listening to new theatre albums. If I can't go and see it live, I don't want anything to do with it until I can. It's a petty excuse for hardly ever engaging in what could possibly be the next great piece of art to blow my mind, but I've been that way ever since my pint-sized self toddled into the school assembly hall to watch a panto version of the Nativity; I either wanted to be on that stage or in front of it, no short cuts or diversions.
Since any aspirations of joining the cast of singing barn animals were quickly quenched when my panicked dad mistook my soulful singing for cries of pain (I wish I could joke - he thought I'd fallen off my bunk bed), I then decided that I wanted every new theatre experience to match that same first feeling of magic and awe.
Of course, like with Hamilton, things don't always go to plan. I know the entire album by heart, and I plan to go see it when it comes to London next year.
Though I've been researching him and his work ever since that fateful day, I still feel as if I'm barely scratching the surface. Miranda is probably best known for creating and starring in two widely acclaimed Broadway musicals, In the Heights (2008) and Hamilton (2015), winning an impressive 15 Tony Awards between them. From a very brief stint of being the offstage voice of the Loud Hailer on Broadway's Les Miserables, to collaborating with Tom Kitt and Amanda Green on the music/lyrics for Bring It On: The Musical, his résumé is long enough to rival my bucket list of books to read. He's also responsible for a fun little ditty called What the Heck I Gotta Do, a song from a fourteen-minute musical, 21 Chump Street, which was based upon an episode of This American Life. If that's not impressive enough, he also co-wrote the Emmy-winning 2013 Tony Awards opening number with Tom Kitt, which featured legendary host Neil Patrick Harris and many other incredible Broadway performers. To top it all off, he even wrote Jabba Flow for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and performed it with J.J. Abrams at a #Ham4Ham on May 4th. Crazy talented stuff.
Due to his rising fame and popularity, Miranda has also taken advantage of fundraising opportunities some some great charities. There have been two Prizeo campaigns so far, the first being in June 2016 to win two tickets to Miranda's last performance and the after-party. As a result, the number of entries piled in and over an incredible $1 million was raised for Hispanic Federation. The second campaign raising money for the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History has just closed, and the winner will be announced on the 14th October. He also released a charity single with J-Lo to benefit the victims of the Orlando shooting in June, Love Make the World Go Round.
Theatre and all other credits aside, Miranda also seems to be as charming in person as he is on the stage. In all of the interviews and videos I've seen, he's never once given the impression of being anything less than humble and grateful. He brings attention to matters close to heart and topics which may deserve more public awareness, though occasionally breaks up heavy discussions by cracking a few witty comments.
Miranda appears to give as much care and attention to listening to the person talking to him as he does answering their question. Even when he's mentioned being tired and lacking energy, I don't believe he's ever turned down a request for him to freestyle - especially if it he can drag in the reluctant interviewers to beatbox. He's fired up and ready to passionately answer any questions that are thrown at him, leaving listeners with a feeling of "I'm not hanging around anymore, let's go".
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| Miranda at the Hamilton after party celebrating leaving cast memebrs Photograph: Gothamist |
Now, I have a feeling that Old Man Miranda would not appreciate fans wanting to live inside of his head for a number of reasons:
1) It's a terrible invasion of privacy, long live consent, bada-bing.
2) We have our own lives to live. Miranda will always be held in high esteems (unless he either murders or intentionally harms someone), and I'll probably still do a round check of social media outlets every morning for some fun bite-sized updates, but that's his life. He's accomplished so much already, from creating Broadway musicals and inspiring others to follow their ambitions, to starting a family with an incredible woman, Vanessa Nadal, whose beauty, intelligence and kindness is probably too much for me to comprehend. The point here is that he's living the life that he wants and has worked so hard for, and we should do the same for our lives.
3) We have our own stories and ideas to tell. As much as we may love Usnavi's bodega and the room where it happened, they are Miranda's thoughts/ideas/experiences all bundled up into his work of art. He's likely to have experienced a lot of things over the years, but he hasn't experienced exactly what others have, and that's exactly what we can bring to the field. The world is constantly looking for something fresh and new to entertain them, and what better way to do that then to start exploring our own minds for what we already know or could learn? Heck, we could even teach others some invaluable info in the process.
Of course, it's great if someone can inspire us to give us the push we need to carry on - it adds fuel to the fire that's already burning - but sometimes creators lack confidence after seeing something that has blew them away. I'm pretty sure Miranda himself has felt that way before too, countless of times. Right now, the world is waiting for you to pick up your jaw and drop a dope beat of your own.
But with all that being said and done, from funny and deep twitter rantings about the complex universe that homes a talking train and his friends, to Miranda's enthusiastic musings on the word 'envelope', it's safe enough to say that at least in his mind I wouldn't get bored very quickly.
Keep on chugging, Lin.
We got this.
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