Lin-Manuel Miranda Biography

Lin-Manuel Miranda (born January 16, 1980) is an American actor, composer, rapper and writer, best known for creating and starring in the Broadway musicals Hamilton and In the Heights. He has won a Pulitzer Prize, two Grammys, an Emmy, a MacArthur "Genius" Award, and three Tony awards, among others.

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 and the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. Miranda's performance in the show's lead role of Usnavi also earned him a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, and the show won Best Musical.

Miranda also wrote the book, music and lyrics for Hamilton, his second major Broadway musical, which was inspired by the 2004 biography Alexander Hamilton by historian Ron Chernow. The show earned the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the 2016 Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album, and was nominated for a record-setting 16 Tony Awards, of which it won 11"?including Best Musical. For his performance in the lead role of Alexander Hamilton in the show, Miranda received the 2016 Drama League Distinguished Performance Award as well as his second Tony performance nomination. Miranda also won the Tony Award for Best Original Score and Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Hamilton.

Early life

Miranda was born in the Upper 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. Miranda's parents are Puerto Rican. His mother's side of the family tree includes an interracial couple, David and Sophie Towns, who, from the early 1800s, spent their entire married life trying to outrun slavery as laws and governments changed around them. His father is a former political advisor who advised New York City mayor Ed Koch, and his mother is a clinical psychologist. Growing up, Lin helped create jingles, including one used for Eliot Spitzer's 2006 campaign. The name "Lin-Manuel" was inspired by a poem about the Vietnam War, Nana Roja Para Mi Hijo Lin Manuel, by the Puerto Rican writer Jos Manuel Torres Santiago.

After graduating from Hunter College Elementary School and Hunter College High School, Miranda went on to attend Wesleyan University, 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... and salsa numbers." It played from April 20-22, 1999. He wrote and directed several other musicals at Wesleyan. He also acted in many other productions, ranging from musicals to Shakespeare.

Career

2002-10: In the Heights

In 2002, Miranda and John Buffalo Mailer worked with director Thomas Kail and wrote five successive drafts of In the Heights, which he had begun to write in his time at Wesleyan. After success off-Broadway, the musical went to Broadway in 2008. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical and for Best Original Score and the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. 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.

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. The tour continued without him at the helm until it played in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he played Usnavi. 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.

Miranda created other work for the stage during this period. He 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. 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.

In addition to his work for the stage, Miranda also did work for film and television; in 2007, he made a guest appearance on the television series The Sopranos in the episode "Remember When,", and in September 2009, he played Alvie, Gregory House's roommate in a psychiatric hospital, in the two-hour season six premiere episode of House; he returned to 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. 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.

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.

2010-2016: 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. 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.

In 2011, Miranda appeared as a guest on the TV series Modern Family in the episode "Good Cop Bad Dog". 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 and played a recurring role on the 2013 NBC drama Do No Harm.

In 2013, Miranda appeared in the episode "Bedtime Stories" (Season 9, Episode 11) on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. In 2014, he performed with The Skivvies, an indie-rock comedy duo consisting of Nick Cearley and Lauren Molina 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. 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.

In July 2008, 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. 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". In 2015, Chernow and Miranda received the 2015 History Makers Award by the New York Historical Society for their work in creating Hamilton.

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. The show received highly positive reviews, and its engagement was sold out. It began previews on Broadway in July 2015 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre and officially opened on August 6, 2015, earning rave reviews. On the first night of Hamilton previews over 700 people lined up for lottery tickets.

Miranda has been engaged to write songs for Walt Disney Animation Studios' 56th feature, Moana. 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 Misrables, fulfilling his childhood dream of being in the show, as it was the first production he ever saw on Broadway.

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. In April 2016 Miranda and Jeremy McCarter's book, Hamilton: The Revolution, was released; it is 285 pages long and details Hamiltons 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.

On April 24, 2016, Miranda performed on the show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, in the tenth episode of its third season. The segment explained the debt crisis in Puerto Rico and, at the end, featured Miranda perform an emotional rap about allowing the island to restructure its debt.

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

On May 31, 2016, it was confirmed that Miranda would star in the Mary Poppins sequel Mary Poppins Returns, directed by Rob Marshall.

Miranda played his last performance in Hamilton on July 9, 2016, and the role of Alexander Hamilton was taken over by previous alternate Javier Muoz.

Personal life

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

In May 2, 2009, Miranda discovered he was related to Residente and ILE of Calle 13 during a concert held by the group in San Juan, Puerto Rico where Miranda was invited to perform. Backstage, Flor Joglar de Gracia, mother of Residente and ILE, revealed their connection to Gilberto Concepcin de Gracia, founder of the Puerto Rican Independence Party. Miranda and Residente have since confirmed their relation through social media.

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. 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.

</ref>}} 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 "Tobillo" (or "Tobi" for short) from the Dominican Republic.

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. In May of that year, he also received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Wesleyan.

In March 2016, a day after a meeting at the White House with President Barack Obama, 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.

Theatre credits

Year	Title	Role	Details	Notes
1999	In the Heights	Usnavi	Wesleyan University, April 20-22	Also composer and lyricist
2005			Eugene O'Neill Theater Center
2007			Off-Broadway, Feb. 8 - Jul. 15, 2007
2008-09			Broadway, Feb. 14, 2008 - Feb. 15, 2009
2009-10			US tour
2009	West Side Story		Broadway revival	Spanish translations
2010-11	In the Heights	Usnavi	Broadway, Dec. 25, 2010 - Jan. 9, 2011	Also composer and lyricist
2011	Working		Chicago revival	Wrote two new songs
2012	Merrily We Roll Along	Charley	Encores!, Feb. 8-9, 2012
	Bring It On the Musical		Broadway & tour	Co-composer and lyricist
2014	21 Chump Street	Narrator	Brooklyn Academy of Music, June 7, 2014	Also playwright, composer, & lyricist
	Tick, Tick... Boom!	Jon	Encores!, June 25-28, 2014
2015	Hamilton	Alexander Hamilton	Off-Broadway, Jan. 20 - May 3, 2015	Also playwright, composer, & lyricist
2015-16			Broadway, Aug. 6, 2015 - Jul. 9, 2016
2016	Les Misrables	Loud Hailer	Broadway, January 24, 2016	Voice only

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Clayton's Friends	Pete	Also writer, producer, director, editor
2012	The Odd Life of Timothy Green	Reggie
	The Polar Bears	Jak	Short
2013	200 Cartas	Raul
2015	Star Wars: The Force Awakens	Shag Kava (voice)	Also special featured composer
2016	Studio Heads	Lin-Manuel Miranda	Short
	Moana		Composer/singer; filming
	Speech and Debate	The Genie	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	The Sopranos	Bellman	Episode: "Remember When"
2009-2012	Sesame Street	Freddy Flapman/Lamb-Manuel Miranda	2 episodes; also composer/lyricist
2009-10	House	Juan "Alvie" Alvarez	3 episodes
	The Electric Company	Mario/himself	17 episodes; also composer
2011	Modern Family	Guillermo	Episode: "Good Cop Bad Dog"
2012	Submissions Only	Auditioner #1	Episode: "Another Interruption"
	Freestyle Love Supreme	Lin-Manuel Miranda	TV series; also lyricist
2013	Do No Harm	Ruben Marcado	11 episodes
	Smash	Himself	Episode: "The Transfer"
	67th Tony Awards		Awards show; composer of the opening number "Bigger!"
	How I Met Your Mother	Gus	Episode: "Bedtime Stories"
2016	Inside Amy Schumer	Himself	Episode: "The World's Most Interesting Woman in the World"
	Last Week Tonight with John Oliver	Himself	Episode: "Puerto Rico"
	Drunk History	Himself

Bibliography

Books

• Hamilton: The Revolution (2016) with Jeremy McCarter

Articles

• "Stop the Bots From Killing Broadway," The New York Times (2016)
• "Give Puerto Rico Its Chance to Thrive," The New York Times (2016)

Discography

Original cast recordings

Year	Title	Notes
2008	In the Heights	Winner of the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album
2014	21 Chump Street
2015	Hamilton	Also producer of album Peaked at #1 US Top Cast Albums, #1 US Top Rap Albums, #1 on US Top Albums Certified platinum Winner of the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album

Singles

• 2016: "Jabba Flow" from Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• 2016: "Love Make the World Go Round" with Jennifer Lopez
• 2016: "What the World Needs Now Is Love" with Broadway for Orlando

Awards and achievements

As of 2016, Miranda has won one Pulitzer Prize, two Grammys, an Emmy, a MacArthur "Genius" Award, three Tony Awards (although two of his musicals won the Tony Award for Best Musical, that award goes to the producers of the show, not the writer/composer), among other awards and honors. Miranda received a star on the Puerto Rico Walk of Fame on July 27, 2016.

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

See also

• Nuyorican Movement
• Puerto Rican literature