Kristen Rajczak Nelson - Lin-Manuel Miranda: From Broadway to the Big Screen

Published in 2019 by

Lucent Press, an Imprint of Greenhaven Publishing, LLC

353 3rd Avenue

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New York, NY 10010

Copyright 2019 Lucent Press, an Imprint of Greenhaven Publishing, LLC.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

Designer: Deanna Paternostro

Editor: Melissa Ra Shofner

Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Rajczak Nelson, Kristen.

Title: Lin-Manuel Miranda: from broadway to the big screen / Kristen Rajczak Nelson.

Description: New York : Lucent Press, 2019. | Series: People in the news | Includes index.

Identifiers: ISBN 9781534563407 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781534563384 (library bound) | ISBN 9781534563391 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Miranda, Lin-Manuel, 1980-Juvenile literature. | ActorsUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature. | ComposersUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature. | LyricistsUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature.

Classification: LCC PN2287.M6446 R35 2019 | DDC 792.028092 Bdc23

Printed in the United States of America

CPSIA compliance information: Batch #BS18KL: For further information contact Greenhaven Publishing LLC, New York, New York at 1-844-317-7404.

Please visit our website, www.greenhavenpublishing.com. For a free color catalog of all our high-quality books, call toll free 1-844-317-7404 or fax 1-844-317-7405.

Contents

W e live in a world where the latest news is always available and where it seems we have unlimited access to the lives of the people in the news. Entire television networks are devoted to news about politics, sports, and entertainment. Social media has allowed people to have an unprecedented level of interaction with celebrities. We have more information at our fingertips than ever before. However, how much do we really know about the people we see on television news programs, social media feeds, and magazine covers?

Despite the constant stream of news, the full stories behind the lives of some of the worlds most newsworthy men and women are often unknown. Who was Katy Perry before she was a pop music phenomenon? What does LeBron James do when hes not playing basketball? What inspires Lin-Manuel Miranda?

This series aims to answer questions like these about some of the biggest names in pop culture, sports, politics, and technology. While the subjects of this series come from all walks of life and areas of expertise, they share a common magnetism that has made them all captivating figures in the public eye. They have shaped the world in some unique way, andin many casesthey are poised to continue to shape the world for many years to come.

These biographies are not just a collection of basic facts. They tell compelling stories that show how each figure grew to become a powerful public personality. Each book aims to paint a complete, realistic picture of its subjectfrom the challenges they overcame to the controversies they caused. In doing so, each book reinforces the idea that even the most famous faces on the news are real people who are much more complex than we are often shown in brief video clips or sound bites. Readers are also reminded that there is even more to a person than what they present to the world through social media posts, press releases, and interviews. The whole story of a persons life can only be discovered by digging beneath the surface of their public persona, and that is what this series allows readers to do.

The books in this series are filled with enlightening quotes from speeches and interviews given by the subjects, as well as quotes and anecdotes from those who know their story best: family, friends, coaches, and colleagues. All quotes are noted to provide guidance for further research. Detailed lists of additional resources are also included, as are timelines, indexes, and unique photographs. These text features come together to enhance the reading experience and encourage readers to dive deeper into the stories of these influential men and women.

Fame can be fleeting, but the subjects featured in this series have real staying power. They have fundamentally impacted their respective fields and have achieved great success through hard work and true talent. They are men and women defined by their accomplishments, and they are often seen as role models for the next generation. They have left their mark on the world in a major way, and their stories are meant to inspire readers to leave their mark, too.

M any playwrights and composers never see a show they have written make it to an Off-Broadway stage. Even fewer have seen their work in a Broadway theater. Lin-Manuel Miranda has done bothtwice.

Miranda burst onto the Broadway scene at just 27 years old. He wrote and starred in In the Heights, which opened Off-Broadway in 2007 and moved to Broadway the following year. In 2015, Hamilton: An American Musical opened Off-Broadway at the Public Theater in New York City in January and swiftly moved to Broadway in July. It would go on to win an astonishing 11 Tony Awards, among many other honors, and sell out houses months ahead of time.

This success is no happy accident. Miranda has a rare combination of innate talent, work ethic, and creativity that is often described as genius. While he would argue that timing and luck are part of the equation, the confidence others have placed in his capable hands shows it is more than that. Christopher Jackson, who starred with Miranda in both In the Heights and Hamilton has said, Its easy to see his brilliance on a daily basis.

Mirandas brilliance has been evident since his childhood. He attended a school for gifted children and graduated college with honors. Musical theater was part of his life very early on, too, with Broadway cast recordings of Camelot and other musicals spinning on the family record player. Though infrequently, Miranda had seen shows on the Great White Way of Broadway (the section of Broadway in New York City that makes up the theater district, named for the millions of lights making up the theatre marquees) while growing up. He also spent a good deal of time listening to many other genres of music, ranging from Disney movie music to salsa to hip-hop. Legendary Broadway composer John Kander told the New York Times that he calls Miranda boy genius and spoke on Mirandas gifts as a composer and lyricist: Innovators are usually synthesizersthey synthesize everything they know and add their own personal talents, and out comes something new What Lin is is a refreshing and healthy contemporary synthesist of everything hes known before.

However, as Miranda listened to, wrote, and performed music as a young man, he started to become very aware that Broadway was, for the most part, the great white way. Mirandas family often spoke Spanish at home. His parents are both immigrants from Puerto Ricoand he did not see many people like himself on a Broadway stage. His contributions to the theater community are many, but perhaps one of the greatest is his commitment to diversity on stage. In addition, his charitable work speaking out about poor conditions in Puerto Rico today and fund-raising tracks, including the 2017 song Almost Like Praying, truly add to the national conversation, not just the entertainment conversation.