Biography
Lin-Manuel Miranda was born on January 16, 1980 in New York city to Luz Towns-Miranda, a psychologist, and Luis A. Miranda, Jr., a political consultant in NYC and Puerto Rican immigrant. Lin-Manuel grew up in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood in upper Manhattan called Inwood. His neighborhood, in combination with his Puerto Rican heritage allowed for Lin-Manuel to be very in touch with his Latino heritage from a very young age.
Lin-Manuel grew up in a musical family – both him and his sister took piano lessons for many years and went to see Broadway shows with their parents. Lin-Manuel saw his first Broadway musical, Les Misérables, at seven years old, and it forever stuck with him (Murray). In addition to showtunes, his family also played an assortment of salsa, hip-hop, and R&B in their household. Lin-Manuel fell in love with all of these genres, especially hip-hop and became a talented rapper in high-school.
At 18, Lin-Manuel went to Wesleyan University and studied theatre there. In 2002, he graduated and moved back to New York City to pursue acting and teaching. For a time, he played small roles in film and television, and he performed with his hip-hop improv group, “Freestyle Love Supreme”. He also worked as a substitute teacher at his high school, Hunter College High School (Gioia).
Starting in college, Lin-Manuel began to write the musical In the Heights with a fellow Wesleyan student, Thomas Kail. The inspiration for this musical was the neighborhood that Lin-Manuel grew up in. He was also inspired by the music that filled his childhood home: salsa and hip-hop. In February 2007, the play opened Off-Broadway and won two Drama Desk Awards. In March 2008, it had its Broadway Debut with Lin-Manuel Miranda as the lead and won four Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Choreography, and Best Orchestrations.
After In the Heights became such a success, Lin-Manuel became highly sought after. On Broadway, he cowrote the music and lyrics to Bring It On: The Musical, as well as doing the Spanish translations for a 2009 revival of West Side Story. In September 2015, he was given a “MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant” (Miranda).
While on vacation in Mexico in 2008, Lin-Manuel read Ron Chernow’s book Alexander Hamilton (2004) which inspired his writing of Hamilton: An American Musical (2015)– a biographical musical of Alexander Hamilton’s life that fused hip-hop and rap with the Broadway stage. Not only was Hamilton praised for its compelling music and story, but it was also commended for its diverse casting (Binelli). The original cast was made up of mostly people of color with Lin-Manuel Miranda at the lead playing Hamilton. In 2016, Hamilton was nominated for 16 Tony Awards and won 11 of them, including best musical and best score.
Since he left Hamilton, Lin-Manuel has written music for movies such as Moana and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He has also been an avid activist, creating and selling music to raise funds for different causes, particularly Puerto Rico following Hurrican Maria in 2017.
In 2010, he married his current wife, Vanessa Nadel, who he went to high school with. In 2014, they had their son Sebastian Miranda.
Works Cited:
Binelli, Mark. “Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Rolling Stone Interview.” Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone, 10 June 2016.
Gioia, Michael. “Where It All Began - A Conversation With Lin-Manuel Miranda and His Father.” Playbill, Playbill Inc., 8 July 2016.
Miranda, Lin-Manuel. “Bibliography.” Lin-Manuel Miranda, 5000 Broadway Productions.
Murray, Lorraine. “Lin-Manuel Miranda.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 22 May 2018.