Miranda, Lin-Manuel (1980-…), is an American musical theater composer, writer, and actor. Miranda wrote the music and lyrics as well as the dialogue (spoken parts) for the musical Hamilton. It opened in New York City in 2015. Hamilton was an immediate hit, becoming one of the most popular and talked-about shows in American theater history. Hamilton won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2016 Tony Award as best musical.
Hamilton is based on the life of Alexander Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States in the late 1700’s. Miranda starred as the title character. The show won praise for the diversity of its cast. African American and Hispanic American actors played such historical characters as Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr, James Madison, the Marquis de Lafayette, and George Washington. Miranda’s score combined rap, rhythm and blues, and popular music. It won the 2015 Grammy Award for best musical theater album.
Miranda was born on Jan. 16, 1980, to Puerto Rican parents in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, New York. He studied theater arts at Wesleyan University, graduating in 2002. While at Wesleyan, Miranda began composing the musical In the Heights. The show was based on street life in his birthplace of Washington Heights. After a successful run off-Broadway in 2007, In the Heights moved to Broadway in 2008, winning the 2008 Tony Awards for best musical and best original score. It also won the 2008 Grammy Award for best musical show album. A motion-picture version of the musical was released in 2021.
Miranda composed music for the motion picture Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015. He wrote music and lyrics for the animated films Moana (2016), Encanto (2021), and Vivo (2021). With Jeremy McCarter, he wrote a nonfiction book called Hamilton: The Revolution (2016), about the making of the musical. The book became a best seller. Miranda has acted on television and co-starred in the motion-picture musical Mary Poppins Returns (2018). He also directed tick, tick… BOOM! (2021), the film adaptation of an autobiographical musical by American playwright and composer Jonathan Larson.
