Lin-Manuel Miranda Admits the Luck of Discovering Hamilton: ‘It Could’ve Been Truman’
By now you have certainly heard of the newest sensation to hit Broadway, and it comes in the form of a hip-hop musical about the Revolutionary founding fathers. The instant-classic Hamilton has smashed expectations and box office numbers, earning nearly $70 million in advanced ticket sales. Oh, and do you want to take tickets for yourself? If you put in for them now — and you’re lucky — you just might get to see the show sometime halfway through the next President’s first term.
On Sunday night, the creator of the show — who happens to play the titular character as well — Lin-Manuel Miranda sat down with Charlie Rose on CBS’ 60 Minutes and made a startling reveal about the happenstance surrounding the creation of the show. Following Miranda’s first hit Broadway musical In The Heights, it all began when Miranda stumbled on Ron Chernow‘s book Alexander Hamilton.
Miranda admitted to Rose that his own knowledge of the founding father Hamilton was about as limited as anyone else’s. He said:
This is what I knew from high school. I knew Hamilton died in a duel with the vice president. I knew he was on the $10 bill. But really, I was just browsing the biography section. It could have been Truman.
The exchange continues between Rose and Miranda continues:
Charlie Rose: And as you read it, what happened?
Lin-Manuel Miranda: I was thunderstruck. I got to the part where, you know, a hurricane destroys St. Croix where Hamilton is living. And he writes a poem about the carnage and this poem gets him off the island.
Charlie Rose: You saw a rap artist in him.
Lin-Manuel Miranda: Yes. I drew a direct line between Hamilton’s writing his way out of his circumstances and the rappers I’d grown up adoring.
Check out the above video from CBS for the full segment on Miranda; the exchange about Chernow’s book begins around the 9:00 minute mark.
[image via screengrab]
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