All tagged Lin-Manuel Miranda
When audiences sat down in their seats at Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre in the spring of 2008, many were not quite ready for the electrically-charged piece of musical theatre they were about to witness. The then relatively unknown team of Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) delivered several jolts of adrenaline into the arm of the American musical, infusing the more traditional form of this theatrical storytelling with the contemporary sounds of hip-hop and rap, as well as crafting a bilingual score (English and Spanish) of poignancy and potency. Director Thomas Kail staged the musical with a palpable urgency and an emotional thrust that propelled the show through its climax, and choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler provided movement that seemed to defy gravity and lift the show off the stage floor and into the ether. The musical I am referring to is of course In the Heights which has made its transition from the stage to screen some thirteen-years since it’s Broadway berth, under the direction of Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians).
About a month ago, I celebrated the great divas of Broadway with a tribute to their careers. This month, I thought I’d share a video montage of the men who have shaped Broadway with their talent and larger-than-life personalities. I hope you enjoy curling up and watching these twenty-five videos of the stout-hearted men of Broadway doing some of their finest work.
Well, Hamilton swept the Tony Awards and before the trophies could gather dust on the mantelpiece, news of original cast members departing the production began to get people (especially those who haven't seen it yet, down). In the coming weeks, the two male leads, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Leslie Odom, Jr., will depart the show, breaking the hearts of legions of zealous fans. True, they have spent quite a few months performing this show eight-times a week and have probably earned some time away, and they will most-likely return to the show for limited engagements. It's hard for many to imagine Hamilton without these two powerhouse performers.
The Broadway Theatre Community did a commendable job this week, using the spotlight of the Tony Awards to gracefully pay tribute to the victims on the senseless shootings in Orlando. Whether it was James Corden’s sincere and appropriately somber opening remarks, Frank Langella’s eloquent acceptance speech that deflected attention from himself and shed light on the atrocity, to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s now oft-quoted sonnet reminding us that “Love is Love is Love is Love.” It’s nice to know that the we (the theatre community) can hold each other up in times of darkness. It’s what we’ve always done.
