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The first song of his musical “Hamilton” sang composer and copywriter Lin-Manuel Miranda US President Obama. The historical rap and r’n’b revue celebrated an off-broadway premiere and developed into a gigantic success. The musical even ran in a translated language in Hamburg.
Lin-Manuel Miranda-a creative all-rounder
A look at the Wikipedia entry of the 42-year-old New York with Puertorican roots gives the impression that the portfolio of half a dozen hyperactive creative. The man played in “Die Sopranos”, “Dr. House” and the “Sesame Road”, broke for four Tony Awards for his musical “In the Heights”, wrote songs for “Star Wars: The Awakens of Power” and turned animation films like “Vaiana” and “Encanto” to sing -along blockbusters.
Almost incidentally, the father of two, who is married to an Austrian and is socially committed, worked on one piece about one of the founding fathers of the United States: Alexander Hamilton. “I fell in love with the fabric when I read Ron Chernov’s biography. I sucked it up like a mosquito on the main artery,” says Miranda, who was at the Hamburg premiere in the city.
But how do you make a musical out of it? Miranda felt overwhelmed at first: “I felt like a snake in front of an elephant: How do I digest all of this, how do I make these giant chunks enjoyable?” He got the decisive tip from his writer John Whitman (“Star Wars”): “He said I couldn’t accommodate everything anyway. Write the songs that are important to you who tell you what interests you.”
Miranda listened to the advice. Hamilton’s promotion from the orphan, born in 1755 on the West Indian Islands, to become a theorist of the State theor and the first finance minister of the United States, had to be implemented danceable. In addition to classic Broadway sounds, hip-hop, r’n’b and soul should form the musical foundation.
The rest is “Hamilton” story
In an evening for “Poetry, Music and the Spoken Word” Miranda Sang US President Barack Obama in 2009 in the White House a first song from the musical. The Obamas quickly became fans. The line “Immigrants Get the Job Done” from the song “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)” later developed into a catchphrase between pop and politics.
On January 20, 2015, the musical celebrated its premiere in the New York Public Theater-with Lin-Manuel Miranda in the leading role and a various ensemble, including Leslie Odom Jr., Daveed Diggs and Renée Elise Goldberry.
Was the cultural appropriation in reverse? Miranda replies: “For me, the narrator of the story was a Mc from the outset. The way he tells of his problems remembered Rap. I imagined who is the best r’n’B type for the roles, who the best rapper, and so on. People would not ask for what that should? “
10 other musicals that are not shit
1. Coolhaze
Studio Braun gives Michael Kohlhaas the spores – like Pulp Fiction on Hamburger Berg.
2. The bed sausage
“Luzi, I love you!” – “Dietmar!” – “I love you!” – “Dietmar!” – “Luzi, I love you unlikely!”
3. Annette
Leos Carax films a template of the legendary pop duos Spark.
4. City under influence
Christiane Rösinger brings apartment questions to the boards that mean the world. Kreuzberger and Neukölln rental activists sing.
5. A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder
Roy Horniman’s robber life from the penultimate century as a comedy revue-with a main actor in eight roles.
6. The Osmonds
Mormon pop, glitter suits, Crazy Horses-Kelly Family meets Elvis, so Hip it Hurts.
7. The golden glove
The Honka Horror Picture Show as a monstrous mix of praline booklets, sausage fantasies and homicide.
8. The flying classroom
The musical in the musical in the musical – timelessly like smoking corner, rain break and seats.
9. Evil Dead: The Musical
This really goes into the blood: the devil dance as a chainsaw massacre with music.
10. Hair
“Let the Sunshine in!” – and down the hair! Like Woodstock, Peace sign and Timotei shampoo in one.
This list was published in the MusikExpress 12/2022.