Latinos On The Move: Lin-Manuel Miranda

Ever think your textbooks in la escuela aren’t covering our full historia? We are celebrating Hispanic Heritage month by flippin’ the script and spotlighting Latinos who are worthy of a history lesson of their own. We started our series last week with a Blogamole profile on literary luminary Junot Díaz. This week it seems only right to continue with a star that he helped inspire: Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Lesson #1: Why should you know Puerto Rican writer/actor/composer Lin-Manuel Miranda?

Answer: The 28-year-old New York native put the lives of ordinary Latinos on the mainstream map when his hip hop and salsa-infused Broadway musical In the Heights won a Tony award for best play this year.

Lesson #2: What makes him a groundbreaking actor/composer?

Answer: Diversity is his game. Growing up among a close-knit Puerto Rican family has inspired his work as a fresh-voiced writer, composer and performer. He is also innovative, fusing hip-hop, storytelling, improv and musical theater together to get his message across a diverse audience.

Lesson #3: On what sparked his inspiration for In The Heights:

I was like Nina in the show, away from home for the first time; it was my sophomore year in college. I lived in a Latino house at Wesleyan university which means I lived with eight other Latino kids... we all sort of clung to each other in this otherwise predominantly "white" liberal university. From there I just started writing. I wanted to write the kind of show I'd want to be in. The Capeman was about gang members in the fifties and West Side Story was about gang members in the fifties and I wanted to see if I could write a Latino show that wasn't about gang members in the fifties. So, I just started writing about what I knew.

Lesson #4: What's next?

Answer: Besides playing the character of Usnavi in In the Heights through the remainder of the year, Lin is also hard at work on composing some songs for an upcoming album. When he has a break from Broadway next year, we’re sure he’ll be up to something else… stay tuned!

Quieres más Lin? Check out what else he had to say about taking over Broadway aquí in our exclusive entrevista with Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Photo via Walter McBride/ Retna

Tags Capeman, In the Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Wesleyan University, WEstside Story