Lin-Manuel Miranda: Scaling the Heights, First Person

“Lin-Manuel Miranda grew up in Manhattans vibrant and diverse Washington Heights neighborhood, and his background in a close-knit Puerto Rican family has inspired his work as a writer, composer and performer. A co-founding member of Freestyle Love Supreme, Miranda has toured comedy festivals with his groups fusion of hip-hop, storytelling, improv and musical theater. His first full-length musical, In the Heights, began life when he was a student at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, and after four years of development, it has found a home at off-Broadways 37 Arts Theatre. Miranda, who is part of the cast of his show, won the Georgia Holof Lyricist Award at the 2005 O’Neill Music Theater Conference for In the Heights. While waiting for his commercial break, he taught middle school English at his alma mater, Hunter College High School, and composed commercial music for political candidates Fernando Ferrer, Carl McCall and Eliot Spitzer. Broadway.com asked this fresh young talent to talk about his journey from the Heights to off-Broadway.”

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