May 17, 2023 • 27 mins
Let's give a big bienvenida to the newest icon on our roster, the one and only Lin-Manuel Miranda! The multi-talented creative who is just one O away from a PEGOT has been changing the way we experience musical theater be it on the stage or on the screen, and Joseph and Lilliana are huge fans! So, today, join us as we kick off our time with Lin-Manuel Miranda by looking back at where it all started, In the Heights, and how it came to be.
Lilliana Vázquez and Joseph Carrillo are the hosts of Becoming an Icon with production support by Juan Carlos Arenado, Josie Meléndez, Daniela Sarquis, and Santiago Sierra of Sonoro Media in partnership with iHeart Radio's My Cultura Podcast network. If you want to support the podcast, please rate and review our show.
Follow Lilliana Vázquez on Instagram and Twitter @lillianavazquez
Follow Joseph Carrillo on Instagram @josephcarrillo
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Joseph. Today we have a new icon.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Another one, Wait, did I just sound like DJ College?
Speaker 1 (00:08):
There I wasn't listening? Do it again?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
And another one.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
A little worse flavor good again?
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Another one there, you just sounded like happy Joseph. But
today we are talking about my fellow Brigua Lynn Menuel Miranda.
In one of our JLO episodes, we talked a little
bit about musicals and our shared love for them.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Chicago changed my life.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
I know, I know, and Rent is one of the
core reasons I even imagined a life for myself in
New York City five hundred and twenty five thousand and
six hundred minutes.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
How about love?
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Wait?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
What?
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Why do you sound so good?
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I'm a singer, bitch.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Are you taking voice?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Okay, Wait a second, I need my phones. I'm making
a RESI for karaoke right now.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Okay. So for you, it was Chicago. For me, it
was Rent.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Those musicals undeniably changed Broadway and Linn Minol Miranda, well,
he's responsible.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
For I know what you're going to say.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
In the Heights. I got you, didn't I you did,
And don't worry hammil fans. It is all coming up
in our next episode. So far on Icons, we've talked
about Bad Bunny, how he refused to conform, and how
he's broken records and shattered stereotypes along the way. We
(01:43):
talked about Jennifer Lopez and how her career has inspired.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
So many young Latinas.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
And Cardi B and how she shows all women that
there's always a path to success.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Yes, girl, But now we get to talk about Lynn,
how he reimagined and then completely revolutionized Broadway and not
just how it sounds, but more importantly, how it looks.
What we're about to say isn't breaking news, but Joseph
and I, well, we always keep it one hundred on
the show, so let's just say it.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Broadway is.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
White. As white as Kenny Chesney's concert in a snowstorm,
as white as Karen's chicken at the cookout, whiter than
fans of Yellowstone, Wider than a Civil War reenactment.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Exactly, it's really white. But that was all.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Before Lynn, before he made his way from the top
of Manhattan to the Theater District, then out here to
where I am in Lalla Land, and along the way,
earning the Genius Grant from the MacArthur Fellows Program, a Pulitzer,
Grammy's too many Tonys to count, and a few oscar noobs.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Oh shit, He's just the o away from the ecodes.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
On Today is Becoming an Icon lin Manuel, Miranda, the
boy from the Heights.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
I'm your host, Lilianavosquez.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
And I'm Joseph Carrio and this is Becoming an Icon a.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Weekly podcast where we give you the rundown on how
today's most famous LATINX stars have shaped pop culture.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
And given the world some extras.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Lebt, sit back and get comfortable.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Because we are going in the only.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Way we know how, with buenas Hi, bunasriesas, and a
lot of opinions as we relive their greatest achievements on
our journey to find out what makes them so iconic.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Okay, Lil's what are your first thoughts on Lynn?
Speaker 3 (03:59):
That is is completely unfair, how fucking talented he is.
I'm in awe of somebody like lin Manuel, because you know,
in theater or in this industry, you always hear of
like Triple Threat.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Right. Oh, they can sing, they can dance, they can act,
but you throw in there.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Wait, I thought you were talking about me. I'm sorry, sorry,
we know.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
That's a triple threat. You and Lann are in the
same category. Let's just keep it real, you know what
I mean.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
But I think with Lynne goes beyond what he gives
you on stage, Like, yes, he can sing, he can act,
he can dance, he can rap, he can perform, he
can write, he can produce, he can compose. I actually
asked him this in an interview. I was like, what
can you not do? And He's like, sometimes entertain my children,
which I think is really funny because all parents feel that, right,
Like sometimes you just show up a little short for
your kids. They don't think you're funny, they don't think
(04:43):
you're a superstar. You're just dad, and sometimes you're just annoying.
So for me, he wears all of those hats. You know,
he's also an incredible activist.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
I mean, I could go.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
On and on and on about how much immense respect
and all I have for this man.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
In The Heights, I loved it because it was just
so different. Yeah, and I got to work with some
of the actresses in it, so I was watching it
even more in the movie and then the Broadway.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Well, what's interesting is you seen in the Heights the
musical you have not seen Hamilton the Musical. I have
seen Hamilton the Musical, but I have never seen In
the Heights of the Musical. I've only seen the movie,
which I think is interesting because I think it's how
a lot of people have processed so much of Lynn's career.
It's the easiest way to process it, because tickets for
(05:28):
both I think were nearly impossible to get. People were
paying like thousands and thousands of dollars insane in svanity.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
But you know, when you look at both of these.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Works, at the heart of both of them is New
York City, right in the Heights and also Hamilton. And
I think when a lot of people think about the
American Revolution, they naturally think of Boston.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
They're not thinking about New York City.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Do you know a lot of people that think about
the American Revolution like of our friends.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
I don't know why that came out like that, as
if I'm some kind of like American Revolution scholar.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
I was about to be like, what's going on.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Yes, I'm doing a masters in early American Revolution historical figures.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
I'm here for it.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
I was just making a point, thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
But anyways, two things that are always close to Lyn's heart.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
New York and Puerto Rico has two homes.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Lynn was born in New York City and grew up
in Inwood And I'll save you the Google search so
you don't have to turn away from our podcast. In
Wood is like at the very very tippy top of
the island of Manhattan.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Like the tippy top. It's where you end up when
you drink way too much on a Thursday or Friday
night and you missed your stops on the train.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Okay, just so that's like thirty stop you have to
It's a lot of stops.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Well, Salue, honey, it's a lot of drinks too.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
It touche.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
So.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Lynn was born to a psychologist mother LUs and April
consultant father named.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Louis, Luis and Louis.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
That's cute, it is.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
And Lynn grows up in Inwood, but every summer he
goes and spends a month with his abola in Vega Altam.
Here's what he told the New York Times about Puerto Rico.
I believe I owe a great deal of who I
am to this island. It's a tactile thing. It's a
tempo thing. It's the pace of life here. It's the
way the world sounds at night, it's seeing the stars,
(07:27):
It's this oneness with nature that is very natural and real.
It is all the things you cannot get in New
York City, and it is its culture because the kindest
people I know are here.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
I mean, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Puerto Rico is just so dear, I think to both
of us, and so dear to Lynn. And in a
future episode, we're going to tell you all about what
Lynn has done for the island and his deep connection
to La Isla de Lincanto. But let's head uptown for now.
(08:02):
It was the early eighties. Lynn was growing up in
Manhattan and his house was filled with the sounds of
sadza and show tunes.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
See.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Lynn's parents were huge fans of Broadway, so they would
listen to cast albums in the house because theater is
expensive and the family just didn't have a lot of money,
so they couldn't go to see the show's luck, which
meant that Lynn had to imagine everything just through the music,
and it's one of the reasons he says he wants
(08:34):
every note of the album for his musicals to be
absolutely perfect. He knows that for many listening, it's as
close as they'll ever get to experiencing it.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
I believe that, and that is really so cool.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
I know he's telling you y'all, he's incredible now.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Growing up in the eighties in New York also meant
hip hop and rap. That scene was explosive at the time,
and Linn, well, he couldn't get enough. In his parents' car,
they'd be listening to Camelot and the Unsinkable Molly Brown,
and on his bus ride, the driver would be teaching
him Ghetto Boys, Sugarhill Gang and Boogie Down productions.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Damn. First of all, my school bus driver was not
that cool. We just smoked a lot of wheat together.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Did you just say we?
Speaker 2 (09:22):
I meant he he definitely smoked a lot of weed. Okay,
let's keep going.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Hip hop, Salsa, Broadway, no Way, steven sottheim was growing
up on that. Lynn became a great rapper and started
joining all the plays in high school.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
By the way, the school he went to was in
New York Magnet School, where he was classmates with MSNBC's
Chris Hayes.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Yeah, Hayes was even Lynn's first director, and he directed
Lynn's first play about and I am not making this up.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
This is a direct quote.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Oh gosh.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
It was about a twenty minute musical that featured a
maniacal fetal pig in a nightmare that Miranda had cut
up in biology class.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
I can't even that sounds terrible.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
I know, we need to find a video of it Internet,
do your thing. Soon, though, Lynn.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Was off to university where he would start writing a
play about his bodio that would ultimately change his life.
Lynn attended Wesleyan University in Connecticut. His sophomore year, well,
Lynn was feeling a little homesick, missing life back in
(10:37):
the city, so he put pen the paper and wrote
his first draft of In the Heights.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
I can totally get on board with being homesick.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Like I was so homesick my first year in college,
Like it was scary to be that far away.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
What about you?
Speaker 2 (10:56):
I was absolutely homesick, but it didn't inspire me to
write anything down. I think that's what turned on my
party boy way.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
And this is why we all cannot be the genius
that is Linn men Miranda, because when he reached for
his pen and paper, Joseph reached for his white cloth, hello,
and I reached for tube tops, platform shoes, and the
club exactly.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
So Lynn kept working on his plan, and he added
salsa and rap.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
He said he wanted to make the play feel like
a hip hop version of Rent. I am telling y'all
please don't sleep on Rent.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Yes, gen Z, I am talking to you.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
I want to go uhoo tonight.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Ooh, I love that song.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Oh that's a song. I was just telling you that
I wanted to get drinks later.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
I can't with you today, today, every day.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
So at a showing of the play, a Wesleyan alum
named Thomas Kale saw the show and Asklyn if he'd
be willing to develop the play for Broadway.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Duh, of course he did.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
So Lynn headed back to New York after graduation and
got to work on bringing his dream to the stage.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
But no one was paying for.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Drafts of but yet to be produced musical, so to
make ends meet, he took whatever jobs he could get
substitute teacher, music coach, restaurant critic, and then he started
getting roles on TV.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
He was in the Sopranos.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
I haven't seen the finale yet, so don't spoil anything.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
The finale was seventeen years ago.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
I've been busy.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Okay, yeah, well Lynn also had a memorable run in
house as Hugh Lawi's roommate in a psychiatric hospital.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
It's not lupus.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
It was never lupus.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Now, before we move on, I do think it's important
to talk about how many different jobs Lynn had because
I love this story. I love that he had to
do ten other things before he ever got to do
the one thing that he was literally put on this
earth to do, which is create music.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
So, Joseph, what jobs have you done to pay the bills?
The legal ones? Please?
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Oh? Legal, the go go? Oh okay, taxes, taxes on them?
Let me think, just make up. Actually, I worked at
a call center for a brief minute.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Is that why your voice is so perfect for a podcast?
Were you manifesting this when you worked at a call center?
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Hello, it's me.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
No. What was your first job ever? And what was
the most random TV job you've ever had? Oh?
Speaker 3 (13:38):
I love that question. People always ask what my first
TV job is, which was not that out of the ordinary,
but my most random TV job? Well, it's a tie.
I'm so embarrassed.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
I don't even know.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
I want to hear them both.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
So my most random TV job, I was a virtual
casino host what the for a line gambling site that
was hosted in like the fall sort of something, and
we recorded it all on a green screen and I
(14:15):
was the virtual casino host with two other guys, so
fucking random.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
We shot it at like that.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Is when you said that is random, that's random.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Okay, that's not all do you want to hear?
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Like? And this one is the most random. And by
the way, this one's still oh.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
So this one one that was a tie, this is
the it was a tie.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Let's be very clear.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
When you want to work in television and you don't
have a broadcast journalism degree and you have no connections
and you are literally building from the ground up, you
take any and all the jobs.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
And by the way, there is no shame in any
and all of the jobs.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
But this one still hunts me because they still play
it because when I signed my contract for this job,
I signed it in perpetuity, meaning they can and run
this commercial for the rest of.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
My life, for all eternity.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Till I die. Wow, and even then they'll still run it.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
I did an infomercial for a used car lot in Pennsylvania. Stop,
I swear to God in Spanish.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Oh, I cannot wait to google this and tweet it
and show everybody listen.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
I was a working TV host in two languages and
I made one hundred and twenty five dollars that day.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
So and you know what, that commercial is still playing
for one.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Hundred and twenty five dollars. They bought the rights to
me forever.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
For all attorneityes, y'all, don't.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Ever cheapen yourself ask for the big bucks. You just
never know.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
And that's the thing about all of these career starting stories, right.
We were all spread then, we were doing any job
that we could get, and in our quote unquote free time,
we're working on the things that we are passionate about.
We're pursuing our dreams, our side hustles. And for Lynn,
that was writing in the Heights. But it paid off
really soon because the play opens off Broadway and within
(16:14):
just six months it's on the Great White Way.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Okay, I have a question, what is the Great White Way?
Speaker 3 (16:22):
Great question because the way we talked about it, it
seems like Broadway was created for and catering to white people.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
And then you that's what I was going to say,
and then.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
You hear that it's called the Great White Way, but
it's actually a longtime nickname for the theater district, and
it was coined in the early nineteen hundreds to pay
homage to the dazzling lights that you see from the Marquis.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
But I do think when you speak.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
To actors, producers, musicians of color, we all share something similar,
which is that Broadway for a long time felt like
it excluded us.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Then I went to I think that's like ninety percent Mexican. Really,
if you like, google that and I'll pass. So I'm
pretty sure that's accurate. I'm not even joking. And you know,
if we were going to play a play that was
let's say Hamilton or George Washington or whatever it is,
it's going to be all these Mexican kids, like we're
not confused for being white or anything like that. So
seeing this show and seeing all of these non white people,
(17:23):
you know, it was just it was really crazy to
like even take it all in totally.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
I mean, I hear you.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
I think for a long time Broadway has had a
really hard time appealing to diverse audiences, and it's because
the actors that represent All of these parts are white,
and as theater goers, we like to see a little
bit more representation, especially in a city like New York
that is so diverse. Where the show represents diversity, the
(17:50):
cast represents diversity. Behind the scenes, there's diversity. And that's
exactly what In the Heights did, even though it's just
a show about a regular shmegula day in Washington Heights
on the hottest day of the year. Our protagonist Usnavi
say who Usnavi Lynn's character's name and In the Heights. Okay,
(18:13):
so if you haven't seen it, the joke is that
Usnavi's mom pull into the dock and named him after
the letters that she saw on the show, like.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
The US Navy. I get that. I actually have a
Breymon named FedEx Felix. No, bitch, his name is FedEx.
No you don't, I do. But we won't even go there.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Okay, So it's the hottest day of the year in
the Heights.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
No one has ac It feels like the neighborhood is
literally melting. There's this big lotto drawing that someone in
the neighborhood's gonna win, and then blackout.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
I mean that sounds fun.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
It's so much fun. And the entire show is just that.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
It's this high energy progression filled with it's also and rap,
and it was like nothing Broadway had ever seen.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Honey. You know those white people were clutching their pearls.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Oh for sure, they did not know what to make
of this. And here's the thing.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
When you think of Broadway history, West Side Story quickly
comes up. Yes, it has Latino characters, but it was
written by two white guys. Then The Whiz comes out
in nineteen seventy five and it is an all black cast,
but it had to be a remake of The Wizard
of Oz for Broadway to even green light it.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
Then, of course you have Rent.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Bit you really, really really trying to sell Rent, honey.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Joseph Rent shook up Broadway in the nineties. It had
rock music, it had sex, it had drugs, It addressed.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
The HIV AIDS epidemic.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
It was like nothing that Broadway had ever seen. And
years after RNT, here comes Lynn with the most diverse
cast imaginable.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
They're rapping and waving Puerto Rican flags, Dominican flags. We've
got rap and salsa.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
It's in New York, but it's not in New York
that any of these rich people have ever been to.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Basically, Washington Heights might as well be Alaska to these
soho keeps.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
Right, but no gang violence, no drugs. This is just
a group of twenty somethings trying to figure out their
way in the world.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
This was eye opening at the time.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Uh, you mean Latins are just everyday people with everyday problems.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
Maybe you guys, Yeah, you know this was news to
a lot of people, and I mean a lot of
people because the show was a massive hit. Within ten months,
it made back its entire investment, and it started touring nationally.
Then the Tonys came calling. If you want to know
how Different In the Heights was, here are the musicals.
It was up again that year for Best Musical. Young Frankenstein.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
I didn't like all frank Next Gypsy, I saw the
film with Bud Midler and you cannot perfect perfection.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Next South Pacific.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
I do like warm Weather and Sailors, but for three
and a half hours, I mean, your boy has places
to be.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Next The Little Mermaid.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Okay, okay, I won't shade Aerial, but I'll wait for
the live action next.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Okay, So all of those were basically retreads of other
plays or films.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
In the Heights was original.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Which, by the way, is a state of Broadway right now,
just saying.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
It was nominated for thirteen Tonys that night, and it
won four, including the Best Musical. At twenty eight, when
was the youngest winner ever for Original Score. After he
accepted the Tony for Best Musical, the cast and producers
of the show hoisted him.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Up on their shoulders.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
It's a moment I think we'll all never forget. And
Broadway's new Golden Boy.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
How to write?
Speaker 2 (22:00):
I love that. Did you ever cover the Tonies?
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Yes, many times. It's actually one of my favorite nights
in New York. You know, there are certain things that
are very specific to the city. I think every city
has them. I think for New York one of them
is the Met Gala, which.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
We've talked about.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
We should just do a podcast about the Met Gala.
And another night that just feels so special and so
new York is the Tonies. I mean, it's a celebration
of something that only exists in New York City. It's incredible,
and it's also for me, it's a star making night.
And what I mean by that is I'm not shading
or disrespecting any of the actors because they are so
(22:38):
freaking talented, But the Tonys puts actors and dancers and
singers on a much bigger stage, a more mainstream stage,
and a lot of careers are made at the Tonys
because people then get to see these shows, or songs
from these shows, or the actor or actress in these shows,
and say, wait a second, that person deserves a shot
(23:00):
in Hollywood. Joseph, have you ever done makeup for the Tonys?
I'm sure right I have.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
I have done make for the Tonys for like models
and designers, no one who has actually been singing in it,
but like the designers that invite the people. I have
done that for.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
While still on Broadway, in the Heights gets optioned to
be a film, but it didn't premiere on screens until
twenty twenty one. Don't worry, we will discuss the movie
version of the play in our third episode on lin Manuel. Now,
remember I mentioned West Side Story. Somenheims sees in the
Heights and hires Lynn to rewrite the Latino songs in Spanish?
Speaker 2 (23:39):
How had they never thought of that? I know?
Speaker 1 (23:42):
And then he gets called on to write the music
for Bring It On. The musical.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Oh, it's already been a bot in.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
That movie is so much fun obsessed.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
I lived close to Torrents in California, and I thought
that I was going to go to the school and
see the Toro.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
It's not that we have to go to homecoming when
they have it.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Not them.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
After seeing in the Heights, everyone wants to add rap
and diverse music to their shows, and Lynn became the
man to call. Listen, Bring It On isn't going down
as one of the great musicals of all time.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Uh time will tell.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
Right right, But it was a payday for Lynn and
those were coming in left and right. Broadway saw what
Lynn was doing and they wanted in, including theatre's biggest night.
We talked about the Tonys before and how Lynn had
one a few of them, but he also got invited
back every year to write sketches for the Tonys, and y'all,
(24:41):
they are amazing. He sits backstage as the winners are
announced and then writes a song as the show is
happening live. Then Neil Patrick Harris comes out at the
end and raps the song which Lynn just wrote on
the fly.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
That is legend wait for it, dairy, Uh.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
It's Lynn.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
Literally, all he does is legendary. I also bring it
up because in twenty thirteen he wrote the opening number
for the Tonys and if you haven't seen it, it's
eight minutes of absolute joy and pure celebration of theater.
And it was so good it won Lynn an Emmy. Joseph,
have you seen this performance?
Speaker 2 (25:26):
No? I haven't.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
Okay, you need to watch it. Just google it.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
I will. So he's got a Tony an Emmy.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
He's missing the Oscar.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Did you have a crimey?
Speaker 1 (25:36):
He does.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
He won one for In the Heights and for a small,
little obscure show about a founding father. After in the Heights,
Lynn is a rising star in demand, including from the
forty fourth President of the United States. So I know,
now this seems like five lifetimes ago, But in two
(25:57):
thousand and nine, Barack Obama hosted a night spoken word
and poetry at the White House.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
They trying to class that place up.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
He invites Lynn to perform. Now, most people invited to
perform at the White House in front of the President
and the First Lady are going to perform something that
they know works, you know, something they practice they rehearse,
but Lynn m m Lin decides to debut something he
just wrote.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
He told Jimmy Kimmel, so, yeah, I had.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
Just written it, and I figured, if this doesn't work,
I'll just scrap it.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Like some white people say, those are some hue weelvos.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
So Lynn takes the stage and says he's working on
a concept album about someone who he thinks embodies the
hip hop Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. The audience cracks up,
and then Lynn starts rapping.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
And the crowd stops laughing.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
That performance was the first time the world learned of
a play that was coming to change the game.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
What's my Name?
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Man, Alexander Hamilton?
Speaker 3 (27:05):
Hamilton on the next Becoming an Icon. Becoming an Icon
is presented by Sono and Iheart's Michael Duda podcast network.
Listen to Becoming an Icon on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast,
(27:28):
or wherever you get your podcast
Joseph. Today we have a new icon.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Another one, Wait, did I just sound like DJ College?
Speaker 1 (00:08):
There I wasn't listening? Do it again?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
And another one.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
A little worse flavor good again?
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Another one there, you just sounded like happy Joseph. But
today we are talking about my fellow Brigua Lynn Menuel Miranda.
In one of our JLO episodes, we talked a little
bit about musicals and our shared love for them.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Chicago changed my life.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
I know, I know, and Rent is one of the
core reasons I even imagined a life for myself in
New York City five hundred and twenty five thousand and
six hundred minutes.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
How about love?
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Wait?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
What?
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Why do you sound so good?
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I'm a singer, bitch.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Are you taking voice?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Okay, Wait a second, I need my phones. I'm making
a RESI for karaoke right now.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Okay. So for you, it was Chicago. For me, it
was Rent.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Those musicals undeniably changed Broadway and Linn Minol Miranda, well,
he's responsible.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
For I know what you're going to say.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
In the Heights. I got you, didn't I you did,
And don't worry hammil fans. It is all coming up
in our next episode. So far on Icons, we've talked
about Bad Bunny, how he refused to conform, and how
he's broken records and shattered stereotypes along the way. We
(01:43):
talked about Jennifer Lopez and how her career has inspired.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
So many young Latinas.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
And Cardi B and how she shows all women that
there's always a path to success.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Yes, girl, But now we get to talk about Lynn,
how he reimagined and then completely revolutionized Broadway and not
just how it sounds, but more importantly, how it looks.
What we're about to say isn't breaking news, but Joseph
and I, well, we always keep it one hundred on
the show, so let's just say it.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Broadway is.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
White. As white as Kenny Chesney's concert in a snowstorm,
as white as Karen's chicken at the cookout, whiter than
fans of Yellowstone, Wider than a Civil War reenactment.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Exactly, it's really white. But that was all.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Before Lynn, before he made his way from the top
of Manhattan to the Theater District, then out here to
where I am in Lalla Land, and along the way,
earning the Genius Grant from the MacArthur Fellows Program, a Pulitzer,
Grammy's too many Tonys to count, and a few oscar noobs.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Oh shit, He's just the o away from the ecodes.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
On Today is Becoming an Icon lin Manuel, Miranda, the
boy from the Heights.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
I'm your host, Lilianavosquez.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
And I'm Joseph Carrio and this is Becoming an Icon a.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Weekly podcast where we give you the rundown on how
today's most famous LATINX stars have shaped pop culture.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
And given the world some extras.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Lebt, sit back and get comfortable.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Because we are going in the only.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Way we know how, with buenas Hi, bunasriesas, and a
lot of opinions as we relive their greatest achievements on
our journey to find out what makes them so iconic.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Okay, Lil's what are your first thoughts on Lynn?
Speaker 3 (03:59):
That is is completely unfair, how fucking talented he is.
I'm in awe of somebody like lin Manuel, because you know,
in theater or in this industry, you always hear of
like Triple Threat.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Right. Oh, they can sing, they can dance, they can act,
but you throw in there.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Wait, I thought you were talking about me. I'm sorry, sorry,
we know.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
That's a triple threat. You and Lann are in the
same category. Let's just keep it real, you know what
I mean.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
But I think with Lynne goes beyond what he gives
you on stage, Like, yes, he can sing, he can act,
he can dance, he can rap, he can perform, he
can write, he can produce, he can compose. I actually
asked him this in an interview. I was like, what
can you not do? And He's like, sometimes entertain my children,
which I think is really funny because all parents feel that, right,
Like sometimes you just show up a little short for
your kids. They don't think you're funny, they don't think
(04:43):
you're a superstar. You're just dad, and sometimes you're just annoying.
So for me, he wears all of those hats. You know,
he's also an incredible activist.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
I mean, I could go.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
On and on and on about how much immense respect
and all I have for this man.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
In The Heights, I loved it because it was just
so different. Yeah, and I got to work with some
of the actresses in it, so I was watching it
even more in the movie and then the Broadway.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Well, what's interesting is you seen in the Heights the
musical you have not seen Hamilton the Musical. I have
seen Hamilton the Musical, but I have never seen In
the Heights of the Musical. I've only seen the movie,
which I think is interesting because I think it's how
a lot of people have processed so much of Lynn's career.
It's the easiest way to process it, because tickets for
(05:28):
both I think were nearly impossible to get. People were
paying like thousands and thousands of dollars insane in svanity.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
But you know, when you look at both of these.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Works, at the heart of both of them is New
York City, right in the Heights and also Hamilton. And
I think when a lot of people think about the
American Revolution, they naturally think of Boston.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
They're not thinking about New York City.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Do you know a lot of people that think about
the American Revolution like of our friends.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
I don't know why that came out like that, as
if I'm some kind of like American Revolution scholar.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
I was about to be like, what's going on.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Yes, I'm doing a masters in early American Revolution historical figures.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
I'm here for it.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
I was just making a point, thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
But anyways, two things that are always close to Lyn's heart.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
New York and Puerto Rico has two homes.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Lynn was born in New York City and grew up
in Inwood And I'll save you the Google search so
you don't have to turn away from our podcast. In
Wood is like at the very very tippy top of
the island of Manhattan.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Like the tippy top. It's where you end up when
you drink way too much on a Thursday or Friday
night and you missed your stops on the train.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Okay, just so that's like thirty stop you have to
It's a lot of stops.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Well, Salue, honey, it's a lot of drinks too.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
It touche.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
So.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Lynn was born to a psychologist mother LUs and April
consultant father named.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Louis, Luis and Louis.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
That's cute, it is.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
And Lynn grows up in Inwood, but every summer he
goes and spends a month with his abola in Vega Altam.
Here's what he told the New York Times about Puerto Rico.
I believe I owe a great deal of who I
am to this island. It's a tactile thing. It's a
tempo thing. It's the pace of life here. It's the
way the world sounds at night, it's seeing the stars,
(07:27):
It's this oneness with nature that is very natural and real.
It is all the things you cannot get in New
York City, and it is its culture because the kindest
people I know are here.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
I mean, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Puerto Rico is just so dear, I think to both
of us, and so dear to Lynn. And in a
future episode, we're going to tell you all about what
Lynn has done for the island and his deep connection
to La Isla de Lincanto. But let's head uptown for now.
(08:02):
It was the early eighties. Lynn was growing up in
Manhattan and his house was filled with the sounds of
sadza and show tunes.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
See.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Lynn's parents were huge fans of Broadway, so they would
listen to cast albums in the house because theater is
expensive and the family just didn't have a lot of money,
so they couldn't go to see the show's luck, which
meant that Lynn had to imagine everything just through the music,
and it's one of the reasons he says he wants
(08:34):
every note of the album for his musicals to be
absolutely perfect. He knows that for many listening, it's as
close as they'll ever get to experiencing it.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
I believe that, and that is really so cool.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
I know he's telling you y'all, he's incredible now.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Growing up in the eighties in New York also meant
hip hop and rap. That scene was explosive at the time,
and Linn, well, he couldn't get enough. In his parents' car,
they'd be listening to Camelot and the Unsinkable Molly Brown,
and on his bus ride, the driver would be teaching
him Ghetto Boys, Sugarhill Gang and Boogie Down productions.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Damn. First of all, my school bus driver was not
that cool. We just smoked a lot of wheat together.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Did you just say we?
Speaker 2 (09:22):
I meant he he definitely smoked a lot of weed. Okay,
let's keep going.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Hip hop, Salsa, Broadway, no Way, steven sottheim was growing
up on that. Lynn became a great rapper and started
joining all the plays in high school.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
By the way, the school he went to was in
New York Magnet School, where he was classmates with MSNBC's
Chris Hayes.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Yeah, Hayes was even Lynn's first director, and he directed
Lynn's first play about and I am not making this up.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
This is a direct quote.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Oh gosh.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
It was about a twenty minute musical that featured a
maniacal fetal pig in a nightmare that Miranda had cut
up in biology class.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
I can't even that sounds terrible.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
I know, we need to find a video of it Internet,
do your thing. Soon, though, Lynn.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Was off to university where he would start writing a
play about his bodio that would ultimately change his life.
Lynn attended Wesleyan University in Connecticut. His sophomore year, well,
Lynn was feeling a little homesick, missing life back in
(10:37):
the city, so he put pen the paper and wrote
his first draft of In the Heights.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
I can totally get on board with being homesick.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Like I was so homesick my first year in college,
Like it was scary to be that far away.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
What about you?
Speaker 2 (10:56):
I was absolutely homesick, but it didn't inspire me to
write anything down. I think that's what turned on my
party boy way.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
And this is why we all cannot be the genius
that is Linn men Miranda, because when he reached for
his pen and paper, Joseph reached for his white cloth, hello,
and I reached for tube tops, platform shoes, and the
club exactly.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
So Lynn kept working on his plan, and he added
salsa and rap.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
He said he wanted to make the play feel like
a hip hop version of Rent. I am telling y'all
please don't sleep on Rent.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Yes, gen Z, I am talking to you.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
I want to go uhoo tonight.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Ooh, I love that song.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Oh that's a song. I was just telling you that
I wanted to get drinks later.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
I can't with you today, today, every day.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
So at a showing of the play, a Wesleyan alum
named Thomas Kale saw the show and Asklyn if he'd
be willing to develop the play for Broadway.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Duh, of course he did.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
So Lynn headed back to New York after graduation and
got to work on bringing his dream to the stage.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
But no one was paying for.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Drafts of but yet to be produced musical, so to
make ends meet, he took whatever jobs he could get
substitute teacher, music coach, restaurant critic, and then he started
getting roles on TV.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
He was in the Sopranos.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
I haven't seen the finale yet, so don't spoil anything.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
The finale was seventeen years ago.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
I've been busy.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Okay, yeah, well Lynn also had a memorable run in
house as Hugh Lawi's roommate in a psychiatric hospital.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
It's not lupus.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
It was never lupus.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Now, before we move on, I do think it's important
to talk about how many different jobs Lynn had because
I love this story. I love that he had to
do ten other things before he ever got to do
the one thing that he was literally put on this
earth to do, which is create music.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
So, Joseph, what jobs have you done to pay the bills?
The legal ones? Please?
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Oh? Legal, the go go? Oh okay, taxes, taxes on them?
Let me think, just make up. Actually, I worked at
a call center for a brief minute.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Is that why your voice is so perfect for a podcast?
Were you manifesting this when you worked at a call center?
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Hello, it's me.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
No. What was your first job ever? And what was
the most random TV job you've ever had? Oh?
Speaker 3 (13:38):
I love that question. People always ask what my first
TV job is, which was not that out of the ordinary,
but my most random TV job? Well, it's a tie.
I'm so embarrassed.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
I don't even know.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
I want to hear them both.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
So my most random TV job, I was a virtual
casino host what the for a line gambling site that
was hosted in like the fall sort of something, and
we recorded it all on a green screen and I
(14:15):
was the virtual casino host with two other guys, so
fucking random.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
We shot it at like that.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Is when you said that is random, that's random.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Okay, that's not all do you want to hear?
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Like? And this one is the most random. And by
the way, this one's still oh.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
So this one one that was a tie, this is
the it was a tie.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Let's be very clear.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
When you want to work in television and you don't
have a broadcast journalism degree and you have no connections
and you are literally building from the ground up, you
take any and all the jobs.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
And by the way, there is no shame in any
and all of the jobs.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
But this one still hunts me because they still play
it because when I signed my contract for this job,
I signed it in perpetuity, meaning they can and run
this commercial for the rest of.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
My life, for all eternity.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Till I die. Wow, and even then they'll still run it.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
I did an infomercial for a used car lot in Pennsylvania. Stop,
I swear to God in Spanish.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Oh, I cannot wait to google this and tweet it
and show everybody listen.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
I was a working TV host in two languages and
I made one hundred and twenty five dollars that day.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
So and you know what, that commercial is still playing
for one.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Hundred and twenty five dollars. They bought the rights to
me forever.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
For all attorneityes, y'all, don't.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Ever cheapen yourself ask for the big bucks. You just
never know.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
And that's the thing about all of these career starting stories, right.
We were all spread then, we were doing any job
that we could get, and in our quote unquote free time,
we're working on the things that we are passionate about.
We're pursuing our dreams, our side hustles. And for Lynn,
that was writing in the Heights. But it paid off
really soon because the play opens off Broadway and within
(16:14):
just six months it's on the Great White Way.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Okay, I have a question, what is the Great White Way?
Speaker 3 (16:22):
Great question because the way we talked about it, it
seems like Broadway was created for and catering to white people.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
And then you that's what I was going to say,
and then.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
You hear that it's called the Great White Way, but
it's actually a longtime nickname for the theater district, and
it was coined in the early nineteen hundreds to pay
homage to the dazzling lights that you see from the Marquis.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
But I do think when you speak.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
To actors, producers, musicians of color, we all share something similar,
which is that Broadway for a long time felt like
it excluded us.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Then I went to I think that's like ninety percent Mexican. Really,
if you like, google that and I'll pass. So I'm
pretty sure that's accurate. I'm not even joking. And you know,
if we were going to play a play that was
let's say Hamilton or George Washington or whatever it is,
it's going to be all these Mexican kids, like we're
not confused for being white or anything like that. So
seeing this show and seeing all of these non white people,
(17:23):
you know, it was just it was really crazy to
like even take it all in totally.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
I mean, I hear you.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
I think for a long time Broadway has had a
really hard time appealing to diverse audiences, and it's because
the actors that represent All of these parts are white,
and as theater goers, we like to see a little
bit more representation, especially in a city like New York
that is so diverse. Where the show represents diversity, the
(17:50):
cast represents diversity. Behind the scenes, there's diversity. And that's
exactly what In the Heights did, even though it's just
a show about a regular shmegula day in Washington Heights
on the hottest day of the year. Our protagonist Usnavi
say who Usnavi Lynn's character's name and In the Heights. Okay,
(18:13):
so if you haven't seen it, the joke is that
Usnavi's mom pull into the dock and named him after
the letters that she saw on the show, like.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
The US Navy. I get that. I actually have a
Breymon named FedEx Felix. No, bitch, his name is FedEx.
No you don't, I do. But we won't even go there.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Okay, So it's the hottest day of the year in
the Heights.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
No one has ac It feels like the neighborhood is
literally melting. There's this big lotto drawing that someone in
the neighborhood's gonna win, and then blackout.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
I mean that sounds fun.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
It's so much fun. And the entire show is just that.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
It's this high energy progression filled with it's also and rap,
and it was like nothing Broadway had ever seen.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Honey. You know those white people were clutching their pearls.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Oh for sure, they did not know what to make
of this. And here's the thing.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
When you think of Broadway history, West Side Story quickly
comes up. Yes, it has Latino characters, but it was
written by two white guys. Then The Whiz comes out
in nineteen seventy five and it is an all black cast,
but it had to be a remake of The Wizard
of Oz for Broadway to even green light it.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
Then, of course you have Rent.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Bit you really, really really trying to sell Rent, honey.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Joseph Rent shook up Broadway in the nineties. It had
rock music, it had sex, it had drugs, It addressed.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
The HIV AIDS epidemic.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
It was like nothing that Broadway had ever seen. And
years after RNT, here comes Lynn with the most diverse
cast imaginable.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
They're rapping and waving Puerto Rican flags, Dominican flags. We've
got rap and salsa.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
It's in New York, but it's not in New York
that any of these rich people have ever been to.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Basically, Washington Heights might as well be Alaska to these
soho keeps.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
Right, but no gang violence, no drugs. This is just
a group of twenty somethings trying to figure out their
way in the world.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
This was eye opening at the time.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Uh, you mean Latins are just everyday people with everyday problems.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
Maybe you guys, Yeah, you know this was news to
a lot of people, and I mean a lot of
people because the show was a massive hit. Within ten months,
it made back its entire investment, and it started touring nationally.
Then the Tonys came calling. If you want to know
how Different In the Heights was, here are the musicals.
It was up again that year for Best Musical. Young Frankenstein.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
I didn't like all frank Next Gypsy, I saw the
film with Bud Midler and you cannot perfect perfection.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Next South Pacific.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
I do like warm Weather and Sailors, but for three
and a half hours, I mean, your boy has places
to be.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Next The Little Mermaid.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Okay, okay, I won't shade Aerial, but I'll wait for
the live action next.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Okay, So all of those were basically retreads of other
plays or films.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
In the Heights was original.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Which, by the way, is a state of Broadway right now,
just saying.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
It was nominated for thirteen Tonys that night, and it
won four, including the Best Musical. At twenty eight, when
was the youngest winner ever for Original Score. After he
accepted the Tony for Best Musical, the cast and producers
of the show hoisted him.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Up on their shoulders.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
It's a moment I think we'll all never forget. And
Broadway's new Golden Boy.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
How to write?
Speaker 2 (22:00):
I love that. Did you ever cover the Tonies?
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Yes, many times. It's actually one of my favorite nights
in New York. You know, there are certain things that
are very specific to the city. I think every city
has them. I think for New York one of them
is the Met Gala, which.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
We've talked about.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
We should just do a podcast about the Met Gala.
And another night that just feels so special and so
new York is the Tonies. I mean, it's a celebration
of something that only exists in New York City. It's incredible,
and it's also for me, it's a star making night.
And what I mean by that is I'm not shading
or disrespecting any of the actors because they are so
(22:38):
freaking talented, But the Tonys puts actors and dancers and
singers on a much bigger stage, a more mainstream stage,
and a lot of careers are made at the Tonys
because people then get to see these shows, or songs
from these shows, or the actor or actress in these shows,
and say, wait a second, that person deserves a shot
(23:00):
in Hollywood. Joseph, have you ever done makeup for the Tonys?
I'm sure right I have.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
I have done make for the Tonys for like models
and designers, no one who has actually been singing in it,
but like the designers that invite the people. I have
done that for.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
While still on Broadway, in the Heights gets optioned to
be a film, but it didn't premiere on screens until
twenty twenty one. Don't worry, we will discuss the movie
version of the play in our third episode on lin Manuel. Now,
remember I mentioned West Side Story. Somenheims sees in the
Heights and hires Lynn to rewrite the Latino songs in Spanish?
Speaker 2 (23:39):
How had they never thought of that? I know?
Speaker 1 (23:42):
And then he gets called on to write the music
for Bring It On. The musical.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Oh, it's already been a bot in.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
That movie is so much fun obsessed.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
I lived close to Torrents in California, and I thought
that I was going to go to the school and
see the Toro.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
It's not that we have to go to homecoming when
they have it.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Not them.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
After seeing in the Heights, everyone wants to add rap
and diverse music to their shows, and Lynn became the
man to call. Listen, Bring It On isn't going down
as one of the great musicals of all time.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Uh time will tell.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
Right right, But it was a payday for Lynn and
those were coming in left and right. Broadway saw what
Lynn was doing and they wanted in, including theatre's biggest night.
We talked about the Tonys before and how Lynn had
one a few of them, but he also got invited
back every year to write sketches for the Tonys, and y'all,
(24:41):
they are amazing. He sits backstage as the winners are
announced and then writes a song as the show is
happening live. Then Neil Patrick Harris comes out at the
end and raps the song which Lynn just wrote on
the fly.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
That is legend wait for it, dairy, Uh.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
It's Lynn.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
Literally, all he does is legendary. I also bring it
up because in twenty thirteen he wrote the opening number
for the Tonys and if you haven't seen it, it's
eight minutes of absolute joy and pure celebration of theater.
And it was so good it won Lynn an Emmy. Joseph,
have you seen this performance?
Speaker 2 (25:26):
No? I haven't.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
Okay, you need to watch it. Just google it.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
I will. So he's got a Tony an Emmy.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
He's missing the Oscar.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Did you have a crimey?
Speaker 1 (25:36):
He does.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
He won one for In the Heights and for a small,
little obscure show about a founding father. After in the Heights,
Lynn is a rising star in demand, including from the
forty fourth President of the United States. So I know,
now this seems like five lifetimes ago, But in two
(25:57):
thousand and nine, Barack Obama hosted a night spoken word
and poetry at the White House.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
They trying to class that place up.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
He invites Lynn to perform. Now, most people invited to
perform at the White House in front of the President
and the First Lady are going to perform something that
they know works, you know, something they practice they rehearse,
but Lynn m m Lin decides to debut something he
just wrote.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
He told Jimmy Kimmel, so, yeah, I had.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
Just written it, and I figured, if this doesn't work,
I'll just scrap it.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Like some white people say, those are some hue weelvos.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
So Lynn takes the stage and says he's working on
a concept album about someone who he thinks embodies the
hip hop Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. The audience cracks up,
and then Lynn starts rapping.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
And the crowd stops laughing.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
That performance was the first time the world learned of
a play that was coming to change the game.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
What's my Name?
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Man, Alexander Hamilton?
Speaker 3 (27:05):
Hamilton on the next Becoming an Icon. Becoming an Icon
is presented by Sono and Iheart's Michael Duda podcast network.
Listen to Becoming an Icon on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast,
(27:28):
or wherever you get your podcast
Hosts And Creators
Lilliana Vazquez
Joseph Carrillo
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