Miranda wrote “In the Heights” about his Washington Heights neighborhood, then spent seven years creating “Hamilton”—hip-hop musical about a founding father. “Hamilton” won 11 Tonys, a Pulitzer, and changed Broadway by casting non-white actors as historical white figures, using contemporary music to make history feel urgent and relevant. Miranda makes musicals about communities often invisible in theater: Latino neighborhoods, immigrants building new lives, revolutionaries rapping about legacy. He brought hip-hop to Broadway and made theater cool for generations who thought musicals were uncool.
