The hottest ticket in New York right now is a musical at the Public Theater, the downtown off-Broadway venue. The star and creator is Lin-Manuel Miranda, a 35-year-old Nuyorican composer and rapper. The musical vocabulary is what you might hear on the radio, with hip-hop predominating. The subject is the first Treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton. The treatment is entirely earnest, and deeply sympathetic. Don’t call the election of 1800 just yet, the late returns are running Federalist.
Miranda (whose first musical, In the Heights, was showered with awards) was inspired by reading Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton on a vacation. His first thought was to make a mix-tape about the hero’s life. He performed what is now the show’s opening number, “Alexander Hamilton,” at a White House concert in 2009; the video is on YouTube. (The Obamas and the other guests react with more than a touch of surprise.) Over time, Miranda worked his material into another musical. It is bound for Broadway sometime this summer. Order tickets now, the run at the Public is sold out.
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