Lin-Manuel Miranda Hamilton interview with Leigh Sales | In The Room: Full Episode | ABC TV + iview

Summary

Lin-Manuel Miranda visits Australia for a special interview with Leigh Sales, where he discusses his journey with 'Hamilton', the global sensation that captivated audiences worldwide. With a humorous touch, Miranda opens up about his creative process, the unique intricacies of translating 'Hamilton' for foreign audiences, and his personal experiences with the Australian production. The interview is filled with laughter, reflections, and a genuine appreciation for the cultural impact of 'Hamilton'.

Highlights

• Miranda's reflections on stepping down intimidating steps on stage for the first time. 😂
• How Miranda bonded with his Australian cousins over the German translation of 'Hamilton'. 🇦🇹
• Insights into the first-ever foreign-language production of 'Hamilton' in Germany. ✨
• The story of Hugh Laurie inspiring the King George song 'You'll Be Back'. 🎶
• Lin-Manuel's unique method of remembering lines by 'unremembering' others’ parts. 🧠
• Miranda's enduring excitement seeing how different casts interpret 'Hamilton'. 🎭
• An unexpected 'Hamilton' fan moment featured his children watching him on 'Bluey'. 🎉
• A humorous take on working his role as Hamilton with rapid-fire lyrics and passion. 🔥

Key Takeaways

• Lin-Manuel Miranda shared his excitement about the Australian audience's love for 'Hamilton'. 🇦🇺
• He opened up about the challenges and joys of translating 'Hamilton' into German. 🇩🇪
• The cameo on 'Bluey' was a big hit among his children, shaping how they view his work. 🐴
• Miranda spoke about the collaborative nature of crafting a hit musical full of rhyme and rhythm. 🎶
• He reminisced about memorable backstage moments and shared fun anecdotes from the production. 🎭
• The crowd was thrilled with insights into Miranda's creative process and inspirations. 🎤
• Jason Arrow joined Miranda on stage, receiving praise for his role as Alexander Hamilton. 🎩
• Audiences worldwide relate to 'Hamilton' on different levels—be it history, music, or politics. 🌍

Overview

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s recent visit to Australia was nothing short of electrifying, as he joined Leigh Sales for an engaging discussion on the worldwide phenomenon that is ‘Hamilton’. Stepping onto the iconic stage, Miranda was met with warmth and enthusiasm from an audience of die-hard fans. His charm and wit shone through as he shared insights into the show’s translation into other languages, and the surprising satisfaction he found in minor acting roles, like his cameo on 'Bluey'.

What resonated most with the audience were Miranda's candid anecdotes and deep dive into his creative brain, revealing the meticulous artistry behind his modern classics. His understanding of character development, and his focus on internal rhyme and rhythm, highlighted why 'Hamilton' translates across cultures and languages. This shared cultural spirit was humorously underlined when he spoke about bringing his Austrian cousins to scrutinize the German rendition of the play.

The event was a heartwarming celebration of theater and collaboration, as Miranda was joined by Jason Arrow, the Australian Hamilton, whose performance was lauded by Miranda himself. The conversation flowed from technical musical breakdowns to personal reflections, leaving the audience inspired by the magic of storytelling and music. As Miranda thanked Australia, the heartfelt exchange made clear the universal themes of his work and its power to resonate globally.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 02:00: Opening and Introduction The chapter titled "Opening and Introduction" serves as the initial segment of the book, setting the stage for the themes and discussions to follow. It provides an overview of what readers can expect in the subsequent chapters, introducing the main topics and possibly the key figures or concepts that will be explored in detail. This chapter likely aims to hook the reader's interest, offering insight into the author's purpose and approach for the book.
• 02:00 - 04:00: Lin-Manuel Miranda's Entrance and Opening Remarks The chapter opens with enthusiastic cheering and applause as Lin-Manuel Miranda makes his entrance. He expresses his surprise at finding himself in a legendary setting, feeling an overwhelming impulse to start his speech with the opening lines from the musical 'Hamilton', adopting an American accent.
• 04:00 - 06:00: Lin-Manuel Miranda discusses Hamilton's Global Impact Lin-Manuel Miranda engages with an enthusiastic audience, recognizing them as dedicated fans of 'Hamilton.' He shares a lighthearted interaction by testing the audience's familiarity with the musical's lines, celebrating the show's cultural significance and hinting at how 'Hamilton' has captivated hearts globally.
• 06:00 - 09:00: Awards and Honors This chapter covers a speech or performance, possibly at an awards or honors event. The speaker opens with humor, acknowledging the audience's impatience by saying, "Sales, just shut up and get him out here." This sets a light-hearted tone. The speaker then introduces themselves humorously, switching from the fictional name Alexander Hamilton to their actual name, Lin-Manuel Miranda, to the audience's applause and cheers. This reference suggests a connection to the musical 'Hamilton,' for which Lin-Manuel Miranda is well-known. The excerpt concludes with a few lines from 'Hamilton,' emphasizing themes of ambition and resilience.
• 09:00 - 11:00: Miranda on Bluey and Kids' Reactions In the chapter titled 'Miranda on Bluey and Kids' Reactions', the focus is on the reception and emotional responses surrounding Bluey, a popular children's program. Lin-Manuel Miranda discusses the overwhelming love and enthusiasm from both children and audiences, highlighted by a musical opening reminiscent of Hamilton. The chapter emphasizes the palpable energy and excitement experienced during performances, with a particular note on how Miranda manages to maintain composure despite the emotional impact of such a positive reception. The narrative showcases the dedication and hard work that goes into entertaining and engaging young audiences.
• 11:00 - 15:00: Insights into Writing Hamilton This chapter explores the challenges and insights behind the staging of 'Hamilton,' particularly focusing on the humorous yet risky element of navigating the steep stairs during the performance. The conversation reveals the team’s candid concerns about potential mishaps, like the main performer possibly falling. Despite these backstage worries, there's gratitude expressed for the warm reception from Australian audiences, emphasizing the meaningful impact it has on the performers.
• 15:00 - 19:00: Translation of Hamilton into German The chapter titled 'Translation of Hamilton into German' captures the excitement and admiration of fans who traveled long distances to experience the performance. It highlights the joy and love the creator feels in response to the audience's appreciation, acknowledging how meaningful the artistic work has been for people. There is a mention of the desire to have shared this experience sooner, reflecting on an impactful moment from 2020.
• 19:00 - 21:00: Creating Lafayette's Character The chapter focuses on the production of 'Hamilton' in Australia, which, at the time, was the only running production of the show worldwide due to the global pandemic. This situation positions the Australian production as a beacon of hope for other theatre companies. The chapter highlights expressions of gratitude and appreciation from the creative team towards the cast and crew for their dedication and support during such challenging times.
• 21:00 - 25:00: Miranda's Creative Process In this chapter, the discussion focuses on Lin's numerous achievements, including multiple Tony Awards, Grammys, a Pulitzer Prize, and Academy Award nominations. Despite these significant accolades, there's a humorous tone as they joke about needing a cameo on the children's show Bluey to add to the list. The conversation includes a light-hearted mention of a friend pointing out this amusing addition to his accomplishments, underscoring the informal and playful nature of how achievements are celebrated. The chapter highlights a visit to the Bluey studios, weaving personal anecdotes and family impressions into the fabric of Lin's professional journey.
• 25:00 - 29:00: Musical Inspirations and Techniques The chapter delves into the unique experiences behind the scenes of the animated series "Bluey." It highlights the joy and surprise of being involved in a beloved show that resonated deeply with audiences, especially during the pandemic. The speaker humorously recounts their role as Bluey's first horse, reflecting on the special connection and the shared family enjoyment of the series, which stands out as a bonding experience stemming from their own city, Brisbane.
• 29:00 - 33:00: Collaborative Efforts and Performance The chapter begins with a speaker expressing surprise and honor at being asked to participate in a project, which involved recording their part at an unconventional time—3 AM. They humorously note the simplicity and insignificance of their contribution, describing it as 'two lines' that they'll 'never top.'
• 33:00 - 40:00: Discussion with Jason Arrow In this chapter titled 'Discussion with Jason Arrow,' the conversation centers around the challenges of memorizing lines for a word-heavy show. The speaker discusses the unique approach of 'unremembering' other characters' parts to focus on their own role. This involves understanding what their character, Burr, needed to express and what others like Jefferson and Hamilton conveyed in key scenes. The speaker reflects on the process as one of subtraction and shares the experience of performing the show for a year and a half.
• 40:00 - 45:00: Backstage Memories and High-Profile Audience Members Chapter 1: Backstage Memories and High-Profile Audience Members
• 45:00 - 50:00: Casting and Acting in Hamilton In this chapter titled 'Casting and Acting in Hamilton,' the speaker shares their observations from watching 'Hamilton' on Broadway in New York. They refer specifically to a moment in the song 'Guns And Ships' where a letter is passed around. The speaker notes a subtle detail where the character Burr hesitates before passing the letter. This small moment, which they urge others to re-watch on Disney+, highlights the intricate acting choices that add depth to the performance. Laughter and enthusiasm are noted from the speaker, indicating a joyful reflection on the experience.
• 50:00 - 54:00: The Mysterious Gasp and Collaborative Creation In this chapter, the author discusses a humorous moment in the musical 'Hamilton' that they noticed during one of their recent viewings. They describe a scene in the Battle Of Yorktown where George Washington looks particularly intense and exciting, emphasizing the thrill of the performance. The author also expresses excitement over the first foreign-language production of the musical in Australia, highlighting the global appeal and reach of 'Hamilton.'
• 54:00 - 58:00: Advice for Aspiring Artists This chapter explores the intriguing process of translating a work for an international audience, specifically focusing on a project in Hamburg, Germany. The chapter reveals the complexities involved in maintaining the original essence and rhyme of the work in a different language. A collaborative approach was used, involving both a professional translator and a rapper to manage the internal rhymes, ensuring the translated text retained the lyrical and rhythmic qualities of the original. This creative solution demonstrates the importance of teamwork and specialized skills in preserving artistic integrity across language barriers.
• 58:00 - 60:00: Concluding Remarks and Audience Interaction The chapter titled 'Concluding Remarks and Audience Interaction' features a personal anecdote shared by the speaker about their Austrian family through marriage, highlighting their connection to the German-speaking side of the family. The speaker humorously recounts the initial meeting with Austrian cousins, emphasizing their awareness and engagement with the family dynamics. Additionally, the speaker shares their significant experience of translating parts of 'West Side Story' into Spanish for a Broadway revival in 2009, illustrating their involvement in culturally significant projects and their talent in language translation.

Lin-Manuel Miranda Hamilton interview with Leigh Sales | In The Room: Full Episode | ABC TV + iview Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30
• 00:30 - 01:00 (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Do you know, I wasn't expecting it, but honestly, walking out on this iconic set and striding to front centrestage, I have such an uncontrollable urge to open by saying... (AMERICAN ACCENT) .."How does a bastard, orphan..."
• 01:00 - 01:30 (LAUGHTER) (LAUGHS) "What time is it?" ALL: Showtime! (LAUGHS) Oh, come on. Any old audience could have got that. Let me test you with a harder one, 'cause I'm sensing it's a room of fairly hardcore Hamilton fans. (CHEERING) OK, let me give you a harder one. "Even though we started at the very same time..." Alexander Hamilton began to climb! How to account for his rise to the top? Man, the man is nonstop! (LAUGHS)
• 01:30 - 02:00 That is very, very impressive. Now, I know what you're all thinking. You're all thinking, "Sales, just shut up and get him out here." (LAUGHTER) Thank you. Thank you for that. "What's your name, man?" Alexander Hamilton. Actually, the name today is Lin-Manuel Miranda! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) # I am not throwin' away my shot # Hey, yo, I'm just like my country I'm young, scrappy and hungry # And I'm not throwin' away my shot
• 02:00 - 02:30 # I am not throwin' away my shot # I am not throwin' away my shot # Hey, yo, I'm just like my country I'm young, scrappy and hungry # And I'm not throwin' away my shot # Everybody sing Whoa, whoa, whoa # Whoa Whoo! # Whoa # Should let 'em hear ya Let's go... # Ohh! Lin, how do you not cry when you get a reception like that? The love... It's pretty wi... Well, I was working very hard
• 02:30 - 03:00 to come down those steps without falling. (LAUGHTER) Hamilton never goes down those steps in the show. He goes up there on... # Just you wait! # And then I die and I go up there, but I never actually come back down the steps. So that was pretty much 90% of my thinking. And they're hellishly steep. Yes. I mean, when we were rehearsing, I was thinking, "Oh, God, I don't know if we want to do this. "What if Lin, like, as his entrance, you know, topples down the stairs?" But thank you for the incredible reception, Australia. It really means the world.
• 03:00 - 03:30 Someone was holding up a sign that they came 1,000 miles to see you. That's... Wow. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) I came across the world to see you! (LAUGHTER) It must feel... I feel so happy for you this morning that you get to experience feeling all this love and joy, because you have given people so much joy with what you've created. Oh, well, thank you so... I mean, honestly, I only wish I could have come sooner, you know? I think you guys well know that there was a moment in 2020
• 03:30 - 04:00 where the Hamilton production in Australia was the only production of Hamilton running in the world. Theatre had really shut down because of the pandemic and we didn't know if it would ever be back, so you guys really were an example of hope to the rest of our companies while that was happening, and I just...I'm really just here to say thank you and...and...and show my appreciation on behalf of the creative team and everybody for the way you guys have loved and supported the show and this incredible company, so, thank you.
• 04:00 - 04:30 So, Lin, you have three Tony Awards, five Grammys, a Pulitzer Prize, two Academy Award nominations. You keep this up and you could really make something of yourself. Yeah. (LAUGHTER) And a cameo on Bluey. A cameo on Bluey! (LAUGHS) (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Somebody... My friend Rachel McElroy texted me this morning, "Tony, Emmy, Grammy, Bluey." (LAUGHTER) I was like, "Yeah, that's pretty amazing." We went yesterday for a visit to the Bluey studios, and have your kids been impressed by anything you've done
• 04:30 - 05:00 as much as the fact that you're on Bluey? No, that's pretty much it. (LAUGHTER) It's an amazing thing to be able to do it and to see the process, isn't it, of how they pull all that together? It was really...it was really special, really kismet that the show that got us through the pandemic and, really, the only show everyone in our family can agree on... "I want to watch this." "I want to watch this." "Can we just watch Bluey?" "Yes." (LAUGHTER) ..is made here in Brisbane. So it was a really special treat. And you had a bit of a stretch, 'cause you had to play a horse. (LAUGHTER) Excuse me. I played Bluey's FIRST horse. (LAUGHTER)
• 05:00 - 05:30 So I was...yes, I was very... I was honoured to be asked. I think I recorded my piece at three in the morning my time. It's two lines and, uh, I'll never top it. Did you go Method? Oh, yeah. I mean...in the fields for days learning to gallop. (LAUGHS) You came along to the show last night and it was the most amazing audience reception. Do you find it hard to not sing along? I think in the beginning I did, because I think something people lose perspective of was I wrote the whole thing.
• 05:30 - 06:00 So there was a... When people were... You know, a lot of the question, because it's such a word-heavy show, was, "How do you remember all those lines?" And I say, "No, I'm unremembering everyone else's parts." 'Cause I had to figure out what Burr needed to say in that moment, I had to figure out what Jefferson was saying to Hamilton in that first rap battle. So a lot of the learning of the show for me was subtraction. And then, you know, doing the show for a year and a half and then...
• 06:00 - 06:30 ..was really, kind of...you know, keeps me very much in my lane. For me, the fun in watching the show is really watching everything I couldn't see from inside the show. I still see new things that happen in the surround and new things our incredible ensemble does every time I watch it. Well, I was going to ask you about that, because, you know, lots of casts have now done it all over the place. Can you still be surprised when you're watching a show by the choices actors might make, or what they might convey with their tone or their body language that illuminates a particular motivation or intent?
• 06:30 - 07:00 Absolutely. Um... The last time I saw it not in Australia - it was probably in New York - was the first time I noticed that... Well, you know, there's the part in Guns And Ships, right, where, "You gotta get your..." "The sooner the better to get your right-hand man back," and then they pass the letter around the surround. I never noticed that Burr hesitates when he gets the letter and almost doesn't pass it. Watch it again on Disney+. (LAUGHS) (LAUGHTER)
• 07:00 - 07:30 But it's going da, da, da, da, da. Burr goes, "Oh, f***." (LAUGHTER) And I never noticed that until, like, the last time I watched it. Last night, I had the thrill of, during the Battle Of Yorktown, seeing George Washington kind of hawk-eyeing... (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) ..with his sword in one hand and the other one doing this. And I got really excited. I was like, "Only in Australia. That's f***in' dope." (LAUGHTER) The first foreign-language production of Hamilton
• 07:30 - 08:00 is actually just opening now in Hamburg, in Germany. So, how does that work? 'Cause I presume if it's translated to German, you're losing all the rhyme? You're not. You're not?! Oh, my God! How'd they do that? No. It was about a three-year process. And what our partners in Germany did, which was really smart, was their translation team consisted of not only a translator who does this for a living, but a rapper who was basically on internal rhyme duty. And what I said to them at the outset of it...
• 08:00 - 08:30 First of all, my mother-in-law is from Austria and fluent in German, so I have a whole German side of the family via marriage. And I showed up to the first meeting with my Austrian cousins and I was like, "You can't just pull one over on me. I want to..." (LAUGHTER) "These guys are checking your work." But one of the things I said to them is actually what... You know, I had the incredible privilege of translating some of West Side Story into Spanish for the last revival on Broadway, in 2009 or so,
• 08:30 - 09:00 and Stephen Sondheim, I met with him, and he said to me, "My ear is ONLY checking for the internal rhymes. "I'm only... You know, that's... "I don't speak Spanish. That's what I'm going to hear. "So as long as you can maintain that, I'm happy, "and if you need a different metaphor that fits the situation, "like, make a different metaphor." And so I basically gave the same advice to the German translators. And every few months, they'd say, "We have six new songs." And they're in demo form.
• 09:00 - 09:30 You get three columns - my lyrics, the German translation, and then the literal back-translation of the German translation, and you go through them and you go, "Alright, this is a bridge too far. Is there something..." And the challenge with this show is that we keep bringing the same phrases back around to mean different things. A 'shot' isn't just a gunshot. It's an opportunity, it's a shot of liquor, it's as many things as I can make 'shot' mean. Same as 'satisfied'. You know, 'satisfaction' is what...
• 09:30 - 10:00 To 'demand satisfaction' is to basically call for a duel. There is...there's several meanings of 'satisfied'. And so to find phrases in other languages that have that utility was very tricky. And 'shot' is, like, one syllable, so it's like if you don't have it, you don't have it. That's the challenge we're finding in the Spanish translation right now. There isn't a one-syllable 'shot' that does all the things we need it to do yet. But we'll figure it out.
• 10:00 - 10:30 And so, yeah, so it was three years. Our incredible... One of our incredible music supervisors, Kurt Crowley, basically learned German to supervise the process. And, um...yeah, and I'm really... I'm really proud of it. You haven't lived till you've heard Satisfied in German. (LAUGHTER) What is it like writing for a character that has English as a second language, like Lafayette? Oh, that's really fun. What I find, because I grew up in a household where half my family learned English as a second language -
• 10:30 - 11:00 my father and our abuela, who was living with us - and I find that... the inverse of Sondheim's thing of like, "Well, it wouldn't be so clear." I find that there's so much more freedom and fun with the language when you are learning it for yourself. So, to get to play with Lafayette, playing, "Onarchy? How you say... Anarchy?" and have him really struggling to find the words at the top of the show, and then by Guns And Ships, he's faster than everybody else!
• 11:00 - 11:30 (LAUGHTER) He's like, "I got it, I got it." So, that's a really fun language arc that we have that tell us just how... ..first of all, how brilliant he is as a character and as a person, but also, it gives us a little mini journey inside itself, just through language. What kind of a feeling does it give you when you land a rhyme that's just so right, like 'anarchy' with 'panicky'? Oh, it's... I mean, it's really fun. You know, I think that the fun for me is...
• 11:30 - 12:00 ..is in the unexpected and is in the... You know, Sondheim talks about the ideal of a pure rhyme being "surprising but inevitable". And that's really f... I mean, you know, one of the... (CHUCKLES) ..one of the email... The only email I have from him that is framed was I had the good fortune to write the closing number for the Tony Awards one year, and I wrote this sort of...
• 12:00 - 12:30 And I had to write it during the show. Neil Patrick Harris wanted to surprise the audience with this kind of rapped recap of everything that happened, and the only way to do that is to be backstage writing it, 'cause we don't know who the winners are beforehand. And so I was backstage writing the whole thing, and the system we devised was I would underline the down-beats so that Neil would know how to deliver it, 'cause there was no time to practise it. He would run down between gigs on stage and run through everything we had so far, then he'd go back.
• 12:30 - 13:00 It was really intense and stressful, but I learned two things that night. One, I learned that I have a distinctive style, because as soon as he started doing it, my phone started buzzing and all my friends were like, "Are you backstage?!" (LAUGHTER) And I was like, "Oh, wow. I have a recognisable style." Because my friends knew immediately that I had written it as soon as he started. And then the next night, I got an email from Stephen Sondheim, and it just says, "Andrew Rannells sang I Believe and he LANDED IT
• 13:00 - 13:30 "so well, he's now Mitt Romney's VP CANDIDATE." (LAUGHTER) And I just got an email from Steve saying, "Landed it/candidate - you deserve a medal!" (LAUGHTER) (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) That's the best email I ever got in my life. To surprise him is hard. (LAUGHS) Hamilton appeals to different people for so many different reasons, right? 'Cause history buffs love it for that reason,
• 13:30 - 14:00 music nerds like me love it to pick apart the music, lovers of language love all of the rhymes and so forth, people who like politics like it because of the politics. But even with all of the different reasons that people are attracted to Hamilton, there are certain lines that seem to kind of have a bit of a universal resonance when they land, and one of them that springs to mind is "Immigrants - we get the job done." Does that always land in front of every audience? (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Yeah. Um... Because it's true. (LAUGHTER)
• 14:00 - 14:30 That's why it lands. And it's, again, that "surprising but inevitable" thing that Steve Sondheim was always chasing. You have these two... You know, I was writing this moment, and it's really the only time Lafayette and Hamilton are alone, and, you know, I'm there as a dramatist trying to approach this moment. I was like, "What do they share?" And what they share is they came here from somewhere else and now they are leading battalions on behalf of this emerging...uh... this emerging country. And what a journey they've had to get through to get to that moment,
• 14:30 - 15:00 and it's the dawn of what will be the last battle. And so that was the thing they shared. So it's... I think it's... it's surprising. And, you know, the way 'immigrant' has become loaded and unloaded and reloaded through every political cycle all over the world, you know, doesn't make it any less true. And so I think that's why it lands with the force that it does. It could explain as well why Hamilton is so popular
• 15:00 - 15:30 in a country like Australia, which doesn't really have any connection particularly to American history, it has limited connection to American politics, but we are a nation where immigrants have come and helped get the job done. Yeah, and I think that that's, you know... ..again, that was...that was... You want to say what a good idea you had for Hamilton, right? But it's really three good i... it's three ideas that I had when I was reading the Chernow book. Again, I was on vacation, I wasn't on the market for my next show,
• 15:30 - 16:00 but I was reading Ron's book and the things that leapt out at me were, one, I didn't know the guy on our $10 bill came from somewhere else. I didn't know he wasn't like all the other white dudes on our money, but born in the Caribbean. My dad was born in the Caribbean. I got to the part where he... ..a hurricane destroyed St Croix, where he was living, and he wrote an account of it. He just wrote an account of how scary and how unsettling the event was,
• 16:00 - 16:30 and it was so vivid that it was used for relief efforts. It was published in the Danish American Gazette. And then folks on the island took up a collection to send this kid who wrote this account to the mainland to get an education. And the fact that he wrote his way out of the island to me felt like a prototypical hip-hop story, because that's what our favourite hip-hop artists do.
• 16:30 - 17:00 They talk about their struggles, they tell their stories so vividly that they transcend their circumstances and they make you feel it when you're listening to the track. Even if you've shared nothing of their life experience, they make you feel it. And so I said, "OK, this is a hip-hop story, "because he has changed his life by writing about it." And he came from the Caribbean to New York to get his education. My father came from the Caribbean to New York to get his education.
• 17:00 - 17:30 And so I just went, "I know this guy." And that thesis of him being a writer and his writing changing circumstances just kind of kept proving me right as I was reading the book, like I had the thesis before I even read it. And then I was like, "Wait, he's writing during the revolution." He writes his way into Washington's good graces. He writes his way into his job as a treasury secretary. He writes his way into his political undoing by publishing The Reynolds Pamphlet.
• 17:30 - 18:00 So it just was... the thesis was so strong that it was those, sort of, three things that made me get on Google right away and go, "Someone's done this. "'Alexander Hamilton musical'. Like, who's beaten me to it? "'Cause it's too good an idea that it's just mine." And so when I saw no-one had done it, I got to work as quickly as I could. You mentioned before sitting in the audience and how you can sort of watch certain moments from that perspective. Everyone here would no doubt have their favourite moments in the show that they're waiting for.
• 18:00 - 18:30 I love when Hamilton sings, "We had a spy on the inside. "That's right! Hercules Mulligan!" And Mulligan comes bursting out from the back of the stage. And a lot of people in the audience seem to like those moments. What about when you're on the stage? Are there any particular ones that feel really great when you're doing it? Well, the Hercules Mulligan one feels fantastic! You know, I, um... That song really owes a big debt to Busta Rhymes. I really modelled Hercules Mulligan on Busta Rhymes, who's one of my favourite rappers. And one of the things he kind of cornered the market on
• 18:30 - 19:00 in the early aughts were what I call 'quiet-loud raps', where he just raps really quiet and then he raps really, really, really, really quiet, and then he gets really hyper and da da da da da! And the structure of The World Turned Upside Down is a Busta Rhymes song. It's Hamilton quietly rapping, and then, "I'm not throwing away my shot," and then he gets quiet again. And then for him to bring in Hercules Mulligan, who we haven't heard from in a long time, what I'm trying to do is make you feel how I felt when I first heard Busta Rhymes's voice on Scenario
• 19:00 - 19:30 by A Tribe Called Quest a million years ago and just like, "Who IS this? What is happening?!" "Rawr! Rawr! Like a dungeon dragon! "Knock me down, I'll get the f*** back up again!" That's the feeling I want you to feel. And so I really was sort of chasing that. But again, I'm always trying to draw inspiration from whatever best unlocks the story in that moment. So if it's a hip-hop moment, then I'm chasing that.
• 19:30 - 20:00 If it's something I've learned from writing musical theatre, I'm chasing that. I'm always trying to kind of... whatever works. The vibe you're describing reminds me a bit of Nirvana as well, where it's that sort of... # Load up on guns, bring your friends # Here we are now... # and then just thunders... Yeah. I mean, I'm a '90s kid. I grew up in the quiet-loud-quiet-loud era. I want to drill down a little bit into your creative process. When you're working on a song, is there a pattern as to what comes first, the lyrics or the music, generally? No, it's, uh... I'll take it however it comes.
• 20:00 - 20:30 I'm just grateful it is arriving. (LAUGHTER) You know, with My Shot, uh... ..I spent about, on and off, a year just writing Hamilton's verses, because, again, I'm trying to prove my thesis right and so I wanted Hamilton's verses to just be made of adamantine. Like, I just needed them to be reinforced steel concrete. Like, no matter who delivers them, if they deliver them on beat, they work. Like, they just...internally, they're very structurally sound.
• 20:30 - 21:00 They rhyme internally and... They rhyme 12 times on a line instead of just at the ends of the sentence. Because he needs to be so impressive that he brings everyone around to his way of thinking. And so, you know... And then we reverse-engineer that by having, you know, the band of brothers kind of sing really...sort of, simple party raps at the top. I mean, "What time is it? Showtime" - I did not invent that. You'll hear that anytime you get on a subway in New York City. Whether it's a breakdancer or a freestyle rapper,
• 21:00 - 21:30 it's just to get your attention. And then have him come with this very complex, Rakim-derived, polysyllabic flow, it needs to feel like he's from the future. Would you mind if we moved over to the piano? Yeah, let's do it. OK. (LAUGHS) (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) OK. So... OK... I know you were practising, so I don't want... (LAUGHS) If you want to play... Now, so, just so that everyone in the audience,
• 21:30 - 22:00 if you're not musical, I'm just gonna explain to you exactly the themes I'm gonna ask Lin about so you know what we're talking about. So, when I say, um... you know, I ask Lin about the chords, I'm talking about this main, kind of, chord theme of My Shot. (PLAYS CHORD PROGRESSION) (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) OK, so, that's the chord theme, and then everyone would know, you know, the main theme, which is, "I'm not throwing away my shot," OK?
• 22:00 - 22:30 So, that's sort of number one. You've got the chords, you've got number one, then you've got what I'm gonna refer to as the "whoa, whoa" theme. So, everyone will know that. (PLAYS MELODY) And then we've got the third theme, which is the "rise up" theme. OK? So, everyone will know that too. (PLAYS MELODY) OK, so, Lin, you can be... (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
• 22:30 - 23:00 OK, so, keep those four themes in your head. So... (LAUGHTER) That goes for you too, Lin. Yeah, thank you. (LAUGHTER) I'll try! OK, so, you've spent a year writing the lyrics. In your head, have you had that it's... So, it's four beats to a bar, right, to get the rhyme to work. So, at what point do you then come up with the chord structure that goes underneath the lyrics "I'm not throwing away my shot"? I have no idea.
• 23:00 - 23:30 (LAUGHTER) But I...what I knew... ..what I knew was I had written the lyrics, and I would write the lyrics over different beats at different times. I would literally download hip-hop instrumentals and write the lyrics over different beats. But I knew that once I got to the piano, I was committed. I was committed to a chord progression that I was gonna have to revisit, sort of, several times. and so when I kind of found, you know... (PLAYS CHORD PROGRESSION) I liked that it was five chords, as opposed to four chords.
• 23:30 - 24:00 Um, you know... # I'ma get a scholarship to King's College # I probably shouldn't brag, but damn, I amaze and astonish # The problem is I got a lot of brains but no polish # I gotta holler just to be heard With every word, I drop knowledge # I'm a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece of coal # Tryna reach my goal, my power of speech is un... # You know, I was trying to... (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) What I loved was the rising bassline of it, was the fact that the bassline is rising - it's going... (PLAYS BASS CHORDS)
• 24:00 - 24:30 But there's still, like, a fall inside it. And then the 'whoa's are actually... it's not just... (PLAYS MELODY) It's actually... (PLAYS MELODY) Oh, yep. And I was...I was trying to, um... Some of you are not old enough to remember this. I was recreating the AOL dial-in modem. (LAUGHTER) (PLAYS MELODY)
• 24:30 - 25:00 Right? (MIMICS MODEM BUZZING) (LAUGHTER) 'Cause in my head, that's when Hamilton's message is spreading. And this is the beginning of, like, his genius connecting and spreading among where he's landed and, "Have you heard of this kid? Have you heard of this kid? "Let's get this guy in front of a crowd." And so it's the moment it goes from just him and his friends to then on the turntable to the outside world. # Whoa, whoa, whoa-oh-oh # Whoa-oh-oh
• 25:00 - 25:30 # Whoa-oh-oh, yeah... # And then Rise Up is really a cousin to Busta Rhymes's chorus in Pass The Courvoisier, Part II. (LAUGHTER) # Jump, jump! # Don't this shit make my people want to jump, jump # Don't this shit make my people want to # Rise up # When you're living on your knees, you rise up # Tell your brother that he's got to rise up # Tell your sister that she's got to rise up... # So, again, I'm pull... You know, AOL, Busta Rhymes - I will take whatever gets the song done. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
• 25:30 - 26:00 Amazing, right? OK, now, all of those themes are so strong in and of themselves, like, on any given day of the week, I can have an earworm of any one of those things running in my head. Was there ever a temptation where you were like, "Oh, God, that line's really strong. "Should I hive it off and use it in a different song "or make a whole song around that line?" No, 'cause you know what's funny, is when you're working on something, you end up using every part of the cow. Like, it's all gonna... it's all grist for the mill
• 26:00 - 26:30 and it all comes back around. It wasn't until... a few months into... ..performing the show that I realised... # I am not throwing away my shot... # ..is the same rhythm as... (SINGS OPENING RHYTHM) ..is the same rhythm as the drums in the opening number... (LAUGHS) ..of the thing. Again, like, because you're constantly... Some of it is deliberate and some of it is intuitive in terms of what is... And what you start doing is building themes for each character.
• 26:30 - 27:00 You start... You know, I knew that... ..Hamilton was gonna be very polysyllabic but very relentless. Like, there's not a lot of space in his lines. He has more words than the bars can hold, you know? # Every burden, every disadvantage, I've learned to manage # I don't have a gun to brandish, I walk these streets famished... # And then, like, so how do you make Burr the literal opposite of that? And so I have Burr just kind of... (PLAYS BASSLINE)
• 27:00 - 27:30 It's dance hall. It's never on the one. And it's...it's like you can't get a... ..it's much more, um... ..it's slippery. It's trickier to... He's got this dance hall rhythm. He's never going "one, two, three, four". It's... And again, now we've got, like, a rhythmic contrast. They literally have different musical heartbeats. And so then, when you bring at the end of My Shot all of those themes together, so they're all kind of interweaving
• 27:30 - 28:00 as, like, a kind of counterpoint over the top of each other, I mean, how do you actually do that? And do you do that on your own before you show up to have it orchestrated, or do you get to there and does the orchestrator go, "Thanks, Lin, we'll take care of fitting it all together"? No, it's all hands on deck. I mean, that's the... The fun part about working on a musical is you work on it with your team. And so, in terms of that ending, Andy Blankenbuehler had input in terms of how much time he needs to get all the dancers what he... ..you know, what they can and can't sing depending on how hard their dancing is.
• 28:00 - 28:30 Um...uh...we are trying to find a button to bring it home. So, usually what happens is Alex is at the keys and then we're all throwing in suggestions and we're trying things. I remember when we worked on our first show, In The Heights, 96,000 was the one that... (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) ..that needed the button. It'd be... (PLAYS CHORDS) You know, um... (PLAYS MELODY) Yeah. So, you know what I mean. (LAUGHS) But we couldn't land the hand off-Broadway.
• 28:30 - 29:00 It was just like, # We're never gonna stop. # And you'd hear, like... (PANTS) (LAUGHTER) And then we really learned a lot about how to put together a button by just figuring out what strands we can take it. And then once I figured out... # No tiptoeing # We'll get the dough in Once we get... # "Oh, that's a nice counter-line, and we can use that and build on that." So you're kind of...you're throwing everything at the kitchen sink to bring it home. How difficult was that to do with Non-Stop, which ends act one?
• 29:00 - 29:30 Because every individual character's theme seems to be used in that final minute, but then I imagine that every one of those songs is in a different key... Yeah. So, how on earth do you get that all to fit? Yeah. You've got Angelica, who's up here. And then you've got, you know... # History has its eyes... # I mean, everyone is in a different place, but that's the fun of it. Like, it's this enormous jigsaw puzzle. And the original ending of Non-Stop,
• 29:30 - 30:00 I actually had Burr elected senator then, which was, like, way too much fast-forwarding, and quickly, kind of, deleted it, but we just... we realised our job was to end the act with as many questions as possible. Um...you know, Eliza is like, "What will be enough?" You know, she's singing That Would Be Enough, which...you know, that's in a totally different key too. That's here. Well, that's the key I wrote it in. I don't know if it's still in that key.
• 30:00 - 30:30 And then... And then the really crazy thing in Non-Stop... To me, the part that I really like in Non-Stop is when they start singing each other's themes. Like, Hamilt... When she's like, "What are you doing? Why are you leaving?" and he goes... # Look around, look around... # Which is brutal! To have him basically weaponise her theme and say, "But don't you see what a big opportunity this is for ME?"
• 30:30 - 31:00 Um, it's...f***ed up! (LAUGHTER) But I love it, because it's complicated and you realise, "Oh, this guy hasn't changed, "he's only intensified," and he's bringing wartime energy into peacetime, and that can't end well. And so, yeah, I mean, that's really the fun of it. Come sit back down, 'cause I want to bring someone else out. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Um... One of the real crowd-pleaser characters is the King
• 31:00 - 31:30 and the song You'll Be Back, of course. The British actor Hugh Laurie helped you out a bit with the idea for that? Absolutely, without knowing it. (LAUGHS) One of my first acting gigs in television, it was right after In The Heights, and I got to play his roommate in a psych ward. And what was really special about it was it was this two-hour season premiere. So, really, I made a movie with Hugh Laurie
• 31:30 - 32:00 called the season six premiere of House. (LAUGHS) And so we were just, you know, locked up together for a really long time. And I was...I had already started working on the show and we became friends, and I think the next time I came back to LA, he met me for a drink, and I said, "I'm thinking of writing this kind of a... "..song from King George to the colonies, like a..." ..and I said, "kind of like a break-up... "..like a Rufus Wainwright break-up song."
• 32:00 - 32:30 And he just went, "Oh, you'll be back." And I went, "Thank you!" (LAUGHTER) And that was it. Like, he literally just kind of wagged his finger in my face, like, put on the character for a second and went, "Oh, you'll be back," and I went, "That's great." (LAUGHTER) "That'll do great." I want to bring somebody else out who will be really well known to the audience here, who is the absolutely wonderful performer who plays Alexander Hamilton in Australia, Jason Arrow. Hey! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
• 32:30 - 33:00 Jason, before I ask you a single question, I just want to say, oh, my God, you are just performing with so much authority and presence. It is mind-blowingly... You're so good! (LAUGHTER, CHEERING) You're so good at it.
• 33:00 - 33:30 (LAUGHS) You're so good. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you. What was it like for the cast last night having Lin-Manuel in the room? (LAUGHTER) Yeah. (LAUGHS) It was pretty good. Look, we, uh... I mean, this is the culmination of two years' worth of work so far for us. We kind of felt, um... I mean, we were very privileged to have you here, so thank you for coming. We also felt like we were carrying the show for the people who have also left the company now.
• 33:30 - 34:00 So, you know, Chloe, Lyndon, Shaka, um... Yeah. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Um, so for us, it kind of felt like this honour and this privilege that we had to...show the story that we'd been telling for the last two years. 'Cause, I mean, obviously, this is not a very different version, but, like, it feels different in every country, I'm sure, that you go to. And so here it has a different feeling again. And I feel like that's what we were bringing to show you - our version of the show, what we bring to the show, and thank you for the opportunity.
• 34:00 - 34:30 Yeah. It was fantastic. Jason, how do you... Something I've been struck, 'cause I've seen you do the role a number of times, is just how much nuance you bring and how that can change from one performance to the next, and that I see different meaning all the time or I'll see, like, "Oh, he's changed the way he's saying that line, "and now I'm taking a different sense of the motivation of that character." How are you actually doing that? What is the process behind that? Just listening, honestly. It's mostly about your co-actor, I think, acting, anyway.
• 34:30 - 35:00 Acting is reacting, right? And especially the way that the show is written. I cannot at any point try and dictate where the show is gonna go. As in control as Hamilton is the whole way through, as the actor playing Hamilton, I think you feel very in the back seat to just letting everything happen to you, as opposed to forcing it to... .."This is the way that the show should go. And I feel like, doing that, you have a lot more resistance, and then you can forget things.
• 35:00 - 35:30 (LAUGHS) Which has happened a few times. So... (LAUGHTER) So, what do you do if you do forget something? Just keep going. Yeah. How do you... It moves so fast, Lin. What, do you just pick it up from the next available line, or...? You just keep going. Right. (LAUGHS) Yeah, I mean, there was a wall of fame in the dressing-rooms of the times I would mess up and just... # I'm past patiently waiting Ca-la-ka-pu-ta-pa-pa-pu-pa... # (LAUGHTER) And then you'd get back until you find a word that gets you a toehold back in...
• 35:30 - 36:00 # Creation! # (LAUGHTER) And you'd just get b... You just don't jump. Don't get off the ride. You just... you know, you stay on the ride. Now, it was easier when we were off-Broadway and no-one had the cast album yet. (LAUGHTER) You will learn on social media what you messed up that night. But, yeah, you just stay on the ride. Are you conscious, Jason, of... do you see the people in the room who are sort of singing along every word, or... Yes, we do. (LAUGHTER) Yeah. We definitely do. Hi.
• 36:00 - 36:30 (LAUGHTER) Like, the first maybe, like, five or six rows, we can see pretty clearly even with the spotlights on. But when everyone is here doing the line-up, that's my room check. Walking up the back, I'm like, "Oh, full house. "Great. I'll just walk around the corner." Because the reflection of the light on all their costumes, you can see every single person. Which is a really beautiful moment, 'cause it's kind of like our moment to see you. I don't know. It's poetic. I don't know if you planned to do that. Probably not. Yeah. Well, I'll tell you, one of the... The moment I...
• 36:30 - 37:00 The first time I saw the show, which, again, wasn't for a while 'cause I was in it, it was probably the first time Javier Munoz, who was my alternate, went in. The moment that made me cry was the end of the opening number, because, you know, it's... # Alexander Hamilton... # ..and Hamilton is facing forward and everyone else's heads are bowed. And that hit me so hard, because in that moment in time on that stage,
• 37:00 - 37:30 the company knows how the story's gonna end and Hamilton's just beginning. And it just...like, the way Andy collapsed and Tommy collapsed time in that moment just makes me cry, like, every time. And it's such a simple thing, but, like... And it's a chance to look out at the crowd. Exactly. (LAUGHS) But it's really, uh... it's really moving to me. I mean, I haven't seen it yet either, so... Yeah. You'll like it! It's good! Oh, thank you. (LAUGHTER) So, Jason, so, you haven't seen Hamilton...
• 37:30 - 38:00 I haven't seen it live, no. Wow. Did you watch the Disney+ version? That's the only version I've seen. And did you see that... I can't remember if that came out... Yeah, that came out before Hamilton opened. So, did you see that before? Well, we were kind of told, like, "Don't, like, religiously watch it," because then you start making choices and decisions based off what you're seeing and not who you're playing against in actual real time. But it came out, like, when we were casting it. Yeah, it came out, like, midway through that and, you know, mid-pandemic. So, I mean, we all remember when it came out. It kind of got a lot of us through.
• 38:00 - 38:30 And I remember watching it and going, "Oh, right, I see..." This is crazy. (LAUGHTER) Go on! I was like, "I see what you're doing there." And sort of, just 'cause at that point, I knew that I was on the table for the role, and... Oh, actually, at that point, I might have actually been cast. I can't remember. It was August, so... I think you were cast. I was cast by that point. Right, OK. Great. I didn't know by Aug... I knew in August, OK? (LAUGHS) Yeah. But, yeah, so... You know. Yeah.
• 38:30 - 39:00 Watching it, I was like, "Oh, yeah, OK, I see where this is going. "I see what's happening here." And then I didn't have anything to do with it after that. I didn't listen to it. I didn't... I just watched the one time, read the biography, and then we went into rehearsal. And then react to what's in the moment in front of you on stage. Jason, thank you so much for coming out this morning for a chat to us. Really appreciate it. Thank you. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Thanks so much, Jason.
• 39:00 - 39:30 Lin, do you know about 30,000 people applied to be here this morning? It was a lotto. Wow. That's crazy. So... Yep. And about 2,000 people... about 2,000 people were successful. We asked people to submit some questions so we could get some audience questions for you so that people would hear exactly what they want to hear. So, I'm going to ask those on behalf of some people. So, Amy Harkin wanted to know, what is your best backstage memory and why?
• 39:30 - 40:00 Oh, that's easy. Uh... Well, I mean, I have a lot of them. Um... One of them is, uh... ..I'm the only character not on stage in Wait For It. So, there's a moment where they all dramatically turn to the left in the bridge, and I'm just in the wings, like... (LAUGHTER) Sometimes Renee, who plays Angelica, is up there. I would climb up there just to be like... (LAUGHTER) And he's singing about me.
• 40:00 - 40:30 # Hamilton faces... # And I'm just... (LAUGHTER) But no, for me, it's all these different... I have, like, a thousand different memories with our amazing original company. I would, um... In between the first and second verses of The Room Where It Happens, I would freestyle with Daveed Diggs. So, we would be on stage, I'd go, "I've nowhere else to turn!" and I would turn off, and then he would come off, and then we would freestyle until he had to come back out
• 40:30 - 41:00 to talk to Madison in the second verse. And so we'd, like, literally fight on stage, then go off stage and be friends, and then he would go out... And it was, like, tons of little moments like that. I think of the time that Anthony Ramos drank a thing of hot sauce and then went out in the middle of Satisfied with a purple face. (LAUGHTER) Like, just a million little, uh... sort of, hijinks. Some incredible people also have come to see Hamilton. I've seen a backstage photo of you with Paul McCartney. I mean, it must blow your mind, some of the people who come back.
• 41:00 - 41:30 Yeah, and that was, like, off... I mean, it started off-Broadway. It really was... It was this thing of... Again, there was no cast album. It was just the thing that you can't... ..no-one can buy and no-one can put a price on, which is everyone who left the show told everyone they knew about the show. And the word spread so fast and... Yeah, to have a Beatle at your show... And you know what? I like knowing when they're in the audience. It's sort of like...it's like... ..you get this weird, like, sugar high of,
• 41:30 - 42:00 "I've paid so much money to see them and they paid to see us?!" (LAUGHTER) And it really...like, the... When people ask, "How do you "continue to make it fresh every night?" You are the answer. You are different every night. I'm very aware that it's someone's first Broadway show, maybe someone's last Broadway show, and so... and you paid your money's worth, and so we are going to give you everything you deserve and everything we have.
• 42:00 - 42:30 (APPLAUSE) So, whether it's Paul McCartney or just someone... You know, sometimes you just get a wide-eyed kid in the front row and you are living for that person for two and a half hours. It really is different every night. This question was asked a lot - why did you cast yourself to play Hamilton? So, the real answer is I didn't. I don't cast the show. Tommy Kail cast me. And every time I wrote a Burr song,
• 42:30 - 43:00 I'd say, "I think I could play Aaron Burr." And every time I wrote a Hamilton song, I thought, "Nah, I'd really like to play Alexander Hamilton." The answer is twofold. One, I think... And this happened a bit with Usnavi in In The Heights too. It was... I really don't like to leave actors stranded. And when I was writing In The Heights, I started playing Usnavi because he had the most raps in the show and I just figured, "Let me play him,
• 43:00 - 43:30 "because we're never gonna find an actor to learn all this "in a 29-hour reading," and then I kind of fell in the snowball as it rolled down the hill. And a similar thing happened with Hamilton. He has so many lyrics that I just felt, "Let me play him for now "so that no-one else has a ton of changes or things to memorise "as we continue to revise this thing." And, you know, anyone in the company will tell you, like, my stuff was the last stuff to get changed, 'cause I wanted to make sure Pippa knew what she was doing and Renee knew what she was doing
• 43:30 - 44:00 and they had time to incorporate the changes. I knew I could change my stuff at the last minute and kind of do it on the fly on stage. And so it was really, kind of, out of utility. In terms of, like, why I'm in the show at all, I really started writing musicals because I loved... ..I wanted to be an actor and I loved this art form, but I didn't see parts for Puerto Ricans in the canon at all. I don't dance well enough to play Bernardo, and that was kind of it. (LAUGHS) Bernardo or one of the Sharks.
• 44:00 - 44:30 That was the only thing that existed in the canon. And no-one would cast me as Anita. So... (LAUGHTER) I really started writing In The Heights out of fear. And I was... it was the thrill of a lifetime that In The Heights did the thing that you dream about. You know, all of us...it was our professional debut for all of us, I mean, Quiara and Tommy and Alex and... And then, you know, I continued to work
• 44:30 - 45:00 and I found that, you know, in Hollywood, if you are... It's changing now, but if you were an actor of colour, you play the friend of the white guy. And that was the role I was getting over and over again - I was the smart friend of the white guy. (LAUGHS) And so, you know... ..it's really sometimes on us as performers of colour to create the opportunities we want to see in the world. And the great side effect of that is now Jason Arrow has a 14-course meal to play every night and it becomes a role for others to play, and you get to...
• 45:00 - 45:30 The ripple effect is all of these incredible actors getting opportunities, and I'm really prouder of that than anything else. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) OK, the next most commonly asked question was from Tan Nguyen, who's from New South Wales. What does the gasp mean? What do YOU think it means? Yeah. (LAUGHS) And, you know, this is an honest question, because if you look in the score of Hamilton, I didn't write the gasp.
• 45:30 - 46:00 I didn't write it. I wrote Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story, end of show. And it was on Tommy Kail and Andy Blankenbuehler to find what the final gesture would be, and when Tommy and Pippa and our company found that last moment, it's really breathtaking. But I would never in a million years prescribe to her what that means. I can tell you the different theories as I've heard them.
• 46:00 - 46:30 It's Eliza seeing Alexander again. It's Eliza seeing across time and seeing all of you and that this story is being so beautifully told. It is...uh... You know, it could be a million things. And you know what? I bet it changes for different Elizas on different nights. But it really is... this incredible private moment that is also the final gesture of our show. And so...I don't know. I haven't been... I haven't gotten to play Eliza yet.
• 46:30 - 47:00 (LAUGHTER) But, yeah, it really is... You know, I think...I think it's... I think it's dealer's choice. Isn't it so wonderful when things like that just can spontaneously happen? It's the beauty of collaboration, because sometimes other people come up with something that you wouldn't think of yourself, but it's like, "Oh, my God, that's so good." Oh, yeah, absolutely. And that's the fun of collaboration. I was so proud of Tommy when he found that moment. And I remember him trying stuff with us. He was like, "Alright, you walk up to her here. "No, actually, you lead her here and step back,"
• 47:00 - 47:30 and just trial-and-erroring our way to the final moment of this show, and the whole thing's like that. You know, the... (LAUGHS) Daveed... Daveed probably has more than anybody, because I really... Daveed was in early. Like, I was writing... He was in Freestyle Love Supreme with me. I knew how gifted he was, and so I really... Him and Chris Jackson were kind of some of the earliest on board and in every workshop, and things like, you know, "France"... (LAUGHS)
• 47:30 - 48:00 ..that's just Daveed saying "France". And it just kind of became part of the show. Um... Yeah, there's a line in Guns And Ships, I think the way I wrote it was, "No-one has more resilience "Or matches my practical, tactical brilliance," and Daveed was like, "I'm gonna do that as a triplet." "No-one has more resilience "Or matches my practical, tactical brilliance." I was like, "Yeah, you should do that." (LAUGHTER) "That's better." So, yeah, I mean, it really was, um... ..finding it with that original company
• 48:00 - 48:30 is a joy I'll always cherish. Hayley Reynolds from Victoria... Are you here? HAYLEY: Whoo! "Oh!" (LAUGHS) (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) She asked, did you ever feel overwhelmed and think you might not finish Hamilton? (SIGHS) All the time. (LAUGHTER) All the time. All the time. I've said this before, but when I had the idea, I felt like a mosquito that hit an artery. Like, I just felt like there's so much here that you have to contend with.
• 48:30 - 49:00 And people erroneously think, "Well, you must be a huge history buff." I'm not! But I knew this was a really good story worth telling. And I think one of the secret sauces that's gotten into the recipe and why it resonates with people is it's the excitement of me having to figure out how to learn this history, process it, break it down into enzymes, digest it into couplets, and then tell it back to you as if like, "Can you believe this story?"
• 49:00 - 49:30 I mean, the things I could think of that I wish I could figure out a way to add, like the fact that Maria Reynolds got a divorce from James Reynolds, and guess who her divorce attorney was. Like... Who knows it? (AUDIENCE MEMBERS MURMUR) Aaron Burr. It's crazy! Um... When Burr later got a divorce from his wife, Eliza Gemmell, many years later, her attorney was one of Alexander Hamilton's kids.
• 49:30 - 50:00 (LAUGHTER) 'Cause, you know, he had, like, seven kids. Um...and there was just so many other moments in that list of amazing things Eliza does with the next 50 years of her life. One of them was establish the first school in Washington Heights! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) And I was like, "It's too on the nose!" (LAUGHTER) "I can't put it in the show! "Everyone's gonna think..." You know. Anyway. So, there is just, um... it was...it was...
• 50:00 - 50:30 But it was very daunting. It was very daunting to have to... I don't know anything about economic policy, and now I've got to figure out how to have Hamilton rap-explain economic policy? (LAUGHTER) And what he's trying to do. So, I had to be... It's the joy and the... you know, the struggle of any actor, any writer. You have to become an expert in things you're... ..or at least enough of an expert to transmit it to an audience. And so that was... it was daunting every day.
• 50:30 - 51:00 Every day, it was daunting. Serafina Sharif from Western Australia. "Hi!" Oh! Hi! Thanks for coming all this way. From Western Australia. Wow. Thank you for coming. That's a long way to have come. She said, "I'm a young musical theatre student and I'd love to ask, "what would you suggest to be a good habit to boost skills?" Uh, writing or acting? SERAFINA: Both! Both! I mean, there's just no substitute for doing it. Um...I started writing musicals when I was 16 years old,
• 51:00 - 51:30 and my... It was my eighth grade English teacher, Dr Rembert Herbert, who caught me sort of just writing songs about girls I had crushes on in the back of his class and saying, "Can you use that energy IN the class?" (LAUGHTER) "And not in the back of the class?" And he's the one who said, you know, "We have this student-written theatre club "called the Brick Prison, and I don't think they've done a musical. "You should write the first musical for it." And it was a way of directing my energies and giving me permission.
• 51:30 - 52:00 So, I give you that permission to start writing, like, immediately. And I... You know, when you start writing, you just chase your heroes. Like, my early musicals just sound like Jonathan Larson D-sides, because I love Jonathan Larson, and that was huge for me. His work was huge for me. And then you hopefully, in falling short of your hero, start to sound like yourself. And, uh...and also, you know, write what you don't see.
• 52:00 - 52:30 Like, In The Heights was just my big old, "What's missing, what haven't I seen that I know is true in the world?" And so I wrote about my neighbourhood, but I wrote about the side of my neighbourhood that I never saw represented in media. I saw us on the 11:00 news when something bad happened in my neighbourhood, but I didn't see the other side of it. And so... And then the other thing I would say is, like, lean into the things that don't come naturally. I wish I'd taken more dance classes.
• 52:30 - 53:00 You know, dance classes, vocal lessons, like, every... Like...the answer is, like, make yourself undeniable and make your talent undeniable. And you only get that through practice, whether it's writing something, learning from it, writing the next thing, learning from it, writing the next thing. Reps are the only... That's how people get in shape, right? Like, why would it be any less true of the things you are making? So, just, um...get to work. (LAUGHS) (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
• 53:00 - 53:30 And I wish you well. Do you ever stop for a moment and think back to those Sliding Doors kinds of moments in life and think back to that Mexican vacation and think... ..you know, imagine had you been lying in your hammock or whatever and you'd looked at the Ron Chernow book and thought, "Oh! I just don't know if I can do a big history book on holidays. "I'm just gonna read The Da Vinci Code"? Yeah, well, I mean, I also watched the first two seasons of Mad Men on DVD on that vacation. (LAUGHTER) But I don't think that was crying out to be a musical. It was a great show. But that's...
• 53:30 - 54:00 Those were the things we brought with us. This is back when you watched DVDs and you brought them with you. I had the first-season box set of Mad Men and I had this book. It was also, like, pre-e-reader era, so I just wanted the one book. I was very lucky in the book. But, you know, Jeremy McCarter, who co-wrote the Hamilton book with me, reminds me that I told him about my idea before I went on vacation. So I had obviously read those first couple of chapters before I even left.
• 54:00 - 54:30 It's funny how quickly, like, memory becomes myth. And it's true. Like, I really read the book on that vacation and that's when the thesis was proving me right and I was circling and dog-earing pages, you know, in Playa del Carmen with a margarita in my hand. Um... But as soon as the thunderbolt hit, it was fait accompli. Do you believe in fate? Do you believe that, you know, you were meant to do this? No. I feel really lucky. I feel really lucky and I...
• 54:30 - 55:00 What I knew about the idea was I felt like... ..the things I'd worked hard to get good at on In The Heights would serve me well in writing it. Like, the fact that I thought this was a uniquely hip-hop story, it felt like, "Oh, well, I've been practising that. "I've been practising marrying hip-hop techniques "and musical theatre techniques, "so I think I could bring something to this." But you can't... It's literally interwoven in the show. Like, you have no control who lives, who dies, who tells your story.
• 55:00 - 55:30 I had no idea what the reception of the show would be. There's just no way of predicting that. And I have seen masterpieces ignored in their time and I have seen mediocrities vaulted to legendary status that I don't particularly think are very good, but people love 'em! And so, you know, you just never... That's the part you can't control. What you can control is... Again, now I feel like... now I'm sounding like Burr. I am the one thing in life I can't control! But what you can control is what you make
• 55:30 - 56:00 and the collaborators you bring into the room. I feel really lucky that I had a shorthand with Tommy and Alex, and I was writing this thing really slowly and Tommy was the one who was like, "Dude, you're averaging a song a year. "Like, let's set a deadline and let's get going," and really lit a fire under me, and, um... I believe a lot of success is really luck meeting hard work. Like, you can't control the luck part,
• 56:00 - 56:30 but if it lands on you, if it smiles on you for a second, you can show up with your hard work and be like, "Is this... "Does this open the opportunity door?" And so I just... My job was to work as hard and make the best thing we knew how, and... Well, YOU feel lucky - I guarantee that every person in this room, me included, feels incredibly lucky to have been here with you this morning to hear about your process. You've been so generous. Would you please thank Lin-Manuel Miranda. Thank you, Australia! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
• 56:30 - 57:00 Thank you very much. Thank you.
• 57:00 - 57:30 Captions by Red Bee Media Copyright Australian Broadcasting Corporation