Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the Broadway smash hit "Hamilton," received some fantastic news on Thursday, June 22. While having lunch with entertainer and parodist “Weird” Al Yankovic, both men learned that they would be receiving one of Hollywood’s greatest honors: a star on the Walk of Fame. Miranda and Yankovic are part of the 2018 inductees into the “Walk of Fame.” The two men will be joined by the likes of Shonda Rhimes, RuPaul Charles, Jack Black, and Mary J.Blige, among others.
It all started with 'In The Heights'
Before "Hamilton", Miranda gained traction in the entertainment industry through his work in theatre and the success gained from his lyricism and composing in the Broadway production of Quiara Alegría Hudes’ play In The Heights.
The play was nominated for thirteen Tony Awards in 2008. Miranda not only composed the production, he starred in it as well, playing the part of Usnavi. Of its many accolades, "In The Heights" won a Grammy for “Best Musical Show Album” and Miranda won two Tony’s for “Best Original Score” and “Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical.” In 2009, the book was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama but did not win.
2016: The year of 'Hamilton'
Despite having already found success on and off Broadway, Miranda still sought out more and an endeavor of his own, which is how his wildly successful hit play "Hamilton" came to be created. It began as a project inspired by the 2004 biography of Founding Father and first US Secretary of the Treasury Alexander "Hamilton" by Robert Chernow.
Miranda first presented the concept of "Hamilton" at a White House “Evening of Poetry, Music, and the Spoken Word “ hosted by President Barack Obama in 2009. It was here that Miranda first introduced the idea of creating hip hop musical centered around "Hamilton"’s life and the rest would become history.
In 2015, "Hamilton" made its off-Broadway debut at The Public Theater before achieving unpredicted success and moving onto Broadway into the Richard Rodgers Theatre.
In 2016, the explosive success of "Hamilton" yielded several accolades including 16 Tony nomination with 11 wins, including “Best Musical,” a Grammy win for “Best Musical Theater Album,” and the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
What comes next?
What people may not know is that Miranda wrote and composed the music for the last Disney hit animated movie, “Moana”.
So, in addition to joining the 2018 inductees to the “Walk of Fame,” Miranda has been working on starring in another member of the Disney film franchise of Mary Poppins titled Mary Poppins Returns. He will be appearing in the film alongside "Devil Wears Prada" star Emily Blunt who will be playing the magical English au pair. The film is set to be released around Christmas 2018. Also, due to some comments he made on The Hollywood Reporter’s “Awards Chatter” podcast in February, many are looking to Miranda to find out when the rumored film adaptation of "Hamilton" will begin production, although he has made it clear it will remain a play for a while longer.
All a Twitter with excitement
Since Miranda and Yankovic happened to be together, both men took to Twitter to share their announcement excitement selfies with fans.
I was hanging out with THIS guy when we both found out. Coincidentally, he’s getting one this year too!! @Lin_Manuel pic.twitter.com/qjwaULfTny
— Al Yankovic (@alyankovic) June 22, 2017
The craziest part of all this was I WAS HAVING LUNCH WITH @alyankovic WHEN SOMEONE TOLD US WE'D BOTH BE GETTING STARS. FOR REAL. pic.twitter.com/z3L8PvYNyW
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) June 22, 2017
Have you seen "Hamilton"? Is there anyone you’d like to see inducted into the “Walk of Fame?”