Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Education of an Artist is an engaging biography of one of the early 21st century’s greatest writers and composers. Theater and culture writer Daniel Pollack-Pelzner shows how Lin-Manuel Miranda grew from a shy, sensitive child into the talented, innovative, collaborative w riter of works such as In the Heights, Hamilton, and Encanto. Born in 1980 in New York to Puerto Rican parents, Miranda was a sensitive child who cried at the Simon and Garfunkel song “Bridge over Troubled Water.” His father, Luis, a political consultant, and his mother, Luz, a clinical psychologist, both contributed to raising Miranda and his older sister, Luz. Luis has commented that his children knew, “if they needed stuff done, they came to me. If they needed to process emotions, they came to Luz.” Miranda blossomed at Hunter College Elementary and High School, where he began making films, writing, directing, and acting. In fact, he even wrote a screenplay about the Alexander Hamilton–Aaron Burr duel, though he was sadly unable to film it. Through a classmate’s father, he met Stephen Sondehim, who talked about his failures, such as his song introducing West Side Story being replaced by the instrumental “Prologue.” A bus driver who regularly drove him to school taught him the history of rap and hip-hop. From his filmmaking, which he did with friends and classmates, he learned to collaborate, bringing in people with different talents and skills, and to make it fun so they would want to continue those projects over other extracurricular activities. Though the school helped him develop these talents, he sometimes felt isolated; living in Washington Heights, he had to travel far each day to and from school, and few classmates would make the trek to his home. And he knew his parents were making tremendous sacrifices for him to attend, unlike many of his classmates’. Attending Wesleyan University, Miranda intended to study film but found the film program limiting and unrewarding. He instead switched to theater, having done many productions in school. In the Heights began life during Miranda’s sophomore year. While the New York production changed significantly from the original version, Miranda drew on his life in Washington Heights, seeing the area’s growing gentrification and the colorful characters he knew. He also combined his considerable knowledge of rap and hip-hop with his incredible talent for language, creating masterful rhythms and rhymes. After graduation, Miranda helped found Freestyle Love Supreme, an improv hip-hop musical comedy group that taught him to craft clever raps quickly; he would put this skill to good use, presenting early Hamilton songs to President Obama at the White House and at awards shows. He formed a group of fellow Wesleyan grads to bring In the Heights to the New York stage. The group’s nickname, “Voltron,” after a cartoon about five robots that joined into one, speaks to their remarkable ability to collaborate. Throughout this book, Pollack-Pelzner highlights their lack of ego, how the best idea always won, no matter who came up with it.  They also learned from others, as shown by their successful partnership with producer Jeffrey Seller. He encouraged them to turn an In the Heights song into one that, like “Tradition” from Fiddler on the Roof, encapsulated the show’s theme; “96,000” became that song. Miranda also learned other writing techniques while working on Bring It On: The Musical, based on the cheerleading movie series. While unfamiliar with the movies, he appreciated the director’s vision for the musical. For the 2009 revival of West Side Story, he translated song lyrics into Spanish. He enjoyed the challenge even though audiences preferred the original, familiar English. Directing the movie version of Tick, Tick…Boom! he shadowed cinematographer Alice Brooks, seeing how she worked, while also researching Jonathan Larson’s life, keeping enthusiasm high during the long hiatus in filming from the COVID shutdown, and managing the strict COVID protocols for filming. Hamilton was in many ways a culmination of Miranda’s work and education. Everything about the show was new and different, from casting actors of color as the Founding Fathers to the songs based on rap and hip-hop. Ron Chernow, whose biography of Hamilton was the musical’s basis, was initially skeptical of Miranda’s vision, expecting a satirical take.  Chernow was wowed after Miranda sang several songs, and he admired the clever yet profound lyrics. Miranda even made the ticket line entertaining: on one hot summer night, knowing most people in line would not win the coveted ticket lottery, he sang and interacted with them; on later nights, he brought out other cast members. It was his way of bringing fun to every part of the theater experience. Miranda comes across as an incredibly generous, down-to-earth person. Indeed, his only condition for Pollack-Pelzner was that he first interview his mother, as he felt she had not gotten enough credit. And Pollack-Pelzner recounts that his first meeting with Miranda saw the acclaimed composer “trying to help his four-year-old log on to Disney Plus.” While nearly everyone interviewed has nothing but good things to say about Miranda, they also mention some dark areas. His longtime college girlfriend was uncomfortable learning that, after their breakup, he created a time-travel musical based on their relationship. And growing up, his sister Luz resented all the attention he received from the family, though now they are on good terms. An entertaining, easy read, Lin-Manuel Miranda illustrates the possibilities that arise when talent and eagerness meet opportunity and creativity, while letting go of ego. Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Education of an ArtistBy Daniel Pollack-PelznerSimon Schuster. 400 pages, $28.59 The post ‘Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Education of an Artist’ is all that (book review) appeared first on DC Theater Arts. ...read more read less