'Hamilton' Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda's Advice for Student

here's a really weird tradition I've never told anyone there's a part in the opening number where they go he goes scamming for every book he can get his hands on that moment Leslie hands me a book and it's a random it's the same book every night but it's I don't know what the novel is about but I always here's a weird thing I always flip it open and just read a sentence as fast as I can because I'm supposed to be reading there and whatever that sentence is and I flip it to a different page every night that's what I think my show is going to be about which is super super state cuz it's a random book it could have been a dictionary I open it but I remember I'll never forget opening night it was I opened the book every book he can get his hands on and the thing I turned to was a sentence that said going with all the light you can manage try to grab them I was like I will just you wait and then sometimes it's like the Jeep landed in the dirt I know what I can do and we have trouble don't want to give up did you ever feel like that all the time all the time and then you push through it like you push through it because what's the alternative you're going to leave that idea stuck in your head forever that sucks the alternative is you go through life and you had this great idea and nothing came of it because you got tired and yeah sometimes you don't go to the party that all your friends are at because the idea is calling to you in that moment wait for it's a great example of that I was on my way to my friend's birthday party when that lyric showed up when death doesn't discriminate showed up in my head idea came on the a down I started writing it down in the train and lucky Nita of the a train break dancers are dancing I have my headphones on I get out I the whole chorus comes all at once I write it down and I suddenly see the shape of the whole song I was just like the chorus is bur that's who he is I go into my friend's party I go hey what's up man happy birthday I gotta go I get on the L train and I write the rest of the song on the way back home from the L to the a back up - 207 Street you have to do that sometimes you have to say no to your friends to say yes to your work because what are you gonna do like lose that idea because you decide to like have a drink with your friends like it's not worth it your friend will be there

Channel: The Wall Street Journal

Views: 230,938

Keywords: Lin-Manuel Miranda, HAMILTON, MUSICAL, BROADWAY, HIPHOP, RAP, THEATER, THEATRE, ALEXANDER HAMILTON, INTERVIEW, BRONX THEATRE HIGH SCHOOL, HAM4HAM, WAIT FOR IT, PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS, ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION, Theaters, Entertainment Venues, Artists, Writers, Performers, Arts, Entertainment, Political, General News, Actor Interviews, United States, New York City

Id: MI_jVkV0AJs

Length: 3min 8sec (188 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 07 2016