Chicago Tribune: With his body draped in the Puerto Rican flag, his emotions struggling to get through the song titled “Hurricane” and his presence celebrated all across San Juan, “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda returned to the role of Alexander Hamilton on Friday night on the island of his beloved father’s birth, revealing stronger vocal technique and deeper on-stage emotions, while also raising some $15 million toward a Puerto Rican post-hurricane renaissance in just three weeks of sold-out performances.
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Hamilton has been featured on headlines for years, but I was particularly drawn to this article because of the connection with Lin-Manuel Miranda’s home country of Puerto Rico. I greatly admire his continuing dedication and support to his home nation despite his permanent residence in the United States. His ability to inspire individuals beyond borders is astounding, but entirely understandable. I hadn’t noticed many of the connections the script has with his heritage until I read this article. Yet now that I consider it, I can find an immense number of correlations, such as the respect and awe of his father, and the notion of an immigrant making an impact in America. The drive and ambition of Alexander Hamilton is definitely emulated by Miranda’s continuing achievements. Even the song Hurricane, though unintended when it was written, correlates to the anguish that Puerto Ricans felt with disaster recovery following Hurricane Maria.
What Lin Manuel Miranda has done with Hamilton is so incredible. The empire he has created with this musical has become a media firestorm that can’t be stopped, and Lin’s choice to bring this attention to Puerto Rico is so important. His actions exceed those of even the United States government, who have continuously failed to support Puerto Rico post-Hurricane Maria. Seeing how Lin brought healing art and joy to a country that undoubtedly would benefit from it after the year its citizens have had is inspiring. It is absolutely incredible that the production raised $15 million for reconstruction efforts in only a few weeks. Lin’s actions act as a perfect example of the pure strength of the arts community, and how important it is to use what you love to help people in need of healing. I cannot imagine how powerful an image it must have been to see Lin standing on stage with the Puerto Rican flag in person. The people interviewed by the author must have been absolutely thrilled, and I’m sure the feeling was quite the same for Lin himself.
I have loved Hamilton since its beginning, and never get tired of seeing headlines about it. I have read many articles about Lin Manuel Miranda, and I have a pretty good understanding of what Puerto Rico means to him. He has been on a long journey with this musical and to finally be able to bring it to Puerto Rico, one of his many inspirations for the story must have been the most amazing feeling. Unfortunately, I still have not been able to see Hamilton so I can relate to those who have been waiting for years. I loved reading about all of the kids in Puerto Rico who finally got to see it and were just so excited. I think it’s great that Miranda will be the one performing for the time that the show is in Puerto Rico, it just seems more meaningful after everything he’s worked for.
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