I always had an eye toward the stage for the story of Hamilton's life, but I began with the idea of a concept album, the way Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Evita' and 'Jesus Christ Superstar' were albums before they were musicals.
Lin-Manuel MirandaRead
Making words rhyme for a living is one of the great joys of my life... That's a superpower I've been very conscious of developing. I started at the same level as everybody else, and then I just listened to more music and talked to myself until it was an actual superpower I could pull out on special occasions.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Emphasizes the joy and effort involved in honing one's creative talents.
In this quote, Lin-Manuel Miranda reflects on his journey as a wordsmith, highlighting the joy he finds in rhyming and the conscious effort he put into developing his craft. He suggests that by actively listening to music and engaging in self-dialogue, he transformed what began as a common ability into a remarkable skill, akin to a superpower. This underscores the importance of dedication and passion in the pursuit of artistic endeavors.
Themes
RhythmCreativityJoySuperpowerDedication
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of creativity in education, you could quote Miranda to inspire students.
More from Lin-Manuel Miranda
All quotes →You know what's a great way of tricking people into thinking you're a genius? Write a show about geniuses!
Lin-Manuel MirandaRead
I think I'm always subconsciously trying to write the ideal school play. Lots of parts for everybody, great parts for women - don't forget, more girls try out than boys in the school play; everyone gets to be in the school play.
Lin-Manuel MirandaRead
Anytime you write something, you go through so many phases. You go through the 'I'm a Fraud' phase. You go through the 'I'll Never Finish' phase. And every once in a while you think, 'What if I actually have created what I set out to create, and it's received as such?'
Lin-Manuel MirandaRead
Everything we know about Hamilton, we knew when he was alive, because he told us.
Lin-Manuel MirandaRead
In the best works of fiction, there's no mustache-twirling villain. I try to write shows where even the bad guy's got his reasons.
Lin-Manuel MirandaRead
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Like books and black lives, albums still matter.
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There's one thing better than having a great actor, and that's having a great actor who's never done this kind of role before and is hungry to do it. They're testing themselves every day. They want to get out of their trailer and get to work.
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Art is not just to show life as it is, but to show life as it should be.
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You don't have to make something in order to retain your identity as an artist or a writer or a creative person. A lot of people think they have to be producing in order to maintain that identity.
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