By: Edith Hathaway

On a recent trip to the Caribbean, and while staying on the beautiful island of Nevis, I learned that Alexander Hamilton was born there – a surprise to me and perhaps to many people. So we had to visit his birthplace and the museum there. Coincidentally, upon our return to the U.S., Public television was showing a documentary film on the Broadway musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda. He in turn was inspired by Ron Chernow’s biography of Hamilton, first published April 26, 2004.

The musical Hamilton had its World premiere on Jan. 20, 2015 at the Public Theater, New York City and its Broadway debut on Aug. 6, 2015. Hamilton’s biographer Ron Chernow served as historical consultant to the production, which is breaking all previous box office records for advance ticket sales and winning numerous and distinguished prizes for its creators and actors. The show is historic both for its commercial and artistic success and unusual for its use of hip-hop and rap format featuring a black and Latino cast. Public Theater’s Artistic Director Oskar Eustis even compares Miranda’s work to that of William Shakespeare:

“What [Miranda] was doing is exactly what Shakespeare would do. He’s taking the language of the people. In Shakespeare’s case he elevated it to iambic pentameter; in Lin-Manuel’s case he elevated it to hip-hop and rap. And he ennobled it by turning it into verse, and by putting it at the center of the stage…. I really believe that Lin’s work can be compared to Shakespeare’s. It has that breadth. It has that depth.… The political resonance is rich and deep…. The psychological insight of Hamilton is profound…. [And as with Shakespeare], Lin never lets the microscope get narrow. It’ll get deep, but it never gets narrow. And it opens up and reflects back to America who we think we are at our best and who we’d like to become.” (PBS Documentary Hamilton’s America, first aired Oct. 20, 2016)

Alexander Hamilton was one of the American Founding Fathers and a close senior aide to General George Washington during the American Revolutionary War. As Washington’s Secretary of the Treasury, he founded the nation’s financial system and pushed for a strong central government. Considered one of the most influential interpreters and promoters of the Constitution, he also founded the first American political party (the Federalist Party), the U.S. Coast Guard and The New York Post newspaper.

The U.S. Constitution states that “no Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President.” This is usually interpreted to mean “born in the United States.” Otherwise, it is possible that Hamilton himself could have been President. But Hamilton was an immigrant, orphaned in 1768 (age 13) in the British West Indies, when the Caribbean islands provided major riches in the sugar trade for able European entrepreneurs. But for hard labor they depended mostly on African slaves, on European vagabonds and criminals, who became indentured servants, and on child labor. Fortunes were made and lost quickly, and Hamilton bore the heavy prejudice of a “bastard son,” shunned by local schools, among others. Small wonder he played down his Caribbean origins.

Hamilton was born out of wedlock to James A. Hamilton, a Scottish aristocrat, and Rachel Faucette, a well-heeled, well-educated woman of mixed British and French Huguenot descent. The boy’s father abandoned the family when he was ca. 10 or 11 years old; then he and his older brother were orphaned when his mother died of a fever in Feb. 1768. Disinherited at this time due to their “bastard status,” his brother was sent off to learn carpentry while Alexander worked for several years as a clerk for a merchant shipping company. But his intelligence, hard work, and business acumen attracted wealthy benefactors who took an interest in him, especially after his piece on a recent and devastating hurricane was published in a local paper Oct. 3, 1772. To further his education, they provided some introductions and sponsored his trip to the North American colonies. Hamilton sailed from St. Croix in either Oct. 1772 or June 1773, more likely the latter, but the biographical records conflict on this point.

By fall 1773 he entered King’s College (now Columbia University) as a private student, as he was mostly self-educated; and by May 1774 he officially matriculated. During this time he was surrounded by the conflict between Loyalists and American revolutionaries, soon aligning with the revolutionaries and supporting their cause as a soldier and a writer of pamphlets. After the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), Hamilton was elected to represent New York at the Continental Congress. He was a skilled orator and writer with high organizational skills, including military skills. Hamilton was the first-ever U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Sept. 11, 1789 to Jan. 31, 1795. In 1795 he resigned to practice law and founded the Bank of New York.

SOURCE: Saturday, Jan. 11, 1755 or 1757, Charlestown, Nevis, British West Indies. This is Class X data in the Rodden Data rating system, as the time is unknown and the year of birth is uncertain. When he arrived in North America Hamilton claimed he was born in 1757, perhaps to appear younger when applying for college entry. But more contemporary documentary evidence from his birthplace now supports the earlier date of 1755. Biographer Ron Chernow prefers 1755, based on the latest contemporary evidence from his Caribbean period, including a 1768 document from a probate court in St. Croix giving his age as thirteen. Chernow calls it “highly compelling evidence, since it did not rely on his testimony but came from his uncle.” (Ron Chernow, Alexander Hamilton, 2004, p. 17) With my speculative rectification (Jan. 11, 1755, 22:00 LMT, Charlestown, Nevis), the chart contains four planets in Sagittarius, including natal Mars at 8:55 Sagittarius – coinciding closely with the USA chart Ascendant at 8:59 Sagittarius (James Kelleher chart: July 4, 1776, 6:30 pm LMT, Philadelphia, PA). Further, the life story supports the intensity of the Sankyha Shoola yoga, when all physical planets are in only three houses of the chart.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON – Rectification Notes

With Hamilton’s immense versatility and adaptability, a dual sign Ascendant is fitting, and Rahu in the Ascendant describes personal charisma. Six planets all in angular houses are in dual signs, with four planets in the dual sign of Sagittarius. Being practical (Virgo Ascendant and Sun and Venus in Capricorn – both earth signs) and with immense organizational skills (Mars and Saturn in Sagittarius), he advanced quickly in life through his strong desire to learn and educate himself (a full 4th house) and through moving abroad from the place of his birth (4th lord in the 12th house of foreign residence).

His fiery nature is shown through four planets in Sagittarius, including Moon and Ascendant lord Mercury. Raja yogas between the 4th and 5th houses (5th lord Saturn in the 4th house), along with Jupiter’s aspect to the 4th house (as lord of that house and as protective benefic planet) gave Hamilton many advantages and possibilities for advancement, wresting him out of a likely future as an indentured servant, with the added burden of being “a bastard son,” a shameful stigma at that time that removed most possibilities for social mobility.

His mother’s death from a fever on Feb. 19, 1768 changed his life forever. James Hamilton had previously abandoned the family, and Rachel Faucette’s first husband seized her estate soon after, causing both her sons with Hamilton to be disinherited. But the local minister, Reverend Hugh Knox, took great interest in young Alexander and took him under his wing after Rachel Faucette’s death. He also let him use his large library to further his education.

Sagittarius is closely identified with religion, higher education, patriotism and foreign travel. The fires of nationalism were lit in this period, especially after Nov. 1782 (JU-SA conjunction in sidereal Sagittarius), further assisting the young man’s destiny. He had worked for several years as a clerk in his mother’s grocery store. After her death he was hired as a clerk for Kortright and Cruger, a bustling St. Croix trading company. While Rev. Knox tutored Alexander in philosophy and religion, his boss Nicholas Cruger taught him the material side of life. Cruger was a young New Yorker whose family owned one of the major North American merchant trading companies.

With a birth time of 22:00 (10:00 pm local time), Alexander was in the Vimshottari Dasha of Moon-Saturn from Nov. 8, 1766 to June 8, 1768, a time of grief and likely losses and separations, especially from the mother and from family. (Her death was Feb. 1768, and the father abandoned them ca. 1766.) But within a few years Alexander’s fortunes shifted dramatically. His boss and other wealthy local traders sent him from St. Croix to North America (New York City, via Boston).

As mentioned earlier, he left St. Croix in Oct. 1772 or in early June 1773. His piece about the devastating hurricane on Aug. 31, 1772, subsequently published in a local paper Oct. 3, 1772 so impressed his benefactors that plans for his education in North America began to materialize. When the hurricane occurred, he would have been age 17 and just a few weeks into his 7-year Mars Dasha (Aug. 8, 1772 to Aug. 9, 1779).

Mars Dasha brought sudden acceleration to his life: travel to North America – never to return to the British West Indies, several years as a college student, then as a revolutionary activist and soldier. After two years at King’s College in New York, he joined the militia in the American Revolutionary War from spring 1775 to1776, rising to the rank of Major General and Senior officer to General George Washington, 1776-1781, and with major military victories in 1781, including the Battle of Yorktown, where he commanded three battalions. This battle forced a British surrender and the end of their major military operations in North America.

Hamilton’s 18-year Rahu Dasha started Aug. 9, 1779, bringing even more worldly ambitions and success, including through marriage. Worldly success often comes with Rahu Dasha, especially with Rahu in the 10th house from natal Moon.This included Hamilton’s term as U.S. Treasury Secretary: Sept. 11, 1789 to Jan. 31, 1795. With Uttara Phalguni nakshatra on the Ascendant and Jupiter (7th lord) in his 12th house, also in the same nakshatra – he has a spouse from a foreign country.

When he married Elizabeth Schuyler, he married into a very wealthy family (trait of Uttara Phalguni nakshatra). He met her briefly in 1778, but lived close by for several months from Feb. 1780, six months into his Rahu Dasha. They were engaged by April 1780 and married Dec. 14, 1780 at the Schuyler mansion in upstate New York. The wedding occurred in his Rahu-Rahu-Mercury period and together they had eight children.

Mercury is both Ascendant lord and Matrikaraka, Jaimini significator of motherhood and children. A devoted wife and mother, and a widow for 50 years, Eliza’s primary goal in those years was her husband’s legacy, along with founding the first-ever private orphanage in New York City.

Hamilton died July 12, 1804, one day after being shot by Aaron Burr in a duel. Hamilton was passionate and outspoken on many issues, and had severely criticized Burr on several pivotal occasions, refusing to apologize. This caused Burr to lose both the U.S. Presidency and the governorship of New York. Biographer Ron Chernow notes some of these qualities in his 2004 biography (p. 153):

The rupture with [George] Washington [spring-summer 1781] highlights Hamilton’s egotism, outsize pride, and quick temper and is perhaps the first of many curious lapses of judgment and timing that detracted from an otherwise stellar career…. Hamilton exhibited the recklessness of youth and a disquieting touch of folie de grandeur.

The duel with Burr was another such situation, and occurred near the end of Hamilton’s Jupiter-Mercury period (April 10, 1802 to July 16, 1804). Jupiter is a Maraka (death-producing) planet for Virgo Ascendant, and in the sub-period of Ascendant lord Mercury, this would be an especially dangerous period.

The intensity of Hamilton’s life is further reflected by four planets in one sign (Sagittarius) and all physical planets in only three houses: A Sankhya Shoola yoga. Shoola means “thorn” in Sanskrit and is associated with struggle and with a “thorn in one’s side.” This yoga gives a very intense life, with certain major upheavals and opportunities, all depending on the house and sign placement of the planets. This is reflected in the single-minded intensity with which the person works and lives, with an enormous sense of obligation towards Sagittarian concerns, in this case. As noted, these involve philosophy, patriotism, and a yearning for further education and travel abroad from one’s birthplace.

With Mars, Moon, Mercury and Saturn all in Sagittarius we see how the mind and the heart (Moon), the intellect (Mercury), the physical energy (Mars) and sense of discipline (Saturn) are all geared towards patriotic ventures. As a young teenager he yearned for war – as a way to escape to a much bigger world experience. He dreamed that as a soldier he could make his mark by heroic actions in a larger world setting.

Hamilton’s birth chart also contains a Sanyasin yoga, when four or more planets (excluding Rahu and Ketu) are in one house and one sign. Sanyasin means “renunciate” and can indicate that even if a person is not celibate, they renounce almost everything to do one thing or to live a certain kind of life. To be a real ascetic the 10th lord must be involved in the yoga and it should be situated in an angular or trinal house.

Since this is a rectified chart, we cannot say for certain whether the 10th lord is involved, though in this case it is, as Mercury rules the 10th house (Gemini) from Virgo Ascendant, also placing the yoga in an angular house. Even if also handsome and self-confident, his ability to write and speak was what probably lifted Hamilton out of a life in the British West Indies filled with menial work and low social status. Composer/writer/performer Lin Manuel Miranda seizes on this quality in Hamilton in his musical about the man, and mentions it in his first-ever public performance of a song from his forthcoming musical Hamilton. This was May 12, 2009 at a Poetry Jam at the White House.

SOURCE: Wednesday, Jan. 16, 1980, 11:00 am, Manhattan, NY. Class A data, “from memory.” AstroData Source Notes: Wendy A. Boulding quotes Lin-Manuel Miranda from his Twitter response on 21 September 2016: “11:00 AM.” Thomas Kail, Miranda’s collaborator and director for two major projects, In the Heights and Hamilton, was born Jan. 20, 1978, Alexandria, VA. They met when Kail (Class of 1999) was a senior at Wesleyan University and Miranda was a Freshman (Class of 2002). Kail and several classmates joined together to produce Miranda’s first musical, a plan initiated in 2000.

LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA AND ALEXANDER HAMILTON

There are many parallels between Miranda and Hamilton, the first being their non-stop physical and mental energy in their respective fields, combined with persistence (a strong Saturn). Miranda’s Saturn is Digbala (best angular house) opposite the Ascendant. When the musical Hamilton had its World premiere on Jan. 20, 2015 (see chart further below), tr. Jupiter at 25:42 Cancer was almost exactly trine Miranda’s birth Ascendant at 25:46 Pisces. This is an auspicious aspect from a classic benefic planet that also rules Pisces Ascendant. Jupiter fares best in fire and water signs, and the water signs can bring artistic talent, notably in music.

Jupiter then transited through Leo from July 14, 2015 to Aug. 12, 2016, its natal position for both Miranda and Hamilton, from where it aspects key planets in Sagittarius in both charts. During this Jupiter return to Leo, the musical Hamilton opened on Broadway Aug. 6, 2015 and went on to receive an extraordinary number of awards as well as commercial success that set new records.

Jupiter’s 12-year cycle is especially important for Jupiter-ruled individuals, as in this case, since Miranda found his inspiration for the musical Hamilton from Ron Chernow’s biography on Hamilton. The book’s publication date in turn was April 26, 2004, when tr. Jupiter was retrograde at 15:07 Leo. On May 4, 2004 Jupiter turned Stationary Direct at 15:00 Leo, closely conjunct Miranda’s Ascendant lord Jupiter at 15:57 Leo, both powerful Vargottama degrees. (Vargottama means “the best division,” when the planet repeats in the same sign in the Navamsha chart and is often strengthened, as in this case.) Compounding the Vargottama factor, the Stationary Retrograde and/or Direct degrees confer extra power to Jupiter, and to events or births occurring close to its stationary points.

Miranda performed his first material in public on Hamilton (the Hamilton Mixtape) at the White House on May 12, 2009. This was during his Moon-Mercury period (Vimshottari system), Feb. 6, 2008 to July 7, 2009, a stellar period during which Miranda broke through to new levels of public recognition.

His first show In the Heights had its Broadway debut on Feb. 14, 2008, after a nine-year period surviving various off-Broadway incarnations and stemming from a debut in April 2000 at Wesleyan University during his sophomore year. Miranda’s Moon-Mercury period activates a powerful Raja yoga in his 10th house of status and career. This occurs since Moon rules the 5th house (a trinal house) and Mercury rules the 4th and 7th houses, both angular houses from the Pisces Ascendant in the birth chart. When planets ruling angular and trinal houses are conjoined, it creates a Raja yoga – bringing success, visibility and fulfillment of life purpose, especially if both planets reside in the 10th house, as in this case.

Further, the strength of Miranda’s chart from Chandra Lagna (Moon as Ascendant) becomes even clearer in the 10-year Moon Dasha, which doubles the impact when the Dasha lord is another key sub-Ascendant. Natal Jupiter and Mars, 4th and 5th lords from Chandra Lagna form a Raja yoga in the fortuitous 9th house, amplified by Rahu in Leo; and 9th lord Sun is in the 2nd house from the Moon, an excellent Dhana yoga for wealth. The 7-year Mars Dasha (from April 7, 2012) also has power, with Dasha lord Mars at its exact Stationary Retrograde degree.

With my rectified chart for Hamilton (Virgo Ascendant), dual sign Ascendants are featured for both men, and in opposite signs. Both Hamilton and Miranda have natal Sun in early Capricorn (1st pada, i.e. 3 degrees 20 minutes) in Sun-ruled Uttara Ashadha nakshatra (“the later victor”). A planet in this sector is Vargottama, and strengthened by that factor in this case.

Miranda has the added advantage of three planets Vargottama: Sun in Capricorn, Mercury in Sagittarius and Jupiter in Leo. This enables Jupiter aspects to Mercury in both birth and Navamsha charts and bestows the ability to write and speak voluminously. (Ron Chernow also has mutual Mercury-Jupiter contacts.) Physical vitality comes from Vargottama Sun, Vargottama Ascendant lord Jupiter (though in the 6th house), and Mars contacting Jupiter and Rahu in a fire sign.

Mercury gains additional mileage as Atmakaraka (planet at the highest degree of celestial longitude), and as Day lord of his birthday, born on a Wednesday. (Astrologically Mercury rules the day from sunrise Wednesday to sunrise Thursday.) This explains also why the Moon-Mercury Raja yoga would perform to an outstanding degree during Moon-Mercury Dasha and bring this man of prodigious energy, creativity and versatility into his own in the world of theater: as an actor, composer and playwright.

Miranda has both Mercury and Sun in Uttara Ashadha nakshatra. Hamilton has Saturn, Sun and Venus in the same nakshatra. Hamilton’s Saturn (29:37 Sagittarius) is tightly conjunct Miranda’s Mercury (29:05 Sagittarius), bestowing some pressure or obligation on Miranda to think and write about Hamilton.

Both men have five planets in fiery signs, giving a similar interest in revolution and revolutionary thought, relative to their interests, talents and the times in which they live. Both men have Moon and Mercury in Sagittarius, showing fiery emotions and intellect. Both men have Jupiter in Leo aspecting Moon and Mercury, giving optimism and a tendency to use words in abundance as writers, speakers or performers. In a television interview Miranda said: “You need a revolutionary language to describe a revolution.” (PBS interview Nov. 20, 2015 with journalist Jeffrey Brown)

In July 2008 Miranda bought Chernow’s biography of Hamilton and started reading it while on vacation in Mexico. This is when he first conceived of doing a hip-hop musical about the American statesman. At that time tr. Jupiter was retrograding between 24 and 21 Sagittarius, just opposite the USA Sun at 22:38 Gemini, along with Jupiter, Venus, and Mars also in Gemini. (Kelleher chart). This was galvanizing the natal Moon-Mercury combination in Miranda’s chart as well as the four planets in Sagittarius in Hamilton’s chart.

As lord of the sign, Jupiter is very strong in Sagittarius. It turned Stationary Retrograde at 28:24 Sagittarius on May 8, 2008 and Stationary Direct at 18:33 Sagittarius on Sept. 8, 2008. At the very least, the Stationary Retrograde degree would have triggered Miranda’s Mercury (as it did) and Hamilton’s Saturn (posthumously, of course). But we see how the spirit of the person never dies, and how Hamilton is brought to musical and theatrical life over this time sequence in the 21st century by a man of the theater – an American actor of Puerto Rican descent, whose father came to the U.S. from Puerto Rico, and who became not only a performer but a playwright, composer, rapper, and writer compelled for so many reasons to tell Hamilton’s story.

WORLD PREMIERE OF THE MUSICAL “HAMILTON”

Preceding the World premiere was a New Moon at 6:04 Capricorn at 8:14 am EST the same day, almost 12 hours earlier. The New Moon was in Sun-ruled Uttara Ashadha nakshatra (“the later victor”), a telling signature for one of America’s Founding Fathers who has tended to get less recognition than the others – until now. We see how this nakshatra resonates and repeats in the birth charts of both Hamilton and Miranda. Hamilton has natal Saturn, Sun and Venus all in Uttara Ashadha nakshatra; Miranda has natal Mercury and Sun in Uttara Ashadha nakshatra. And as previously noted, Miranda’s powerful Mercury at 29:05 Sagittarius is close to Hamilton’s Saturn at 29:37 Sagittarius, both Vargottama planets, as is the natal Sun in each case.

SOURCE: Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015, 8:00 pm EST, Manhattan, NY. In a phone call with the author, a staff member at the Public Theatre, New York City confirmed that Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical Hamilton had its “first-ever ticketed performance” [a world premiere] on this date and time.

As with Hamilton’s birth chart, this World premiere chart contains a concentration of four planets in one sign, in this case Capricorn: Sun, Moon, Mercury and Venus. Retrograde Jupiter is closely opposite Mercury and Venus, and will aspect all four planets as it retrogrades back through Cancer, its sign of exaltation. Receiving this opposition aspect from benefic Jupiter, as well as contacting two other classic benefic planets (Venus and unafflicted Mercury), this configuration has many expansive qualities. But it is not without wisdom, structure and guidance, as tr. Saturn in early Scorpio also aspects its own sign of Capricorn and the four planets situated there.

We have to say that this chart has more auspiciousness from the Sun and Moon as Ascendant than from the Leo Ascendant, from which there are only classical malefic planets in angular houses: Saturn in the 4th house in Scorpio, and Mars in the 7th house in Aquarius. The stellium of planets in Capricorn fall in the 6th house of conflict. Even so, this is a story of struggle and triumph over obstacles represented by the 6th house.

Sun, Moon, and Saturn are all situated in nakshatras they own, giving further strength to the Hamilton World premiere chart: Sun in Uttara Ashadha, Moon in Shravana, and Saturn in Anuradha. Tr. Sun is in early Capricorn, though out of its Vargottama segment. But in early Capricorn it coincides with the natal Sun of Alexander Hamilton, the natal Sun of Lin-Manuel Miranda, the natal Sun of Miranda’s key collaborator and director Thomas Kail (born Jan. 20, 1978), and the natal Jupiter (0:41 Capricorn) of Hamilton biographer Ron Chernow (born March 3, 1949). Also, coincidentally, Jan. 20th is the date every four years on which the U.S. President is inaugurated. The next Inauguration day is Jan. 20, 2017.

In describing the musical Hamilton, here is how the MacArthur “Genius” awards cited it in presenting its creator Lin-Manuel Miranda with its prestigious award in late Sept. 2015:

The daring pairing of street culture with America’s founding narrative recalls the youthful, defiant spirit of the American Revolution, and cross-racial casting connects the present day to the diverse immigrant society of the thirteen rebel colonies…. Miranda is expanding the conventions of mainstream theater and showcasing the cultural riches of the American urban panorama.

*******

LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA – MAJOR LIFE EVENTS, 1999-2016:

Fall 1999: Miranda writes the earliest drafts of his first musical In the Heights at Wesleyan University during his sophomore year.

April 27-29, 2000: Miranda’s In the Heights debuts at Wesleyan University during his sophomore year.

2005 to 2007: Miranda’s In the Heights has Off-Broadway performances.

Feb. 14, 2008: Miranda’s In the Heights opens on Broadway.

May 13, 2008: Miranda’s In the Heights is nominated for 13 Tony Awards. Miranda is nominated for Best Performance by a leading actor in a musical.

June 15, 2008: Miranda’s In the Heights wins 4 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score (Music and/or lyrics).

July 2008: Miranda buys Chernow’s biography of Hamilton and takes it on vacation in Mexico. The book inspires him to start creating a hip-hop and rap musical about Hamilton and his life.

May 12, 2009: Miranda performs Hamilton Mixtape at the White House Poetry Jam, the first public performance of any song from Hamilton, and the first song Miranda composes for the future musical.

Feb. 8, 2009: Miranda’s In the Heights wins Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

Sept. 10, 2010: Miranda weds Vanessa Nadal, M.I.T. graduate, scientist and lawyer.

Nov. 10, 2014: Son Sebastian is born to Miranda and his wife Vanessa Nadal-Miranda.

Jan. 20, 2015: World premiere of Miranda’s Hamilton at the Public Theatre, New York City.

Feb. 8, 2015: Miranda’s Hamilton wins the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album.

May 24, 2015: Miranda is awarded an Honorary doctorate by his alma mater, Wesleyan University. He is a Class of 2002 graduate.

Aug. 6, 2015: Miranda’s Hamilton has its Broadway debut at the Richard Rogers Theater, New York City.

Sept. 28, 2015: Miranda is awarded a MacArthur “genius grant,” with prize money of $625,000.

April 12, 2016: Publication date of the book Hamilton: The Revolution, by Lin- Manuel Miranda and Jeremy Carter.

April 18, 2016: Miranda wins the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for writing the book, music, and lyrics for Hamilton: An American Musical. It is cited as “A landmark American musical about the gifted and self-destructive founding father whose story becomes both contemporary and irresistible.”

May 3, 2016: Miranda’s Hamilton is nominated for 16 Tony awards (the most nominations for one show in Broadway history).

June 12, 2016: Hamilton wins 11 Tony awards.

*****

SELECTED REFERENCES:

Books:

Chernow, Ron, Alexander Hamilton, 2004.
Miranda, Lin-Manuel and Jeremy Carter, Hamilton: The Revolution: being the Complete Libretto, with a True account of its Creation and Concise Remarks on Hip-Hop, the Power of Stories and the New America, 2016.
Links:

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/hip-hop-and-history-blend-for-broadway-hit-hamilton/
http://www.pbssocal.org/programs/great-performances/oskar-eustis-compares-linmanuel-miranda-to-shakespeare_clip/
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/hamilton-creator-lin-manuel-miranda-the-rolling-stone-interview-20160601
https://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/lin-manuel-miranda-performs-white-house-poetry-jam-8-8
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamilton
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lin-Manuel_Miranda

[This article also appears in the Jan. 2017 issue of Astrologic magazine, an on-line magazine under the title “PRINCE OF BROADWAY – LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA BRINGS ALEXANDER HAMILTON TO (MUSICAL) LIFE”.]

Copyright © 2016 by Edith Hathaway. All rights reserved.