Lin-Manuel Miranda on Race & Its Role in Theater

say whaat

I have nothing against blackface. I feel that art should hold no limits. Maybe we can see some black people in white face, till the point where it's no longer about mocking another race as to give a better picture of who the actor is portraying.

This guy should put Watsky in his show.

Well said, I also think that in some cases we need to completely toss our ideas of what race a character might be. Have you ever read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy? The character descriptions in the book do not match the actors in the movie but the race of the characters in that story don't add to or take away from it, so it made no difference what the actors looked like.

he's dope

Listening to him talk about Hamilton way back when is a serious trip! He deserves all the success!!

Agh look at this artifact

"I wish we could do In The Heights but our school's too white!"...LMAO love the whiny voice he puts on. Dude is a genius.

This video changed my entire life, as very much a "I wish we could do heights but my school is too white" person. I have Lin's blessing. I wanna go play Nina Rosario.

Then they asks for non-whites

Legitimately just clicked on the video and started crying because this man can be so....godDAMN FUCKING AMAZING.

what a beautiful man

So...I can rap, Lin...

I agree! I feel like unless the character needs to look a certain way/be a certain race it shouldn’t matter. I mean, obviously if this is Broadway you probably don’t want to cast a white Shark in West Side Story or something like that but for Hamilton it doesn’t really matter, for a lot of shows it doesn’t matter. Also, I don’t like how sometimes they try TOO hard to be diverse, so they’ll just have someone in a wheelchair just to say, “Yay, we’re showing diversity! We’re so accepting!” when the actor doesn’t even use a wheelchair and the wheelchair isn’t even part of the story. Also, I love seeing strong female roles but I hate how some directors are just like “oh we don’t have any ideas? Let’s just make a remake of something but make the main character female.” They’re trying too hard. It shouldn’t matter your gender or race unless it’s a part of the story.

“I’m Lin Manuel Miranda, subscribe to Thnkr, peace”

Me “Yes sir!”

clicks subscribe

tbh i wish i could do any play at school but there's no drama club...or any club actually

A theatre in Australia, where I live, wanted to do In The Heights but was shut down because they didn’t have any Latinos. It annoyed me so much. I’m so glad he thinks this. And I agree completely. Sometimes it is nessicary, but sometimes, it is not.

YO ITS MA BOI CONRADDD BIRDIEE!!!!!!

I LOVE AND AGREE WITH EVERYTHING LIN-MINUEL MIRANDA IS SAYING!

❤😊

I strongly, strongly disagree. I strongly disagree that white people should be playing characters of color. At all. Ever. Wow. I'm very surprised he said this.

❤

This is what I have been saying! Unless it's essential to the character, cast whoever is best! Theatre is so fluid in that the cast changes all the time. You can have so much diversity and so many different interpretation. It's just such a shame that some fans of Hamilton have started saying white fans shouldn't be singing the songs at all! Sing whatever you want!!! Even the notes you can't reach! Sing them out! Musicals should be enjoyed by everyone!!

Years ago, a Filipino highschool friend of mine auditioned for a lead role in South Pacific. He was very talented, and sang in the school's choir. And what part did he get? The smallest part in the whole production. The fisherman who downs in the sea. My friend just happened to be the only non-white student in his drama class.

LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA IS A GENIUS AND THE SWEEST, COOLEST, FUNNIEST DUDE EVER!

I did in the heights at college. One of the best productions I was in

whoever edited this is a moron

The key to a good "In the heights" audition isn't "are you Latino?" but "are you that brother from another mother/sister from another mister who can belt a bop about the barrio? can you embody that conflicted love por la patria?"