John McCarthy
ART IMITATES LIFE: Lin Miranda of Puerto Rico stars in the hit play “Hamilton” on Broadway in New York. Founding Father Alexander Hamilton is one of the most historically-significant persons ever to live in St. Croix. Hamilton is co-author of “The Federalist Papers.”
[ad name=”HTML-68″]CHRISTIANSTED — Amidst reports that ‘Hamilton’ creator, award-winning Lin Miranda will return to the role of Alexander Hamilton and take the play to Puerto Rico to help raise funds for hurricane victims there, a historian and author is challenging the actor, writer and singer, to take the play here.
Alexander Hamilton, a Founding Father and the country’s first Secretary of the Treasury, was born on the island of Nevis but came of age and learned about international trade in St. Croix.
Michael Newton, a recognized Hamilton historian, chief historian of the proposed Alexander Hamilton & Caribbean History Museum in St. Croix and author of “Alexander Hamilton: The Formative Years,” tweeted Miranda after he promoted the January 2019 San Juan, Puerto Rico show on his Twitter account.
“That is awesome,” Newton tweeted. “Have you thought of taking Hamilton to St. Croix? Another US territory in need of hurricane relief and Hamilton grew up there.”
NAN columnist and ardent Hamilton supporter, Arthur Piccolo, chairman of the Bowling Green Association, also fired back at Miranda asking:
“Did Miranda forget where his story begins? Is his only interest in the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico? Very myopic if it is … the REAL Hamilton never set foot on Puerto Rico but Alexander Hamilton knew Nevis & St. Croix very, very well … where his story begins.!”
Miranda for his part has said in a statement that: “Bringing [Hamilton] to Puerto Rico is a dream that I’ve had since we first opened at The Public Theater in 2015.”
“When I last visited the island, a few weeks before Hurricane Maria, I had made a commitment to not only bring the show to Puerto Rico, but also return again to the title role. In the aftermath of Maria we decided to expedite the announcement of the project to send a bold message that Puerto Rico will recover and be back in business, stronger than ever,” Miranda added.
To read more:
https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-11-08/lin-manuel-miranda-will-bring-hamilton-puerto-rico
