Lin Manuel-Miranda Brings Hamilton to Puerto Rico

Lin+Manuel-Miranda+Brings+Hamilton+to+Puerto+Rico

For the first time since his final performance as Alexander Hamilton in 2016, Lin-Manuel Miranda reprised his iconic role and took “Hamilton” to Puerto Rico. It is a place that remains very close to his heart seeing as it is home to several of his family members and was where he spent most of his summers growing up. Hoping to bring the joy of the theater and the arts to the island, the show ran for three weeks in January at the Centro de Bellas Artes in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The show’s run becomes much more meaningful upon considering Miranda’s highly

generous motives behind taking the show to what many consider to be an unconventional place for high-scale productions. Puerto Rico was left devastated after Hurricane Maria in 2017, many still struggling to recover from its effects to this day. Through the Flamboyan ArtFund, proceeds from the show will go towards hurricane relief and keeping the arts alive in Puerto Rico, helping struggling artists to rise to their full potential. Along with this endeavor, Miranda has already led a campaign in raising $43 million in disaster relief for the Hispanic Federation, a nonprofit group that seeks to strengthen Latino institutions. The island already has a strong love and appreciation for Miranda. In Vega Alta, the town where the extended Miranda family lives, there is a small shrine to the the Hamilton star. It hosts a “Museo Miranda” (Miranda Museum), small cafes and a patio for gazing at a giant mosaic portrait of Lin-Manuel, posed like a revolutionary hero. In the museum, several of his entertainment awards are displayed, along with other portraits.

As Miranda himself has commented on several times before, bringing the show to Puerto Rico has seemed to provide a sense of coming “full-circle” for several coincidental reasons. As a young man, Hamilton was able to leave the Caribbean and head to America after having received support to do so with the promise of one day being able to give back to his native island. Considering the situation following Hurricane Maria and Miranda’s decision to bring the show to Puerto Rico, that promise made long ago seems to finally have been fulfilled through the success of the show that was able to capture the hearts of many.