Lin-Manuel Miranda's Wife, Vanessa Nadal, Offers HAMILTON Insights For Fordham Law Alumni

Fordham University alumni received a uniquely inside look at the creation of a Broadway smash last week, enjoying dinner with 2010 Fordham Law alumnus Vanessa Nadal before taking in a performance of Hamilton.

What made the experience unique is that Nadal is married to the musical's author Lin-Manuel Miranda.

As reported by Fordham News, the event was a part of the school's Office of Alumni Relations program offering a variety of cultural events with a Fordham connection.

Much of the dinner conversation focused on the musical's strong female roles in the play, with Nadal saying she encouraged her husband to ensure that a female lead got a rap of her own.

"Lin is attuned to the female roles, but I did push him a little bit," says Nadal. "He's very empathetic and good at putting himself in other people's shoes and think that's why he can write women in a way that other men can't."

"She noted that Manuel's empathy extends beyond the feminine to fatherhood," Tom Stolker reports. "She said that when he wrote a ballad about Hamilton's' first son, many assumed that it was because the two were expecting their first child. But she said that at the time he wrote the song she wasn't expecting. In actuality, the couple had just adopted a dog. They eventually did have son after the play was produced downtown; Sebastian is now one."

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The new musical Hamilton has book, music and lyrics by Tony and Grammy Award-winning composerLin-Manuel Miranda, who also plays the title role. The musical is directed by Thomas Kail, with choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler and music direction and orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire. Hamilton is inspired by Ron Chernow's biography "Alexander Hamilton."

The cast of Hamilton is comprised of Lin-Manuel Miranda (Alexander Hamilton), Daveed Diggs(Marquis De Lafayette,Thomas Jefferson), Renée Elise Goldsberry (Angelica Schuyler),Christopher Jackson (George Washington),Jonathan Groff (King George), Jasmine Cephas Jones (Peggy Schuyler, Maria Reynolds), Javier Muñoz (Hamilton alternate), Okieriete Onaodowan(Hercules Mulligan, James Madison), Leslie Odom, Jr. (Aaron Burr),Anthony Ramos(John Laurens, PhilipHamilton) and Phillipa Soo (Eliza Hamilton).

HAMILTON is the acclaimed new musical about the scrappy young immigrant Alexander Hamilton, the $10 Founding Father who forever changed America with his revolutionary ideas and actions. During his life cut too short, he served as George Washington's chief aide, was the first Treasury Secretary, a loving husband and father, despised by his fellow Founding Fathers and shot to death by Aaron Burr in their legendary duel.