Lin-Manuel Miranda Shares the First Email He Sent to Hamilton Biographer Ron Chernow

As Hamilton celebrates ten years on Broadway in 2025, Lin-Manuel Miranda has been sharing flashbacks to the early days of the musical's development. 

After revealing videos from the auditions of Christopher Jackson and Philippa Soo, Miranda has now gone all the way back to 2008 – when In the Heights had just opened on Broadway – when he first emailed Hamilton biographer Ron Chernow.

Chernow wrote a 2004 biography about Alexander Hamilton, which the musical is largely based on. Miranda revealed that he got Chernow's email from a friend's father who lived in his old apartment, inviting the author to come see him in In the Heights.

The email read: "Dear Mr. Chernow,
Hi. My name is Lin-Manuel Miranda. I got your email from Gara LaMarche, an old friend who happens to live in your old apartment.
First of all, I'd love to offer you a pair of tickets to In The Heights, as my guest, for whenever you like. Second of all, if your schedule allows it, l'o love to buy you food or coffee and talk about Alexander Hamilton for a bit. Please let me know if this is at all interesting to you. Either way please know that I am a huge admirer of your work. Thanks so much."

Miranda also shared an email he sent to former theatre critic Jeremy McCarter, asking him to be friends as "one of only a few critics who saw Heights the way WE did." He later was the first person that he told about the Hamilton Mixtape.

“Hi Jeremy,
Thanks for being such a champion of our show. You and Nathan Rabin of the Onion A.V. Club are the only reviews to which I pay any attention.
Now that all the Tony and awards-season hoopla is finished, can we please have a drunken, rambling, off-the-record discussion on the future of musical theater?Judging from your writings, l've a feeling that would be a good conversation. Hope all is well.”

About Hamilton

HAMILTON is the story of America then, told by America now.  Featuring a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B and Broadway, HAMILTON has taken the story of American founding father Alexander Hamilton and created a revolutionary moment in theatre—a musical that has had a profound impact on culture, politics, and education.   

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