Lin-Manuel Miranda's Six Degrees of Separation (Or Less) to Every Show on Broadway!

Since creating and starring in In the Heights and Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda has become one of the most influential creators on Broadway. His work has earned him great acclaim and he's collected too many awards to count, including a Pulitzer Prize, an Emmy Award, three Grammy Awards, three Tony Awards and a Kennedy Center Honor.

His collaborations in the theatre and subsequent work in television and film have provided a workspace for experienced professionals, as well as a launching platform for new stars. As a result, Miranda can be linked to every show on Broadway, one way or another.

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Ain't Too Proud

Ephraim Sykes did not throw away his shot. After performing in the original ensemble of Hamilton, he went on to begin his Ain't Too Proud journey. He played David Ruffin of the Temptations at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles and Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto, Ontario before transferring to the Imperial Theatre on Broadway in February 2019.

The show's lighting designer Howell Binkley, who was nominated for a Tony Award for his work, also completed the lighting design for Hamilton, the 2009 West Side Story revival and In the Heights. Similarly, Ain't Too Proud's costumes were designed by Paul Tazewell, who also designed the costumes for Hamilton and In the Heights. Tazewell received a Tony nod for his work on the show.

Aladdin

After giving a Tony Award-winning performance as the Genie in the Disney musical, James Monroe Iglehart entered a whole new world. In April 2017, Iglehart stepped into Hamilton as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson and has been playing the role since.

Alan Menken, who wrote the original score for the 1992 animated film alongside Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, wrote the music for the staged production and 2019 film remake. He will also co-write new songs with Lin-Manuel Miranda for the forthcoming live-action remake of The Little Mermaid.

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

Alysha Deslorieux went uptown (three blocks) from the Stephen Sondheim to the Richard Rodgers Theatre when she went from an ensemble member in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical to a standby for Eliza, Angelica and Peggy/Maria in Hamilton. She then stepped into the Peggy/Maria role before joining the Chicago cast as Eliza.

Sound designer Brian Ronan won a Tony Award for his work on BTCKM after working on the sound design on Bring It On: The Musical, which Miranda co-wrote the music and lyrics for.

Beetlejuice

The award-winning scenic designer David Korins has been giving people the fright of their lives this season with the shape-shifting set for the stage adaptation of the Tim Burton classic. He received a Tony nomination for this production as well as War Paint in 2017 and his all-purpose set for Hamilton in 2016. Korins also served as creative director for Hamilton: The Exhibition. The immersive museum in Chicago featured interactive games and displays, lifelike projections, full-scale statues and Instagram-worthy art installations and closed on August 25.

Betrayal

Harold Pinter's classic play was revived once again and opened on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on September 5. During the play's original run in 1980, the production was housed in the Trafalgar Theatre, which was renamed the Nederlander Theatre later that year. The second most recent musical in the Nederlander was War Paint. The musical about the lives of and rivalry between Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein's set was also designed by David Korins, who received a Tony nomination for his work on the show.

Chicago

The legendary Bob Fosse gave everyone the old razzle dazzle in 1975 when he co-wrote the book of this musical with Fred Ebb while serving as the original production's choreographer and director. Fosse's work on the show was a plotline in FX's Fosse/Verdon, which Miranda co-executive produced.

Come From Away

Frequent Lin-Manuel Miranda collaborators Alex Lacamoire and Andy Blankenbuehler wrote additional orchestrations for and choreographed, respectively, the revival of Annie in 2012 that starred Katie Finneran as Miss Hannigan. Finneran later replaced Megan Mullally and took over the role of Julia Budder in It's Only a Play, which began its run at the current home of Come From Away, the Schoenfeld Theatre.

Like Ain't Too Proud, Howell Binkley did lighting design for this show.

Dear Evan Hansen

In The Heights and Hamilton orchestrator and musical director Alex Lacamoire didn't need a map when he went from working on one season's biggest show to the next with Dear Evan Hansen. For each of these three shows, Lacamoire has won a Tony Award and a Grammy Award.

Nevin Steinberg, who did the sound design for Hamilton and In the Heights, also did the sound work for Dear Evan Hansen.

Freestyle Love Supreme

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail and Anthony Veneziale's improvisational show was their first hip-hop hit. The group toured the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, as well as the Aspen, Melbourne and Montreal Comedy Festivals before creating a limited television series in 2014 for Pivot. After playing the Greenwich House Theater in February of this year, the show will make its Broadway debut 15 years after its creation. The production at the Booth Theatre, with previews beginning on September 13 and opening night set for October 2, is co-produced and directed by Kail. Frequent Miranda collaborator Nevin Steinberg will do the sound design for the production, which closes on January 5. The show will feature Andrew Bancroft, Arthur Lewis, Bill Sherman, Chris Sullivan, Utkarsh Ambudkar and Veneziale and with guest performers Miranda, Daveed Diggs, James Monroe Iglehart and Christopher Jackson.

Frozen

Ryann Redmond continued to prove snowman, like reindeer, are better than people when she began performances as the first female Olaf in Frozen. Before taking over the role from Greg Hildreth in February of this year, she was in the ensemble of the Broadway production and tour of Escape to Margaritaville and was in the ensemble of If/Then from 2014 to 2015, which played at the Richard Rodgers Theatre before Hamilton's run. She made her Broadway debut as Bridget in Bring It On: The Musical after touring with the show.

Hadestown

Mary Poppins Returns starred Lin-Manuel Miranda and featured Ben Wishaw playing Michael Banks. Wishaw made his Broadway debut in 2016 as John Proctor in the revival of The Crucible that played the Walter Kerr Theatre, where Hadestown now lives.

Jessica Paz and Nevin Steinberg did Hadestown's sound design and won a Tony Award for their work.

Hamilton

The hip-hop musical about the ten dollar founding father changed musical theatre. It revolutionized the American musical. Miranda wrote the book, music and lyrics for the show and starred as Alexander Hamilton in the Off-Broadway and Broadway run as well as the three-week engagement in Puerto Rico. The show received rave reviews and has collected an impressive number of awards from various productions. Lin-Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail, Alex Lacamoire and Andy Blankenbuehler were awarded the Kennedy Center Honor in 2018 for their work on the creation of the show.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two

James Snyder currently plays the titular character in the plays based on the J.K. Rowling series. Before this run, he played Josh in If/Then, which played at the Richard Rodgers Theatre before Hamilton's run.

Mean Girls

Miranda played heartthrob senior Cody Shucks, host of the Crucible cast party, when he hosted Saturday Night Live in October 2016, for which he earned a 2017 Emmy nomination. SNL was created and produced by Lorne Michaels, who also produced the musical production of Mean Girls, currently at the August Wilson Theatre. Original Mean Girls cast members Taylor Louderman (Regina George) and Kate Rockwell (Karen Smith) also played Campbell and Skylar in Bring it On: The Musical, respectively.

Moulin Rouge!

Karen Olivo not only stars in Broadway's new hit as Satine, but she originated the role of Vanessa in the original Broadway cast of In The Heights. She also played Angelica Schuyler in the original Chicago production of Hamilton. In 2009, Olivo portrayed Anita in the revival of West Side Story, where Miranda translated some of Stephen Sondheim's lyrics into Spanish for the production.

Oklahoma!

Thomas Kail directed Lombardi, which ran at the Circle in the Square Theatre from October 21, 2010 to May 22, 2011, eight productions before the chili-and-cornbread-serving revival of Oklahoma' in 2019.

Sea Wall/A Life

Alex Lacamoire provided additional arrangements for Legally Blonde, which featured Annaleigh Ashford as Margot. She was most recently seen on Broadway in the 2017 revival of Sunday in the Park with George at the Hudson Theatre, where Sea Wall/A Life now lives for its limited engagement.

Miranda was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Mary Poppins Returns. Against Miranda in the category was Robert Redford, who was last on Broadway in 1963 in Barefoot in the Park at the Biltmore Theatre, now the Friedman Theatre. Nick Payne's Constellations, which gave Jake Gyllenhaal his Broadway debut, lived in that theatre from Jan. 13, 2015 to Mar. 15, 2015.

The Book of Mormon

After original The Book of Mormon cast member Michael Potts departed from the show, Daniel Breaker raised his middle finger to the sky as Mafala Hatimbi from February 2014 to June 2015. He played the role a second time from July 2015 to February 2017. In April 2017, he began his stint as Aaron Burr in the Windy City's Hamilton before transferring to the Broadway production in August of that year.

The Lion King

Elton John, who wrote the music for The Lion King with lyricist Tim Rice, also wrote additional music for Holler If Ya Hear Me, which starred Christopher Jackson as Vertus. Jackson has starred in In the Heights as Benny and Hamilton as George Washington and will guest perform in Freestyle Love Supreme.

The Phantom of the Opera

The creator of the longest-running show on Broadway, Andrew Lloyd Webber, competed against Miranda's Hamilton at the 2016 Tony Awards with his musical adaptation of School of Rock. Luca Padovan, who played Billy in SOR, went viral when a performance of "The Schuyler Sisters" from Hamilton by him, Douglas Baldeo and Joshua Colley from MCC's annual Miscast Gala was posted on YouTube.

To Kill a Mockingbird

Jeff Daniels currently stars in the play based on the 1960 novel by Harper Lee as the respected lawyer Atticus Finch. He was last seen on Broadway in Blackbird as Ray with Michelle Williams as Una. After Williams' run in the David Harrower play, she starred as Gwen Verdon in the FX biographical miniseries Fosse/Verdon and executive produced with Miranda, Kail, Steven Levenson, Sam Rockwell, Joel Fields and George Stelzner.

Tootsie

In the stage adaptation of the 1982 film of the same name, Lilli Cooper plays actress Julie Nichols. Before her journey with Tootsie, Cooper played Sandy Cheeks in SpongeBob SquarePants at the Palace Theatre. The show has a score written and composed by various artists, but additional lyrics were written by Jonathan Coulton and additional music and orchestrations were written by Tom Kitt, who wrote Bring It On: The Musical three productions before SpongeBob. Kitt also served as the musical supervisor for the show under the sea that garnered 12 Tony Award nominations.

Waitress

It only took a taste of Waitress for Jenna to become a dream role for Alison Luff. She began her run as the pie baker extraordinaire on July 23 after originating the role of Rachel in the tour and Broadway run of Escape to Margaritaville and playing Fantine in the most recent Les Misérables revival. On Jan. 24, 2016, Miranda visited the Imperial Theatre for a different revolution and performed the offstage cameo role of Loud Hailer for a digital Ham4Ham show.

Wicked

After creating the role of Nina in In the Heights in the Off-Broadway and Broadway production, Mandy Gonzalez went on to defy gravity as Elphaba from March 2010 to January 2011 in Wicked. When Renée Elise Goldsberry left Hamilton in September 2016, Gonzalez took over the role of Angelica Schuyler and still plays the part to this day.

In March 2009, Miranda was invited by Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz to write two new songs for a revised production of his 1978 musical Working at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Florida.