Video: Lin-Manuel Miranda Recalls E-Mail Exchange with Stephen Sondheim

Lin-Manuel Miranda was no stranger to Stephen Sondheim during the legendary composer's lifetime.

"Sondheim, when we met, was like, 'Please, don't be shy and keep up with me.' And I really took him at his word," the Hamilton creator shared during a recent visit to Late Night with Seth Meyers. "I emailed him every dumb thing that I could think of to ask him."

Miranda told Meyers that he once emailed Sondheim about an ice cream truck in Queens that played an off-key rendition of Send in the Clowns, one of Sondheim's best-known songs from A Little Night Music.

"Very upsetting. Thank you so much," was Sondheim's hilariously direct response to the news. Sondheim would later lend his voice to Miranda's directorial debut Tick, Tick...Boom! In the interview, Miranda went on to say that he misses the late composer, who passed away in 2021.

Miranda is currently promoting his new concept album Warriors, which he wrote with Eisa Davis. Inspired by the 1979 Paramount Pictures cult film, The Warriors, based on the Sol Yurick novel of the same name, the album is an immersive listening experience that follows a fictitious New York City gang from Coney Island to the Bronx and back when they are framed for the murder of a respected gang leader.

Executive produced by GRAMMY® Award-winning rap icon, New York City’s own Nas and produced by 3x GRAMMY® Award-winning musician Mike Elizondo, the project showcases a star-studded cast of iconic voices including as THE FIVE BOROUGHS: Busta Rhymes (Brooklyn), Ghostface Killah and RZA (Staten Island) Chris Rivers (The Bronx), Cam’ron (Manhattan), and Nas (Queens); THE GRAMERCY RIFFS: Ms. Lauryn Hill (Cyrus) and Colman Domingo (Masai); THE WARRIORS: Kenita Miller (Cochise), Sasha Hutchings (Cowgirl), Phillipa Soo (Fox), Aneesa Folds (Cleon), Amber Gray (Ajax), Gizel Jiménez (Rembrandt), Jasmine Cephas Jones (Swan), and Julia Harriman (Mercy); NEW YORK’S FINEST: Original “The Warriors” cast members James Remar (Barnes) and David Patrick Kelly (Victor); THE HURRICANES: Billy Porter (Granger), Michaela Jaé (Yaya), and Mykal Kilgore (Élan); THE ORPHANS: Utkarsh Ambudkar (Sully) and Casey Likes (Jesse); THE TURNBULL ACs: Marc Anthony (Tato), Luis Figueroa (Miguel), and Flaco Navaja (Jesús); THE ROGUES: Kim Dracula (Luther) and Alex Bonniello (Cropsy); THE BIZZIES: Stephen Sanchez (Cal), Joshua Henry (Wanya), Timothy Hughes (Lance), and Daniel Jikal (Joon); and Shenseea (DJ Lynne Pen). 

Photo Credit: Lloyd Bishop/NBC