Creator of ‘Hamilton’ takes show to Puerto Rico
Raises millions for post-Maria renaissance in father’s birthplace
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – With his body draped in the Puerto Rican flag, his emotions struggling to get through the song titled “Hurricane” and his presence celebrated all across San Juan, “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda returned to the role of Alexander Hamilton on Friday night on the island of his beloved father’s birth, revealing stronger vocal technique and deeper onstage emotions, while also raising some $15 million toward a Puerto Rican post-hurricane renaissance in just three weeks of sold-out performances.
“I just love this island so much,” Miranda said after the show. “And I want it to be proud of me.”
He needed not worry on that account. At a post-show news conference, a hefty phalanx of local media peppered an exhausted Miranda with questions on a variety of topics of interest in Puerto Rico, from how to solve the local crime problem to the potential for debt forgiveness, and from the likely future fiscal policy of the Trump administration to the campaign for statehood. Several times, Miranda apologized for having been too busy with a musical and a
movie to keep up on the daily Puerto Rican news, but it was clear that he is regarded, increasingly, as in the words of one taxi driver, “Puerto Rico’s most powerful celebrity advocate.”
“Hamilton” has caused a stir wherever it has landed, but the scene outside the Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A. Ferré in San Juan still was extraordinary.
In one corner of the plaza, high school student Gustavo Rosa was surprised by his drama teacher Miguel Rosa (no relation) with a ticket to the sold-out show, even through the young man had thought he was just getting to watch a few celebrity arrivals of the likes of Shonda Rhimes, Leslie Odom Jr. and Jimmy Fallon, who had brought his “Tonight Show” to the island in honor of “Hamilton.” Such was the prolonged scream and dance of joy from the younger Rosa that many of the scores of security officers watching the plaza turned their heads. “I have been a musical theater student for seven years,” Rosa said, jumping around. “I have been dying to see this show.”
At the front of the crowd barrier was 13-year-old Patricia Schaffer from San Juan. “I have been obsessed with ‘Hamilton’ since I was in sixth grade,” she said, seeming almost too excited to speak. “This is the highlight of my year.”
Indeed the opening, which commanded a huge exterior footprint filled with sponsors, theatergoers, gawkers and police officers, seemed like the highlight of everyone’s tough year here. Even the protesters on the plaza arguing for statehood for the U.S. territory said they were glad Miranda and “Hamilton” were on the island.
“We welcome the musical here because it gives us a chance to air our issues before every leading newspaper in America,” said Jose Olmos, who said he was a veteran of the U.S. armed forces and a statehood activist looking forward to protesting in front of the delegation of members of U.S. Congress expected to see “Hamilton” in Puerto Rico on Sunday night.
“I want to ask them, are they really living up to the standards of Alexander Hamilton, a disenfranchised immigrant, a poor man from the Caribbean?”
Standing next to Olmos was Dan Santiago, clad in “Hamilton”-like attire. “Puerto Rico should be the 51st state,” he said, grinning at the cameras and reporters looking his way.
Across the plaza was a Chicagoan named Carolyn Kaiser, who had bought a T-shirt for her niece, Zoe, only to find herself the winner of a raffle in aid of the Flamboyan Arts Fund, a philanthropy dedicated to the arts in Puerto Rico and a main beneficiary of the decision by “Hamilton” producer Jeffrey Seller to price some tickets affordably so local residents could attend while dedicating most of the best seats as costly fundraisers.
On Saturday morning, the Flamboyan Arts Fund had no more tickets available.
“We want to use our presence here to restart the arts in Puerto Rico,” Seller said in an interview before the show. “This night reminds me of the power of theater to buoy spirits, change lives and do good.”
The show sold out immediately, and many of those who traveled from the mainland said they spent hundreds of dollars on their tickets, although some said they were glad to be helping the recovery after 2017’s Hurricane Maria.
Kaiser, though, had spent only $75 on the T-shirt and had been flown to the show. “This is, like, the craziest thing that ever happened to me,” she said.
The Puerto Rican “Hamilton” is not a dedicated company but the launch of another North American touring troupe, one headed to San Francisco after three weeks in the Caribbean. Miranda will not be going with it — actor Julius Thomas III will step into the role as the new “Hamilton” company will increase the size of the ticket inventory of a stunningly profitable theatrical brand, with sit-down productions in New York, Chicago and London. But Miranda, Seller said, intends to perform every show in San Juan.
For those who had seen Miranda perform the show on Broadway, the improvement in his singing and dancing was notable, a consequence, most likely, of his work on the movie “Mary Poppins Returns.” And although very much the same show, of course, the new company featured an exceptional performance from Donald Webber Jr. in the role of Aaron Burr. Webber’s cool, laconic energy was a fine foil for Miranda’s signature warmth.
Still, the story of the night was the two-way flow of emotion from Miranda’s appearance on an island whose people have been at the core of so much of his work and now clearly expect Miranda to look after their interests.
On Friday, Miranda’s first entrance as Hamilton was greeted by a prolonged standing ovation that at first seemed to threaten the ability of the show to proceed. Even by “Hamilton” standards, it was an extraordinary burst of affection for a favorite son, returning at the peak of his influence. Onlookers wondered if he felt the obligation that comes with such adoration.
“I couldn’t see anybody,” Miranda said of the moment, after the show, “but I felt my hair move.”