Lin-Manuel Miranda - One of my new favorite people

The musical In the Heights came to my attention a few months ago, and I absolutely love it. It won the Tony award for Best New Musical in 2008. It was written by the main man of this post: Lin-Manuel Miranda. The music is a scintillating mix of melody and spoken word - some would call it rap. For a taste of the sound. Lin-Manuel is the one rapping at the beginning, in the cap.

I was already a huge fan of Lin-Manuel for this reason. Then I heard that he was the translator for the new revival of West Side Story . Why would they need a translator, you ask? Because almost all of the dialogue between the Puerto Ricans is now Spanish. What's more, some of the songs have been rewritten with Spanish lyrics - most notably "I Feel Pretty" ("Siento Hermosa") and "A Boy Like That". There are no subtitles - I think it would cheapen the adaptation if there were. The show has also been reworked so that the gangs are more real and frightening, the Jets and Sharks share blame for all wrongs, and the story is more about Tony and Maria and their love. I would love to see this revival; simply one of the best ideas I've heard in awhile. For the New York Times article describing the new show.

And then Lin-Manuel popped up in the most unexpected place this week: PBS Children's Television. "The Electric Company" was plugged in once again in January of this year, reviving a long-running show in the 70s. Every Friday at 5pm, a new show is aired, but they can all be seen here. This reincarnation stars four teenagers who have the power to create words and letters on every surface, but is similar to Sesame Street (and the original) in cut scenes, vignettes, and short animations featuring wordplay. There I was, working on my computer and watching tv, when I heard a familiar voice - Lin-Manuel was singing about silent 'e' being the ninja of the English language! Turns out that one of his closest buddies is starring as the show's beatboxer, and he himself is writing much of the music. The show is filled with spoken word! It's more entertaining to watch than you might imagine. It's colorful, it's teaching how to play with language, and as an English linguistics major, I find this fascinating. When you teach kids to go from "slid" to "slide" or "sop" to "shop", you're teaching them minimal pairs in phonology. And to invite kids in with beatboxing, spoken word, and urban sensibilities - I'm really excited about this show, to say the least. And I can't wait to see what else Lin-Manuel Miranda pulls out next in his already amazing career.