A new article from The New York Times helps to shine a light on what happens in Puerto Rico with Hamilton, since, as we know, the production had to relocate from the theatre at the University of Puerto Rico to the Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A. Ferrè.
Michael Paulson followed Miranda during his trip in Puerto Rico to unveil a Coffee Development Initiative back in October.
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VEGA ALTA, P.R. — The road to Vega Alta is lined with Lin-Manuel Miranda. Literally.
Just next to the arched stone welcome sign is a billboard with a large photo of the “Hamilton” creator, and a hashtag — #YoSoyVegaAlta — meaning “I am Vega Alta.”
This is the town where his father is from, where he and his sister spent summers as kids, where their aunt and uncle still live. It’s also a community that has seen better days — challenged by joblessness and crime and a town center dotted with vacancies.
Now, at the heart of the commercial district, in a space that once housed a disco called the Pink Panther, is La Placita de Güisin, an arcade built by Luis Miranda, Lin-Manuel’s father, who left for New York when he was 18, but never stopped coming back. It features a bakery, a barista and a cafe; there is a gift shop selling Lin-Manuel Miranda merchandise (yes, he has a merchandise line), as well as a mosaic mural depicting him and his grandfather.
Mr. Miranda, preparing to reassume the title role of “Hamilton” for a three-week run that begins in San Juan on Jan. 11, arrived in Vega Alta one rainy Tuesday night this fall like the celebrity he has become. He and his father, accompanied by publicists and staffers and a documentary film crew, took a private plane to the island and then a black S.U.V. to Vega Alta, where they were celebrating local arts organizations the family is assisting as part of their intensified philanthropic efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, which slammed into Puerto Rico last year.
A dozen amped-up adolescents, some wearing A. Ham hats, cornered him by the mural and, from memory (O.K., one or two of them were peeking at cellphone screens), performed an a cappella version of the musical’s opening number, led by their high school English teacher, Edd Ramos, who has been using the show’s coffee-table tome as a textbook.
Mr. Miranda, sporting Spider-Man sneakers, leapt into the scrum, singing and dancing along with the teenagers, videotaping them as they videotaped him. Then, under a tent erected over a side street, he and his father sat in the front row, nodding their heads and joining the crowd as the singer-songwriter Antonio Cabán Vale, known as El Topo, performed “Verde Luz,” a danza that has come to symbolize Puerto Rican pride.
“He’s like a lighthouse for Puerto Rico now,” said one of the many assembled well-wishers, Alejandro García Padilla, a former governor of Puerto Rico. Mr. García Padilla is an unabashed fan who plays the “Hamilton” cast album in the car while driving his kids to school and has not only seen the musical twice in New York but has also stopped by Trinity Church to visit Alexander Hamilton’s grave. “He is worldwide famous, but he cares about his people, he cares about his country, he cares about Puerto Rico. He doesn’t forget about us.”
But even lighthouses get battered by waves.
Read the rest of the article under the cut.
