17 Times Lin-Manuel Miranda Proved He's A Complete Genius

    Never let Heights Cool Musical die.

    The hottest show on Broadway right now is Hamilton, a hip-hop musical about the Founding Fathers that became instantly iconic with the release of the original cast album in September.

    It was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who won two Tony awards in 2008 for In The Heights and who was recently named a recipient of the MacArthur Genius Grant.

    Here's some definitive proof that Miranda is, indeed, a genius. A dorky musical theater genius.

    1. That time he procrastinated working on In The Heights by going to a park with Jonathan Groff and Karen Olivo and parodying a song from High School Musical 2.

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    2. And that time he and Groff called back to it eight years later during intermission at Hamilton....In a posh British accent and ye olden pants.

    3. When he let us into his writing process.

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    4. When he surprised his wife on their wedding day with a FULL-ON MUSICAL NUMBER PERFORMED BY THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

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    I'm not crying, there's just the entire cast of Fiddler On the Roof in my eye. I think this is what the phrase "husband material" was invented for.

    5. When he fulfilled some dreams in honor of Groff's birthday.

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    6. When a stranger gave him credit for, well, William Shakespeare.

    *Lady rolls down her car window at 181st street* "congrats on HAMLET!" Me: "I WISH I wrote Hamlet!" Lady: "Yay HAMLET!" *drives away* #myday

    *Crosses fingers for a literal Lin-Manuel Miranda production of Hamlet someday.*

    7. When he indulged in his dad's (totally relatable) love for some sweet Groban.

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    We have all at some point been both of the people in this video.

    8. When he rapped his Tony acceptance speech and paid homage to Stephen Sondheim fucking flawlessly.

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    9. When he really rocked that Seinfeld look.

    There's a step before full costume, Called Full Stritch. photo by Groffsauce. Good morning. #Game #Blouses

    10. When THIS was his announcement that he was doing music for the highly-anticipated Disney movie Moana.

    Get ready for this man to grab that EGOT.

    11. When he hardcore foreshadowed his own (inevitable) EGOT with the Hamilton Cypher.

    I digress. Hamilton, god bless.

    12. Really whenever he took full advantage of the rare New York City phenomenon of having a subway car all to yourself.

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    13. And when, at the 2011 Tonys, he was behind the scenes the entire time constructing this timely masterpiece for Neil Patrick Harris.

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    14. When he and Bill Sherman had the proper reaction to Alanis Morissette on the radio.

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    15. Hey, remember when he BLEW US THE FUCK AWAY with the deleted John Adams rap from Hamilton?

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    No one spills tea like a Founding Father.

    16. When "Wait For It" did the same thing to him as it does to all of us.

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    YOU DID THIS TO YOURSELF, LIN. YOU WROTE THE THING. YOU DID THIS TO US ALL.

    17. Oh yeah, and let's not forget every time he pulled something out of his brain that brought us to our feet and changed our lives.

    Because every time that happens it's pretty amazing.