Some people sing in the shower. Lin-Manuel Miranda sings on the subway. The writer, lyricist, and performer has taken to posting videos of himself singing show tunes on the New York City subway—while fellow riders pay absolutely zero attention to the Tony, Pulitzer, and Grammy award-winner.
The creator of Hamilton was clearly taken with Bartlett Sher’s acclaimed production of the beloved musical My Fair Lady at Lincoln Center on July 9—for reasons that he outlined in this thread (which should be the new format for all theater reviews).
Miranda’s impromptu performance of “The Street Where You Live”—in which the aristocratic suitor of the cockney-girl-turned-society-belle Eliza Doolittle lurks outside her London home—is a far cry from the Nuyorican-inflected hip hop that Miranda is better known for. But it was still a quintessentially New York City moment:
Sometimes Miranda’s dad makes an appearance, as in this duet of “I Could Have Danced All Night,” where neither seem to have the words quite down.
And of course, Miranda also raps on the subway. He often freestyles good-morning greetings and end-of-the-day rhymes, sometimes punctuated with a kiss.
Like all New Yorkers, Miranda complains about the heat—but he does even that with lyricism.
As for how he always seems to be on a relatively uncrowded train, or a totally deserted platform? Miranda responded to questions from Twitter followers with two alternate explanations: