Lin-Manuel Miranda Reveals Special Disney+ Easter Egg From When He Wrote Hamilton

Lin-Manuel Miranda in One Last Time

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Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway musical Hamilton has been a huge sensation since it arrived on the great white way in 2015. While most of us weren't able to be in the room where it happens to see the original cast, all that changed this weekend when the filmed stage production arrived on Disney+. The show has now been immortalized for posterity, including Miranda's performance as the title character. And it turns out that the movie's credits includes information regarding his writing process.

Hamilton is a deep dive into Alexander Hamilton's life and career, and covers years and years of time in the process. It's a dense and brilliant piece of musical theater, and Lin-Manuel Miranda's writing has been appropriately awarded over the years. Miranda recently explained why so many locations are on the credit's special thanks, saying:

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Given how intense Hamilton's writing process was, Lin-Manuel Miranda actually composed the show's countless songs in different locations. And as such, the writer/actor worked on its contents for a long time, and across various locations. Those settings might have even helped this, which is why Miranda took the time to thank certain cities in Hamilton's credits on Disney+.

Lin-Manuel Miranda shared this tidbit of Hamilton information over on his personal Twitter page. And the location s listed for some of the songs' inception might surprise you. For instance, Aaron Burr's Act 1 stunner "Wait for It" was written while Miranda was riding on New York City's A train. Most of us can't imagine writing such a beautiful melody at all, let alone on a crowded subway train. But inspiration can hit in the most unexpected places.

The other two locations that Lin-Manuel Miranda explained are the Dominican Republic, which is where the sweet fatherly ballad "Dear Theodosia" was written. And funny enough he wrote "You'll Be Back" during his honeymoon. This is a bit surprising, as it wasn't the love songs that were written at this time, but the funniest number in Hamilton.

Hamilton is available exclusively on Disney+. You can use this link to sign up for the new streaming service.

Whatever process Lin-Manuel Miranda had to write Hamilton's complex and gorgeous score worked out, as the Broadway musical has become a worldwide sensation. The show won a whopping 11 Tony Awards, as well as a Grammy and Pulitzer Prize. And now that the Disney+ movie has been released, even more audiences around the world will be able to watch Alexander, Eliza, Burr, and the rest of the crew.

Other locations the special thanks portion of Hamilton's credits includes Mexico, Washington Heights, Sagaponack in Long Island, and Schorfling, Austria. There's no telling exactly how each of these places contributed to Hamilton's eventual road to Disney+, but it'll be interesting to see if Lin-Manuel Miranda shares more about these locations sometime in the future.

Hamilton has inspired a surge in Disney+ downloads, which is no doubt exactly what the streaming service was hoping for. Critical reception for the filmed performance was overwhelmingly positive, with Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical once again breaking the internet upon its release. And the obsession will likely only continue now that subscribers can re-watch the musical over and over again.

Hamilton is currently streaming on Disney+. Check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.