Why ‘Hamilton’ Star Lin-Manuel Miranda Is Better Than Perfect

Who is to say if it’s perfect? Madonna — famously and infamously, in her way — said in Madonna: Truth or Dare: “I know I’m not the best singer and I know I’m not the best dancer, but I’m not interested in that. I’m interested in pushing people’s buttons, in being provocative and in being political.” Is hitting that mark not more important than hitting the right notes in the right key?

“Singing is an expression of freedom. It’s the sound of bravery. I have this conversation with Renée [Elise Goldsberry] all the time when she’s freaking out about one bad note in Satisfied,” Sydney James Harcourt, an ensemble performer in Hamilton who also understudies with aplomb for both Aaron Burr and George Washington, tells Rolling Stone. “An imperfect vocal performance can often be the better performance. I think Lin channels this idea. Yeah, he isn’t Domingo. But he can break your heart eight shows a week, 52 weeks a year, with a poignant sob in his voice during ‘Hurricane.’ I’ll take that over a high C.”

It’s not like there isn’t a long history of this in the music business.

“OK, Lin can’t sing. So fucking what?” asked Dan Charnas, author of The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop. “John Lennon isn’t a great singer. Bob Dylan isn’t. Look at Billie Holiday; with one octave, she influenced everyone from Judy Garland to Amy Winehouse.” He continued: “Hip-hop changed the aesthetic. Chord changes and melodic movements could now be loop-based and rhythm-based, which the industry found both frightening and liberating. He’s Beyoncé, basically. She was the first time R&B got sung in the rhythmic patterns of an emcee.”

There was a time when Broadway auditions didn’t sound like an episode of American Idol or Glee. “In a way he’s creating something new, but in a way celebrating something old. Back in the day — the Forties, Fifties, Sixties — there was a broader acceptance in what could be a Broadway-ready voice. Think of Roy Bolger or Carol Channing,” says Deborah Lapidus, who teaches Juilliard drama students — including Hamilton‘s Phillipa Soo, an alum — how to sing. “Finding your voice is not a metaphor. You have to find what works for you. We want — we need, honestly — individuals. Not egotistical divas, because there’s nothing worse than swagger with nothing behind it. That’s just bullshit. But more about working from yourself, from what you know. Hip-hop does that well. And Hamilton does that very, very well.” For all the comparisons to Rent, Lapidus likens Hamilton more to Sweeney Todd, Stephen Sondheim’s laughably unconventional musical with unorthodox vocal talent that was pulled off with such winning gusto. Miranda agrees, even go so far as transforming Hamilton’s opening number into an homage to the Demon Barber of Fleet Street for a benefit performance.

For a sense of the scale with which Hamilton is reinventing the American Dream, we need to look at the way the show is casting its expansions in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco — as well as the folks who will replace the original cast in New York. Beyond its obliteration of racial barriers, the show is looking at aspirants as young as 16, according to Bethany Knox, Hamilton‘s casting director at Telsey + Company. She noted that 188 candidates are being considered through online video submissions. They don’t have to sing canon showtunes – it turns out Adele and Bruno Mars work just as well, she says. The casting calls explicitly assure dreamers that no experience is necessary, an astounding claim for the most-coveted production in a generation. They clearly want more Mirandas.