Lin-Manuel flips Love into Tony Award’s "Orlando sonnet"

June 14, 2016 9:40 PM

Charlotte Runcie discovers literary depth -- for those of us who need scholar-interpreters -- "Miranda’s poem reaches a climax with the penultimate couplet (which would have been the final couplet in a more conventional 14-line sonnet): And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love; Cannot be killed or swept aside. These two lines show mastery of the form from Miranda. The other lines in the sonnet have five stressed syllables each and are written in iambic pentameter, the meter most famously used by Shakespeare. But in the line “And love is love…” there are three extra syllables...

The word “love” actually breaks the boundaries of the strict sonnet form here, just as love - as Miranda is saying - can break boundaries in every other area of life. The very next line is a stressed syllable short of the typical five: it needs the extra syllables from the line before it to balance it out within the poem. It needs that extra love to become whole."

posted by beckybakeroo (45 comments total)

Cried when he first recited it, cried when I read these insights, will probs cry again when I share this article with my Hamiltrash theater nerd tween, who will then cry her is self. Lin is the master of making my family cry in all the best ways.
posted by padraigin at 9:46 PM on June 14, 2016 [21 favorites]

The killing in Orlando originally prompted my personal doctrine in response to political violence: refuse to be terrorized. One or a few people armed and keen to kill do not affect my thinking about politics.

I cried quite unexpectedly when I saw Miranda’s sonnet.
posted by sindark at 10:08 PM on June 14, 2016 [3 favorites]

I'm bad at picking out the meter on the fly, so I decided to annotate the words with visual markings so I could figure out what else was going on. Here's what I had, although I probably messed up some places. "not one day" could have two stresses in a row maybe to bring the line to five? And something seems funny about "We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger." but I can't figure out what it is.

.   1      .   2  .  3 .  4    .    5
My wife's the reason anything gets done.
.    1   .  2  .       3  .    4  .  5
She nudges me towards promise by degrees.
.    1 .  2   .   3  .  4 .  5
She is a perfect symphony of one.
.   1    .  2   .    3   .  4  .  5
Our son is her most beautiful reprise.
.   1    .   2  .  3   .    4   .   5   .
We chase the melodies that seem to find us
.  1    .      2  .     3     .   4     .  5
Until they're finished songs and start to play.
.     1    .    2   .   3  . 4  . 5    .
When senseless acts of tragedy remind us
.     1  .    2    .  3   .    .    4   .
That nothing here is promised, not one day
.    1    .   2     .   3  .  4  . 5   .
This show is proof that history remembers.
.   1    .       2     .    3     .   4   .     5  .
We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger.
.   1    .   2    .    3     .    4 .  5  .
We rise and fall, and light from dying embers
.  1   .  2   .   3     .   4    .    5 .
Remembrances that hope and love last longer.
.    1    .   2  .   3    .  4   .   5   .  6    .  7    .  8
And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love;
.  1    .  2     .   3    .  4
Cannot be killed or swept aside.
.  1   .  2  .   3  .   4  . 5 .  6     .   7  .
I sing Vanessa's symphony; Eliza tells her story.
.    1    .   2     .    3  .   4     .    5
Now fill the world with music, love, and pride. 

posted by vibratory manner of working at 10:37 PM on June 14, 2016 [31 favorites]

I cried and cried and cried and cried...

Props to him for writing it, and for reading it without totally breaking down.
posted by rtha at 11:02 PM on June 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

I thought my chest would burst during that sonnet. Beautiful, defiant, perfect.
posted by helmutdog at 11:10 PM on June 14, 2016

Lovely to note that the line

"That nothing here is promised, not one day"

is missing a beat. The non-promised day (beat) having decided to not show up.
I cried too.
posted by asavage at 11:51 PM on June 14, 2016 [34 favorites]

I have no idea how he got through that without breaking down, but I don't know how he gets through Act II every night without sobbing either.

Another moment I absolutely loved was the look of utter pride on Miranda's face when Leslie Odom Jr. won his Tony. I have never before seen someone so obviously thrilled upon losing an award, and the sense of admiration and pride for his fellow cast-member is wonderful to see.
posted by zachlipton at 12:15 AM on June 15, 2016 [25 favorites]

Rtha, I think he did let himself break down after he was done; that was one hell of a bear hug he gave Carole King when he was done reading.

And I wouldn't be surprised at all to find, if we looked at the original text he'd written in his notebook and was reading from onstage, that the "love is love is love is...." line actually has the right number of words, and it was his own passion that caused him to add those extra words when he was reading it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:35 AM on June 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

Outside a church in Mills, Massachusetts.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 4:30 AM on June 15, 2016 [4 favorites]

Mirands is currently working on music for Disney's Moana, coming this fall. Someone on Reddit pointed out that:

"This is Lin-Manuel Miranda's final hurdle for the EGOT. He has an Emmy for a song in the Tonys, a Grammy for both Hamilton and In The Heights, and a boatload of Tonys. If/when he gets an Oscar for [Moana], he will be:

+ The youngest to EGOT (He'll be 37 during the Oscars during which Moana is eligible; Robert Lopez was 39 when he completed his EGOT in 2014 with the Oscar for "Let It Go")

+ The fastest to EGOT (9 years from In the Heights' Tony in 2008-2017's Oscar for Moana. The previous record is 10 years by Robert Lopez from Avenue Q in 2004-2014's "Let It Go" from Frozen)

+ The shortest time to complete an EGOT (3 years from his Emmy for Original Song in the 67th Tonys in 2014-2017 for Moana. The previous holder is... you guessed it... Robert Lopez, who did it in 4 years from his Daytime Emmy as the Musical Director of Wonder Pets in 2010 up to the Oscar for Let It Go in 2014.)

If Lin gets an Emmy this year (possibly for his song on Last Week Tonight), he'll have won all four awards in just over one calendar year (February 15, 2016-February 26, 2017; Grammys - Oscars).

Oh yeah, and let's not forget the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Hamilton and a MacArthur "Genius" Grant in 2015. Holy. Freaking. Shit.
posted by JoeZydeco at 5:21 AM on June 15, 2016 [40 favorites]

Wesleyan is proud to announce The Wesleyan University Hamilton Prize for Creativity, a four-year full-tuition scholarship established in honor of Hamilton writer and star Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02 and director Thomas Kail ’99. The story of our country's youngest founding father—a brash young immigrant who forever changed the course of history—Hamilton is an extraordinary artistic achievement: a multicultural hip-hop opera that offers a profoundly original look at the birth of our nation. The Wesleyan University Hamilton Prize for Creativity will be awarded to the incoming student of Wesleyan's Class of 2021 whose work of fiction, poetry, song, creative nonfiction or other creative expression best reflects the originality, artistry and dynamism embodied in Hamilton.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:27 AM on June 15, 2016 [8 favorites]

I will probably carry a sign for our city's Pride march on Saturday with something from the sonnet on it.
posted by Kitteh at 6:31 AM on June 15, 2016 [4 favorites]

What an absolute treasure he is.
posted by Sophie1 at 6:52 AM on June 15, 2016 [4 favorites]

While the wiki notes "Marvin Hamlisch and Richard Rodgers have also won the Pulitzer Prize", Miranda will make that list, but also be the only one to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.
posted by Theta States at 6:53 AM on June 15, 2016 [3 favorites]

Uhhh I seem to have fallen down the wikipedia hole, but I found this glorious nugget at the bottom of Robert Lopez' page:
It was also announced in late 2015 that Lopez would be writing original songs for the revival of the cult comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000.
posted by Theta States at 6:54 AM on June 15, 2016 [4 favorites]

Dreaming that with the coming of all this new VR immersive tech Lin-M takes it to the next level creating his own fully immersive reboot of Xanadu!
posted by sammyo at 6:59 AM on June 15, 2016

I would like to read an in-depth piece comparing Lin-Manuel Miranda to Shakespeare. The ease with which he seems to accomplish this, at such a young age, suggests to me this is the floor and not the ceiling of his genius.
posted by sallybrown at 7:05 AM on June 15, 2016 [4 favorites]

I can tell immediately that he is clever and smart and really just amazing with words, but I'm not informed enough about poetry, prose, and the like to really get it on this level. I'm really appreciative that all y'all took the time to break it down so I could feel more in touch with what he is saying.
posted by robotmachine at 7:32 AM on June 15, 2016 [3 favorites]

At our house, up until we fell into the Hamilton vortex in January, we were certain that Oscar Isaac was having the most amazing 12-to-18-month career explosion ever. I mean, dude's in everything, and it's all good work even when the overall piece isn't stellar (A Most Violent Year, e.g.). Plus, dude seems legitimately nice and appropriately amazed about his success, which is cool.

Then you have Miranda. He legit cannot believe this is all happening. He's apparently just as much of a lovable dork as he seems, or so I'm told. He's happy at the awards HE wins, but he seems happier at the accolades and awards that his cast wins; case in point is his obvious and infectious joy over Odom's win. (Which we cheered at home, too.) Remember, too, what else is exceptional about Hamilton: the cast is getting profit participation, which I understand is unprecedented on Broadway. That didn't happen without Miranda making it happen.

It's a pure delight to see success from someone who also appears so transparently decent, kind, and humble. I can't wait to see what he does next. He's a national treasure. I mean, I say that about lots of people, but for Miranda I think it's absolutely and literally true.
posted by uberchet at 7:48 AM on June 15, 2016 [14 favorites]

Another moment I absolutely loved was the look of utter pride on Miranda's face when Leslie Odom Jr. won his Tony. I have never before seen someone so obviously thrilled upon losing an award, and the sense of admiration and pride for his fellow cast-member is wonderful to see.

find someone who looks at you the way lin-manuel miranda looks at literally everyone
posted by Etrigan at 8:15 AM on June 15, 2016 [22 favorites]

Remember, too, what else is exceptional about Hamilton: the cast is getting profit participation, which I understand is unprecedented on Broadway. That didn't happen without Miranda making it happen.

It used to be quite common -- the twist here is that the Hamilton cast (the original one, that is -- the workshoppers) are getting it after the producers gave them "developmental" contracts (no profit sharing, higher base pay) instead of "workshop" contracts (lower base pay, profit sharing).
posted by Etrigan at 8:19 AM on June 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

I would like to read an in-depth piece comparing Lin-Manuel Miranda to Shakespeare. The ease with which he seems to accomplish this, at such a young age, suggests to me this is the floor and not the ceiling of his genius.

Which reminds me of this tweet of his:

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

posted by Celsius1414 at 8:23 AM on June 15, 2016 [17 favorites]

Someone animated the sonnet.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:26 AM on June 15, 2016 [4 favorites]

The company of Hamilton performed History Has Its Eyes On You / Yorktown / The World Turned Upside Down during the Tony Awards show. People noted that, in deference to the tragedy in Orlando, they had decided they would omit the muskets from the battle-themed performance. Miranda also changed one of his lines from "weapon in my hands" to "weapon with my hands." Between that and the prominent lines "Take the bullets out your gun... the bullets out your gun" and "Immigrants. We get the job done!" there was some really timely meta-commentary.
posted by zennie at 9:53 AM on June 15, 2016 [2 favorites]

I didn't get a photo of it, but on Tuesday, somebody had written LOVE IS LOVE IS LOVE IS LOVE... all the way around the Dupont Circle fountain on the ground in chalk.
posted by schmod at 9:58 AM on June 15, 2016 [3 favorites]

Video Link
posted by schmod at 10:01 AM on June 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

It was a good commentary, but personally I agree with Dave Itzkoff: they should have used their muskets, then broken the fourth wall at the end of the song and thrown them all down on the ground.
posted by zachlipton at 10:05 AM on June 15, 2016

This is my first time encountering it, thought I'd heard he'd delivered a poem as part of his acceptance speech.

I think attempts to parse his rhythmic scheme as somehow meaningful beyond the words are a bit misguided, though. As it seems to me that Miranda started with a poetic form and altered it as he needed along the way to say what he wanted to say without contorting the language "poetically," i.e., in a non-vernacular way.

Otherwise, reading his decision to switch back and forth to a hendecasyllabic line or to break the iambic rhythm becomes extremely speculative, as the author of the linked article demonstrates. Is it known that Miranda chose Meredith's poem as a model? And is there some intentional symbolism to be read into moving from a 10-syllable to an 11-syllable line?

If the poem made its point—which reaction here would seem to assert—there's no real need to overegg the pudding by pointing to imagined strokes of additional literary expertise as further proof of Miranda's genius. His accomplishments certainly speak for themselves, and in this, as in his previous B'way project, he has shown himself willing to bend a form to tell his story rather than as a formal exercise.
posted by the sobsister at 10:36 AM on June 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

"Is it known that Miranda chose Meredith's poem as a model?"

He definitely referred to the poem as "a sonnet," and I think we can take it as a given that he's well aware that sonnets are usually 14 lines. Later googling has confirmed that Meredith is the poet most closely identified with 16-line sonnets, so I don't think that context is a stretch at all. It's also obvious that lines 13 and 14 break the hell out of the metrical pattern, and I don't believe Lin would do so unintentionally.

I agree that some of the specifics verge on beanplating. But certainly the broad strokes seem right, and I found it to be a helpful article.
posted by Shmuel510 at 11:05 AM on June 15, 2016 [2 favorites]

LMM in the press room post-Tonys. He wrote the sonnet sometime that afternoon, and talks a little bit about it (starts at 2:01 in the video).

You May Also Enjoy: LMM's acceptance speech for Best Book of a Musical, which was not broadcast.
posted by anastasiav at 11:11 AM on June 15, 2016 [4 favorites]

HAMILTON Ham4Ham Tribute to Orlando Shooting Victims, with Andrea Burns 6/14/16
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 11:18 AM on June 15, 2016

You May Also Enjoy: LMM's acceptance speech for Best Book of a Musical yt , which was not broadcast.

what the fuck cbs?
posted by zachlipton at 11:21 AM on June 15, 2016 [2 favorites]

Whoa that Best Book thing is super great.

(I wonder what is next. I hope he disappears for a couple years, Hamilton took TIME. He made use of it, the public won't let him have peace for a bit)
posted by DigDoug at 11:35 AM on June 15, 2016

Remember, too, what else is exceptional about Hamilton: the cast is getting profit participation, which I understand is unprecedented on Broadway. That didn't happen without Miranda making it happen.

Did Miranda make that happen? I didn't get the impression from the reporting that he was involved in making that happen.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:44 AM on June 15, 2016

find someone who looks at you the way lin-manuel miranda looks at literally everyone

I am inexplicably chuffed that LMM liked that post.
posted by Deoridhe at 11:56 AM on June 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

what the fuck cbs?

This is the first year in a while that they've even shown Best Score. Definitely not the last two years (in 2015 Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron won for Fun Home, in 2014 Jason Robert Brown won for Bridges of Madison County, neither one was broadcast); I don't remember before that.

This is also the first year in a long time they've let the awards telecast run past 11:00.

I assume both of those are because of Hamilton's popularity. The Tonys aren't usually much of a priority for the TV people.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 1:47 PM on June 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

Not broadcasting Best Score really just drives me batshit.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 2:01 PM on June 15, 2016

Not broadcasting any of the awards drives me batshit. How can anyone, from a middle school theater director on up, credibly say that the designers and crew are just as much a part of the production as anyone else when all the design awards are handed out during a commercial and are given three seconds each? And when Best Score, the person who actually wrote the music that makes up the show, is normally shoved off into a commercial break, it's clear that any creative activity that isn't performed by actors is an inconvenience.
posted by zachlipton at 2:20 PM on June 15, 2016 [6 favorites]

Both Robert Lopez and Lin-Manuel Miranda went to Hunter College High School. I am also an alum, but with a bit of an inferiority complex. :)
posted by ltracey at 4:29 PM on June 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

Zachlipton - it's even worse: there is a design category that isn't even ACKNOWLEDGED by the
Tony's. Sound designers were only just added to the categories for a couple years in the 2000s and then taken out again.

There is a campaign that comes up each year to protest this, called "TONY can you hear me".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:39 PM on June 15, 2016 [2 favorites]

Orlando sonnet shirt: With that in mind we present our "Love is Love" tee shirt (you can scroll down to see it after reading). Working together with Broadway Cares, the proceeds will benefit Equality Cares in Florida and their tireless efforts to secure equality & justice for Florida's LGBT community. There is also a GoFundMe account set up for Orlando victims. Please give if you are able by clicking here.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:13 AM on June 16, 2016 [2 favorites]

Good news, fellow Hamiltrash:

1)So far @USATODAY is the only one not burying the lede:
We're filming the original cast before I go.
WE GOT YOU. https://t.co/O7Vo9LhF7O— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) June 16, 2016

posted by Elementary Penguin at 8:34 AM on June 16, 2016 [9 favorites]

I kind of figured they would based on previous comments but it's delightful to have it confirmed.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 10:31 AM on June 16, 2016

Pippa is leaving, too. I've seen some speculation that Carleigh Bettiol might be the next Eliza.

I now tickets for next April. We were taking bets on who (if anyone) from the original non-ensemble cast we'd see. I'd "settle" for Oak, to be honest.
posted by anastasiav at 1:20 PM on June 16, 2016 [1 favorite]

We're filming the original cast before I go.
WE GOT YOU.

THEY GOT US! XD

There is a campaign that comes up each year to protest this, called "TONY can you hear me".

OK. The poor sound quality during nearly all of the Tony performances now makes a little sense. Bleh.
posted by zennie at 6:02 PM on June 16, 2016