Hamilton, the hip-hop stage biography of Alexander Hamilton has won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for drama, honoring creator Lin-Manuel Miranda for a dazzling musical has captured popular consciousness like few Broadway shows.
The Columbia University’s prize board on Monday cited Hamilton as a “landmark American” piece.
Hamilton, about the first U.S. Treasury Secretary, becomes the ninth musical to win the drama award, joining such shows as South Pacific, ”Sunday in the Park with George” and “Rent.” The last musical to nab the award was “Next to Normal” in 2010.
It tells the story of how an orphan immigrant from the Caribbean rose to the highest ranks of American society, as told by a young African-American and Latino cast. Miranda leaned on Ron Chernow’s biography of the Founding Father, but told the tale in common language and verse, transforming Hamilton into “the $10 Founding Father without a father.”
Miranda, 36, who wrote the music and story, already has a Tony for creating the Broadway musical “In the Heights,” a show which was nominated for a Pulitzer in 2009 and this month won three Olivier Awards in London. He also has an Emmy for writing the opening number for the 2013 Tony Awards.