By Michael Paulson
In the nine years since “Hamilton” opened on Broadway, Lin-Manuel Miranda has acted (in the film “Mary Poppins Returns” and the HBO series “His Dark Materials,” among others), composed (songs for “Encanto” and “Moana,” for example) and even tried his hand at movie directing (“Tick, Tick ... Boom!”).
Now he’s returning to his roots, sort of. Miranda, who rose to fame as a musical theater savant, has been working with playwright Eisa Davis on a concept album inspired by a cult 1979 action film, “The Warriors.” And late last week, Miranda and Davis announced that Atlantic Records will release the album Oct. 18.
The album’s executive producer is rapper Nas; the producer is Mike Elizondo. The album will have 26 songs; the names of the singers have not yet been announced.
The album has been in the works for three years. It is unclear if it will lead to a stage production, but “Hamilton” was initially conceived as a concept album, and there is a history of concept albums evolving into stage productions, from “Jesus Christ Superstar” to “Hadestown.”
“The Warriors,” based on a 1965 novel that in turn was based on an ancient Greek work, tells the story of a street gang facing a variety of challenges as it retreats from the Bronx borough of New York City to its home base on Coney Island in Brooklyn. The novel, also called “The Warriors,” was written by Sol Yurick, and the ancient Greek text, “Anabasis,” by Xenophon; the film was directed by Walter Hill.
Miranda, 44, is one of the few musical theater composers to become a celebrity based on his stage work. But “Hamilton,” about the nation’s first Treasury secretary, was a rare accomplishment, winning the Pulitzer Prize as well as 11 Tony Awards, including for best musical and Miranda’s book and score.
His other best-known musical is “In the Heights,” for which he wrote the score and lyrics and Quiara Alegría Hudes wrote the book. Since “Hamilton,” he contributed lyrics to the short-lived musical “New York, New York” but has not written a new stage production.
Davis, 53, is a longtime friend of Miranda and has worked as an actress, a playwright, a singer and a screenwriter. She performed on Broadway in “Passing Strange,” and has numerous credits as a performer off-Broadway and on television and film. Among her plays is “Bulrusher.”
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