Lin-Manuel Miranda named AP Entertainer of the year
Winning a Pulitzer Prize and a clutch of Tony Awards in a single one year would be enough for anyone. Not Lin-Manuel Miranda. Not in 2016. The “Hamilton” writer-composer picked up those honors and also earned a Golden Globe nomination, won the Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History, wrote music for a top movie, and inspired a best-selling book, a best-selling album of “Hamilton” covers and a popular PBS documentary. A new honor came Wednesday when Miranda bested Beyonce, Adele and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, among others, to be named The Associated Press Entertainer of the Year, voted by members of the news cooperative and AP entertainment reporters. “There’s been more than a little good luck in the year itself and the way it’s unfolded,” Miranda said after being told of the honor. “I continue to try to work on the things I’ve always wanted to work on and try to say yes to the opportunities that I’d kick myself forever if I didn’t jump at them.” Miranda joins the list of previous AP Entertainer of the Year winners who in recent years have included Adele, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Lawrence, Lady Gaga, Tina Fey and Betty White. The animated Disney juggernaut “Frozen” captured the prize in 2014, and “Star Wars” won last year. (By the way, Miranda wrote one of the songs in “The Force Awakens.”) When he hosted “Saturday Night Live” in October, he somewhat tongue-in-cheek acknowledged the rarity of having a theater composer as host, saying: “Most of you watching at home have no idea who I am.” They surely must by now. Miranda was virtually everywhere in popular culture this year — stage, film, TV, music and politics, while engaging on social media as he went. Like a lyric he wrote for Alexander Hamilton, it seemed at times that the non-stop Miranda was working as if he was “running out of time.” Julio D. Diaz, of the Pensacola News Journal, said Miranda “made the whole world sing, dance and think. Coupled with using his prestige to become involved in important sociopolitical issues, there was no greater or more important presence in entertainment in 2016.” Among the things Miranda did this year are asking Congress to help dig Puerto Rico out of its debt crisis, getting an honorary doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, performing at a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton on Broadway, lobbying to stop gun violence in America and teaming up with Jennifer Lopez on the benefit single “Love Make the World Go Round.” He and his musical “Hamilton” won 11 Tony Awards in June, but perhaps his deepest contribution that night was tearfully honoring those killed hours before at an Orlando nightclub with a beautiful sonnet: “Love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love, cannot be killed or swept aside,” he said. “Now fill the world with music, love and pride.” He started the year onstage in the Broadway hit “Hamilton” (which in 2015 had won a Grammy and earned Miranda a MacArthur genius grant) and ended it with a Golden Globe nomination for writing the song “How Far I’ll Go” from “Moana,” which was on top of the box office for three weeks this month, earning $165 million. “I’ve been jumping from thing to thing and what’s been thrilling is to see the projects that happen very quickly kind of exploding side-by-side with the projects I’ve been working on for years,” Miranda said. Though theater fans have long cherished his fluency in both Stephen Sondheim and Tupac, “Hamilton” helped Miranda break into the mainstream in 2016. The groundbreaking, biographical hip-hop show tells the true story of an orphan immigrant from the Caribbean who rises to the highest ranks of American society, told by a young African-American and Latino cast. The cast went to the White House in March to perform songs from the show for the first family and answer questions from school children. A version of the show opened in Chicago in October and a production is slated to land in California next year and in London soon. When the gold-winning U.S. women’s gymnastics team returned from the Rio Olympics, where do you think they wanted to go? “Hamilton,” naturally, which they did in August. The show’s effects were felt across the nation this year, cheered by politicians, stars and rappers alike and even helping shape the debate over the nation’s currency (Hamilton stays on the $10 bill, in part due to Miranda’s show.) But the musical also sparked controversy when the cast delivered a pointed message about diversity to Vice President-elect Mike Pence while he attended a performance in November. President-elect Donald Trump demanded an apology, which did not come. That kerfuffle was part of a “Hamilton”-heavy fall that included an album of celebrity covers and songs called “The Hamilton Mixtape,” as well as a documentary on the show that aired on PBS and attracted more than 3.6 million television viewers. Erin O’Neill of The Marietta Times said Miranda dominated entertainment news this year but, more importantly, “opened a dialogue about government, the founding of our country and the future of politics in America.” There’s more Miranda to come in 2017, including filming Disney’s “Mary Poppins Returns” with Emily Blunt (due out Christmas 2018) and an ambitious TV and film adaptation of the fantasy trilogy “The Kingkiller Chronicle.” “I’m back in a planting mode after a harvest,” Miranda said, laughing. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
‘Hamilton’ actor: ‘There’s nothing to apologize for’
If Donald Trump is waiting for an apology from the cast of “Hamilton,” he will have to continue to wait. Actor Brandon Victor Dixon, who plays Aaron Burr in the celebrated musical, told “CBS This Morning” on Monday that “there’s nothing to apologize for.” Dixon gave Vice President-elect Mike Pence an onstage earful about equality at the end of Friday’s performance. Trump has taken to Twitter several times to demand an apology. Pence on Sunday said he wasn’t offended by the message. Dixon said “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda had a hand in crafting Dixon’s remarks, although Dixon said he “made some adjustments.” Dixon said that both Trump and Pence are welcome to come backstage and meet with the cast at any time, adding, “Art is meant to bring people together.” From the stage on Friday night, he sparked controversy by saying he and the cast were “alarmed and anxious” that the Trump administration “will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights.” The musical is by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the story, music and lyrics. It stresses the orphan, immigrant roots of first U.S. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton and has been cheered for reclaiming the nation’s founding story with a multicultural cast. Dixon’s unprecedented address of the vice president-elect has divided many, with critics saying theater should be a safe place and the “Hamilton” cast comments seemed aggressive. But supporters contend Dixon was respectful and note that artists speaking out is a timeless ritual. The debate has even divided members of Bruce Springsteen‘s The E Street Band, with Steven Van Zandt calling the Pence address “the most respectful, benign form of bullying ever.” Van Zandt said on Twitter on Saturday that the statement was “beautiful,” but “completely inappropriate at that time.” He added that singling out an audience member to “embarrass him from the stage” is “a terrible precedent to set.” But Nils Lofgren, his bandmate, supported the protest, arguing: “Everywhere and anytime you can raise your voice is appropriate, especially right now.” Springsteen himself attended the Broadway show with his wife, Patti Scialfa, on Sunday and went backstage to have their picture taken with Mandy Gonzalez, an actress in the show. Springsteen and Scialfa posed for a photo in front of a poster of the show. She later called it “joyous and necessary.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Unfriended? Divisive presidential campaign roils Facebook
Some friends don’t let friends talk politics anymore on Facebook. Others are on “unfriending” sprees. And some, such as Adolfo Olivas of Hamilton, Ohio, have decided to just shut down their accounts, as the divisive presidential campaign causes a deluge of news feeds amid photos of smiling kids’ first day of school and what’s on the grill for dinner. The last straw for the former Republican mayor came after GOP nominee Donald Trump‘s criticism of fellow Gold Star parents, the Muslim parents of Iraq war casualty Humayun Khan. “Just reading all of those comments justifying Mr. Trump’s outbursts,” explained Olivas, whose son Nicholas, 20, was killed on Army patrol in Afghanistan in 2012. “I cannot stand to put up with the stupidity of those who will try to justify those words!” The giant social network has emerged as a virtual town hall for political debate, an easy place to share opinions — and vitriolic attacks — about the two polarizing presidential candidates. Facebook says that from Jan. 1 through Aug. 1, 100 million people on Facebook in the United States generated 4 billion posts, comments, shares and reactions about the election. More than 1 billion of those came in July, the month of the national conventions officially nominating Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton. Facebook counts 205 million active monthly users in the United States. Katie Harbath, Facebook’s global politics and government outreach director, said in a statement that the network “is giving more people a voice in the political process, enabling a robust two-way dialogue between candidates and voters the likes we haven’t seen before.” Facebook didn’t have “unfriending” numbers, but that online action of cutting off communication appears to be on the rise this summer along with the other election-related activity. “I’ve seen that myself increasingly,” said Scott Talan, an American University communication teacher who studies social media and politics. “They range from pretty harsh, graphically laced, attacks upon people … to statements of ‘if you support this person, you can no longer be my friend.’” Talan says the popularity and ease of use on Facebook combined with two candidates with remarkably high negative ratings among voters fuel “very visceral” debates that go to people’s strong personal values and identity. Joseph Alfini, 62, of Sarasota, Florida, is among users who have declared Facebook moratoriums: no more politics! “I am done with political posts; negative, harmful words back and forth,” Alfini wrote recently. “Some people are real brave sitting behind a keyboard. Everyone should be able to vote (for) who they want to without influence and negativity.” The New York native says he “would never” vote for Clinton, but isn’t a fan of Trump. “They both suck,” said Alfini, whose latest posts have focused on the Yankees, Mets, and this by the Chi-Lites: https://bit.ly/2bi3YQt Talan said on the bright side, the lively Facebook debates are healthy signs of Americans exercising their free speech rights and of voter engagement in the political process. Among his suggestions: — Try to use civilized tones and decorum in your posts. — “Take a breath or two” and think it through before commenting on a friend’s post or unfriending someone. — Instead of sharp opinion statements, pose questions such as “how can we trust her?” or “is he stable enough to be president?” — Remember that this will all be over in November, and your friendships could and should outlast the next presidential term. — And, in general, “try not to be like the candidates.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
