Summary

Chapter 20, Introduction: In the first part of this introduction, McCarter explores how Miranda was influenced by senior theatre artists Mike Nichols, John Kander, John Weidman, and in particular, Stephen Sondheim. The latter, McCarter says, gave him one of the most important (and useful) pieces of advice he received: to make sure that the rhythms of the various songs didn’t become repetitive or monotonous. This principle played out most significantly, McCarter says, in “Say No to This,” the story of Hamilton’s affair with Maria Reynolds. McCarter describes how some musical experimentation between the actress playing Maria (who doubled as Peggy Schuyler in Act 1) and the actresses playing Eliza and Angelica let Miranda to change the music of “The Schuyler Sisters” to reflect the trio’s blend. All this, McCarter, concludes, once again created a resonance between the subject of the show (how the...