NEW YORK CITY: Actors’ Equity Association has selected Lin-Manuel Miranda as the recipient of the 2018 Rosetta LeNoire Award. Established in 1988, the award is given for outstanding artistic contributions to the universality of human experience in American theatre. It is presented to an individual, theatre, or producing organization with an exemplary record in the hiring or promotion of people of color, women, and actors with disabilities through diverse and inclusive casting. The award was presented at Equity’s National membership meeting on Monday, April 23.
“Lin-Manuel Miranda has changed the face of American theatre with his intentionally multicultural retelling of American history in the musical Hamilton,” Christine Toy Johnson, Equity’s national equal employment opportunity chair, said in a statement. “Miranda has taken history and turned it on its head. In casting non-Caucasian actors to portray Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and other Founding Fathers, as well as their families, Miranda has created new opportunities for performers of color and proven that non-Caucasian performers can be the face of massively commercial works of art.”
History has its eyes on Miranda, who has earned three Tony Awards, three Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, the Pulitzer Prize, and a MacArthur Fellowship. He is also a human rights advocate, raising awareness and funding for hurricane relief in Puerto Rico. His hit musical Hamilton won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, 2016 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album, Extraordinary Excellence in Diversity on Broadway Award from Actors’ Equity, and the 2016 Tony Award for Best Musical, where it earned a record-setting 16 nominations.
