It’s no secret that Lin-Manuel Miranda is an advocate for the arts. From Hamilton to In The Heights to his recent adaptation of late, great Broadway legend Jonathan Larson‘s biographical musical tick, tick…BOOM! on Netflix, the Tony, Grammy and Emmy winner continues to inspire everyone with his work.
Honoring the legacy of Larson, Miranda and Netflix put a spotlight on emerging teen performers and filmmakers to celebrate iconic playwright and composer. Students and performers from performing arts public high schools and a youth theater across the nation, conceptualized and produced their own unique rendition of the iconic musical ballad, “Louder than Words” which is featured in tick, tick,..BOOM!.
The schools that participated in the collaboration included Baltimore School for the Arts in Baltimore, Maryland (BSFA); Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing & Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas (BTWHPVA); The Chicago School for the Arts in Chicago, Illinois (ChiArts);Los Angeles County High School for the Arts in Los Angeles, California (LACHSA); and TADA! Youth Theater in New York, New York.
All five school performances were combined to amplify these artistic communities and showcase the future — and inclusive talent that these theaters and schools have to offer.
“I got my start in my school’s performing arts program,” said Miranda in an intro to the compilation. “These programs are vital, not only to the entertainment industry, but to our culture. It’s important for us to celebrate the next generation of actors, singers and performers. So in the spirit of reaching for the stars and pursuing your dreams, we invited schools across the country to celebrate the debut of tick, tick…BOOM! on Netflix.”
Watch the full video below.
Lois Hunter, LACHSA Theatre Department Chair said, “Netflix presented our students and faculty an opportunity to collaborate on a project that was not only meaningful to our students’ personal lives, but an opportunity to improve their skills in the other areas of artistic expression, including acting, singing and cinematic arts.”
Janine Nina Trevens, Executive and Producing Artistic Director for TADA! Youth Theater added, “It was so great to be able to be in the theater again, live, rehearsing such a powerful song, ‘Louder Than Words,’ and have our teen performers see the connection between what’s happening today in the world and what they want and a song that was written almost 30 years ago by Jonathan Larson.”
“This is a story about perseverance and the risks we take as artists,” said Tina Boyer Brown, Artistic Director at ChiArts. “ChiArts cultivates a safe space for students to create and explore. Our students were excited to dive into the rehearsal and filming process for this project and their hard work and commitment to excellence shows in the results.”
