Lin-Manuel Miranda Wins 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Hamilton

Lin-Manuel Miranda has been award the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his musical Hamilton. The honors were presented during a ceremony at Columbia University on April 18.

This year's finalists in the drama category were Gloria, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, and The Humans, by Stephen Karam.

Directed by Thomas Kail and inspired by Ron Chernow's biography Alexander Hamilton, Hamilton explores the life of the American founding father and first Secretary of the Treasury, as well as his experiences as an orphan of the British West Indies who immigrated to the 13 Colonies and helped shape the United States of America. It began Broadway previews July 13 and opened August 6 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre after an earlier run at the Public Theater.

Miranda leads the cast as Alexander Hamilton, alongside Leslie Odom Jr. (Aaron Burr), Drama Desk Award winner Renée Elise Goldsberry (Angelica Schuyler), Phillipa Soo (Eliza Hamilton), Jonathan Groff (King George), Daveed Diggs (Marquis De Lafayette, Thomas Jefferson), Christopher Jackson (George Washington), Anthony Ramos (John Laurens, Phillip Hamilton), Okieriete Onaodowan (Hercules Mulligan, James Madison), and Jasmine Cephas Jones (Peggy Shuyler, Maria Reynolds). Javier Muñoz takes on the role of Alexander Hamilton once a week.

Hamilton is the ninth musical (as opposed to a nonmusical dramatic work) to take home the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The other eight (with year of award) include Of Thee I Sing (1932), South Pacific (1950), Fiorello! (1960), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1962), A Chorus Line (1976), Sunday in the Park With George (1985), Rent (1996), and Next to Normal (2010).

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