Report: Is Lin-Manuel Miranda's Next Musical Coming Soon as a Concept Album? | Playbill

On the Rialto Report: Is Lin-Manuel Miranda's Next Musical Coming Soon as a Concept Album?

It's being reported that the Tony-winning Hamilton star and writer's next project is based on the 1979 film The Warriors.

Lin-Manuel Miranda Tricia Baron

Lin-Manuel Miranda's next musical after Hamilton may be soon upon us, if a [paywalled] report in Bloomberg is to be believed. The outlet says the Tony winner is finishing up the recording of a concept album for a new musical based on the 1979 film The Warriors, a project that was first reported last year. Miranda is now reportedly working on the project with Bulrusher playwright Eisa Davis. Speaking specifically about the alleged concept album, Bloomberg cites "people with knowledge of the matter," and was not able to get official confirmation.

If the report turns out to be true, Miranda will be fulfilling his original plan for Hamilton, which Miranda initially intended to be a concept album titled The Hamilton Mixtape (he would end up bringing that title back for a 2016 album of chart-topping recording artists covering the songs from the 2015 Broadway smash). Though not exactly common, musicals beginning life as concept albums are far from unheard of. Jesus Christ Superstar; Evita; Jekyll & Hyde; You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown; and Hadestown all first existed as concept albums before becoming fully staged musicals.

What's less clear is what Miranda and Davis' endgame for the project might be. Concept albums can be devised to exist on their own, much like The Who's Tommy, which didn't get a stage adaptation until decades after its release.

The Warriors, which features a screenplay by David Shaber and Walter Hill adapted from Hill's 1965 novel, follows a NYC street gang traveling from The Bronx to their home neighborhood of Coney Island after being framed for murder. The original film created a brief moral panic over gang violence, leading to a mixed initial reception, but it has since become a cult favorite.

A release date for a Warriors concept album is yet to be announced.

 
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