Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Dad Told Him Not to Sing ‘Hamilton’ at the White House (Exclusive)

Lin-Manuel Miranda was not throwing away his shot! 

Speaking exclusively with PEOPLE at the Hamilton screening in New York City last month, the Tony winner’s father, Luis A. Miranda Jr., says he was skeptical when his son told him he was going to perform a song from Hamilton at the White House in 2009.

“He was invited to the White House. He was asked to sing something from In the Heights, and he told me, ‘Dad, you know that I’ve been working on Hamilton. Do you think that I could play the only song I have?’ ” the proud father, 71, recalls.

“I’m like, ‘No. No, why don’t you go with what we know works, which is In the Heights.’ But he presented it to the White House. They loved it, and the rest is history,” Luis says. 

Lin-Manuel performed “The Hamilton Mixtape,” which is an early version of the Broadway musical’s opening number, at the White House Evening of Poetry, Music and the Spoken Word on May 12, 2009. The performance, which took place toward the beginning of Barack Obama’s presidency, is considered the first time material from the hit Broadway musical was performed in public.

Lin-Manuel’s White House appearance came about one year after he made his Broadway debut with In the Heights in 2008. The musical went on to win four Tony Awards, as well as the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. 

Hamilton premiered on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre — where it is currently playing — in 2015. The musical ultimately became a smash hit, taking home a Pulitzer Prize, 11 Tony Awards and a Grammy Award. 

The show’s 10th anniversary was marked by the theatrical release of the live-captured performance of the original Broadway production, which was filmed in June 2016 and released on Disney+ in 2020.

Obama, 64, has been a vocal fan of the musical about the founding father, and even participated in the remix of the Act II song “One Last Time” for Lin-Manuel’s Hamildrops collection. 

Luis and his wife, Luz Towns-Miranda, also spoke about how proud they are of Lin-Manuel amid Hamilton’s milestone anniversary. The songwriter has gone on to write tunes for Disney’s Moana and Encanto, and made his feature directorial debut with the Netflix adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s Tick, Tick… Boom! stage musical.

“We expect greatness to continue because this is such an incredible work of art,” Luis tells PEOPLE. “Now it’s the big screen, and for us it’s even more significant because we couldn’t go to Broadway. We didn’t have money to go to Broadway, but we went to the movies all the time. So I know there are lots of families out there who can now experience Hamilton on the big screen.”

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“With the original cast, which is huge,” Luz adds.

Hamilton is currently playing in theaters nationwide.