Lin-Manuel Miranda is adapting a stage musical version of “The Warriors,” Sol Yurick’s 1965 novel. That book inspired a 1979 cult action thriller directed by Walter Hill
Both film and novel center on a fictional street gang in New York City, who travel from the Bronx to their home turf in Coney Island after they’re framed for the murder of a respected gang leader. The film of “The Warriors” isn’t a musical, but it does feature songs by Barry De Vorzon, Joe Walsh and Arnold McCuller. Though the movie projected an arresting image of urban decay (and was shot as the city teetered on the edge of insolvency), Yurick’s novel provided an even darker look at street life.
Miranda, one of the most influential Broadway creators of his time, recently provided a polish on the lyrics for Kander and Ebb musical “New York, New York,” inspired by the 1977 film directed by Martin Scorsese. He also returned to the Great White Way for “Freestyle Love Supreme,” an improvisational hip-hop comedy show that enjoyed a successful run at the Booth Theatre in 2019 and 2022.
Miranda is best known as the creator of the zeitgeist-smashing “Hamilton.” His other Broadway bona fides include the Tony-winning “In the Heights” and “Bring It On: The Musical.” He also wrote the catchy music for Disney’s animated films “Moana” and “Encanto,” whose soundtrack notably includes the viral earworm “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.”
After he departed the role of Alexander Hamilton in 2016, Miranda has been expanding his repertoire in the entertainment industry. He was a producer on Jon M. Chu’s big-screen adaptation of “In the Heights” and directed the autobiographical musical “Tick, Tick… Boom,” which earned an Oscar nomination for Andrew Garfield.