13 seconds with lin manuel Miranda

S Omigosh omigosh. I’m sorry I’m late. Omigosh omigosh. I can’t breathe.

Should we go to the emergency room?

S No, I’m fine.

Except for the breathing part.

S Right Am I breathing? I think I’m breathing.

Looking good. Ready?

S No. (Beat.) Omigosh. I was in an elevator with him. You know how Aunt Eliza moved to the same apartment building as Lin-Manuel Miranda? And how I visit her every week because I am her only niece and she adores me and spoils me and reads everything I write and/

/Sandra! Finish the story

S I took the elevator down to meet you and he got on.

Lin-Manuel?

S Miranda!!!

Omigosh! Omigosh! And?

S And I looked at my shoes.

And?

S That’s it. I felt like I was going to sneeze because when I get nervous I sneeze and I didn’t want to sneeze all over him so I kept my head down and looked at my shoes for thirteen seconds and then he got off.

Did he even smile or anything? Because he always smiles.

S I don’t know. I was looking at my shoes.

You didn’t hold your nose or anything. Sometimes you do that and that would have been bad.

S No I didn’t – oh no – do you think he thinks/

/you’re sure you didn’t hold your nose?

S pretty sure.

Than I don’t think he thinks what you are thinking. Geez, if only you spoke to him. That could have been life-changing.

S I know

You could have told him about how he changed your life and now you only write about boring people from history

S I know. I know. Wait, what? Excuse me but I write about seemingly boring people like he did but bring out fascinating facts to tantalize the audience. Just like he did.

Nobody cares that Benjamin Harrison belonged to Phi Delta Theta at Miami University.

S People from Miami University might care. You never know who’s in the audience.

You need to show him your play. Maybe he can write that thing writers write at the beginning of the play.

S The “Foreword.”

yeah, that

S It’s not ready. Mr. Lazarus says three-hundred pages is too long for a play – especially a play about a boring president - and I need to get rid of two hundred pages. Or more.

Get rid of the goat

S No. Goats are cute. Plus, it’s the perfect place for a heart-warming number.

If only we could go back in time and you could hand him your play.

S I’ll never be that lucky again.

You know what they say about luck – it’s just preparation plus opportunity. You need to get back on that elevator and ride it until he gets on again

S There’s like a doorman.

You’re visiting your aunt

S People will think it strange if I just ride the elevator. I’ll get reported and thrown in jail for stalking

You won’t have to. I can figure out when Mr. Miranda will be coming home and then you can get on the elevator.

Mr. Miranda is having lunch with old friends. He expects to be home for dinner before 6 p.m.

There’s an app for that.

S Now, that’s stalking.

It’s … following. Okay, let’s make a plan. We can’t run because then you will be all sweaty and disgusting and nobody will want to talk to you.

S I don’t get all sweaty and disgusting.

You’re my best friend so I can tell you this. You do. I wonder if there’s time for you to have business cards made. There’s an Office Depot a few blocks away.

S I don’t have a business.

You’re a playwright who just finished a play – what’s it called?

S “Benjamin Harrison Was not a Boring President.”

Maybe you should just call it Harrison!

S And open with a song titled “Benjamin Harrison?”

Not a bad idea.

S That would be ripping him off.

You need to do something today! It says here that he goes to Puerto Rico and then to California tomorrow. It’ll be months before he’s back. Carpe diem and all that jazz

S I’m not the type of person who can seize the day. I just sneeze.

Oh no – he’s leaving his friend’s house. We need a plan. You go back to your aunt’s building and get on the elevator. Scrunch in a corner until he gets on and then tell him something – really profound.

S Such as?

“Mr. Miranda, you changed my life.” What do you think he will say to that?

S He’s very polite. So probably he’d say, “thank-you.”

Wrong. If someone said that to you, what would you say?

S Uhhh //// thank-you?

Wouldn’t you want to know how you changed someone’s life. I think he’ll say, “Thank-you. How?” Okay, let’s practice. I’m Lin-Manuel Miranda. Who are you?

S Dizzy from riding the elevator up and down for fifteen minutes.

Wrong! You are Sandra Livingston, future Pulitzer prize winner of the hit-musical, “Benjamin Harrison Was not Boring.”

S Excuse me but it’s titled “Benjamin Harrison Was not a Boring President.”

Not important. Now tell him how he changed your life.

S So, I guess I’d have to thank him for taking someone like Alexander Hamilton who did all these boring things with the treasury and created this musical loaded with passion and war and affairs/

/You’re rambling. Be specific. How did his work affect what you are doing?

S He made me realize that all lives can be interesting if you dig into them enough.

Whoa

S what?

That’s a good answer. Maybe you really will be a writer.

S Thanks?

He’s getting off the bus. Run! But don’t get sweaty. Tell him what you told me. Make a connection. Maybe even take a selfie. Go! And don’t sneeze!

Tell me! Did you see him?

Did you make contact?

Did you sneeze?

Yay! So what did you say? What did he say? Tell me!

S Nothing.

Nothing?

S He was with his kids and there are rules about that.

Did you even say, “hello?”

S no. but

Don’t make me wait for it

S I smiled at his kids. And they smiled back at me. And then Mr. Miranda smiled at me for smiling at his kids and I smiled back at him for smiling at me and then they got off.

That’s it?

S There’s more. The kids said, “Have a good evening.

Maybe we can play with that. Maybe your kids will remember you and the next time you ride the elevator/

S /Linda. What happened was enough.

I think this could snowball into a great opportunity if the kids take a shine to you. Maybe they need a nanny, maybe you …

S I’m telling you it was enough.

Wait! I’m still thinking…