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Manhattan Theater Bookstore Saved By 'Hamilton' Partners

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And next we have news about the rescue of a book shop. Drama Book Shop in New York sells books about theater and film. It sells theater scripts, and even has a small experimental theater.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And recently, store owner Allen Hubby was preparing to close the shop after more than 100 years.

ALLEN HUBBY: Rents have gone crazy and property value's gone crazy. And I finally just sort of gave up.

GREENE: Soaring rents doomed the store, until - until news of its closing hit the Internet.

HUBBY: You know, Lin-Manuel. He's kind of - he's on the Internet a lot.

INSKEEP: Lin-Manuel Miranda, the composer, playwright and actor behind the Broadway musical "Hamilton." He saw the news and joined some "Hamilton" collaborators to buy the shop.

HUBBY: You know, it's the sort of thing you dream of happening but you'd never ask for.

GREENE: With help from the city, the shop will now be relocated.

HUBBY: The next location is still to be determined. I think, considering the people who are involved, you could expect something truly spectacular. That's what I'm counting on.

GREENE: Lin-Manuel Miranda writes on Twitter that he went to the book shop as a teenager. It gave him a place to go when he was waiting for his shot.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MY SHOT")

MIRANDA, DIGGS, RAMOS, ODOM JR, ONAODOWAN: (Singing) And I am not throwing away my shot. I'm am not throwing away my shot. I'm just like my country. I'm young, scrappy and hungry. And I'm not throwing my shot. We're going to rise up. Rise up, rise up. It's time to take a shot. Rise up. Rise up. Time to take a shot. Time to take a shot. And I am not throwing away my shot. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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