“You could’ve been anywhere in the world tonight, but you’re here with us at the Lin-Manuel Miranda Look-Alike Contest,” said Cate Bates on a brisk, but sunny, afternoon in Washington Square Park in New York City. That's right, on a random autumn Thursday, October 23, a few dozen people gathered in the park for a Lin-Manuel Miranda Look-Alike Contest. The winner got a trophy and a crisp $10 bill. 

This event wasn't sponsored or affiliated in any way with the composer or his hit show Hamilton. In fact, its organizer Bates just graduated from college with a degree in architecture, and was looking for a fun activity to fill her time. As she told Playbill, "It's Hamilton's 10th anniversary, and I am a huge fan of Lin-Manuel Miranda, his work, and theatre in general. I'm actually seeing Beetlejuice after this."

But before Beetlejuice, it was time for the contest, where five very energetic contestants showed up. Two were dressed up as Usnavi, from Miranda's In the Heights, while there were three dressed up as A. Ham. But this wasn't any normal look-alike contest: In order to win, each contestant had to impress the crowd by performing a song. One contestant did "My Shot" complete with choreography. Another one brought up a partner for a duet of "Say No to This," and passed out handmade Reynolds Pamphlets. One brought a cardboard window, in a reference to the Miranda meme that was popular this past summer. One Usnavi performed Miranda's rap from when he guest-starred in How I Met Your Mother (a deep cut).

The winner, Fernando Zermeno Garavito, sang the opening rap from In the Heights, while wearing a red button up and a duckbill hat. The person who got the loudest cheers was the winner, and Garavito was the clear audience favorite.

After, Garavito told Playbill that he's an actor (he was actually in a production of In the Heights in college). "I love Lin-Manuel as an artist. And I've been stopped on the street so many times. Like, I once saw [original In the Heights cast member] Mandy Gonzalez on the street, and I went up to her like, 'Hey, I love your work.' And someone came up to us and said, 'Oh my God, I'm seeing both of you together.'" Garavito then added he would love to do one of Miranda's shows professionally (hello, Hamilton casting directors). 

But the other contestants didn't go home empty-handed. Bates made sure they all got their own little runner-up trophies. 

Bates admitted she had no idea that anyone would show up to the contest. But she was determined to do her best—she posted fliers all over the city (including outside of Hamilton's longtime home, the Richard Rodgers Theatre). She was delighted when Miranda himself shared a photo of the flier.

"I was putting the posters up, and then I see someone leave the stage door ... Oh, that's the guy currently playing Hamilton on Broadway," Bates recalls. She gave him a flier, though she admitted he tried to give it back to her, thinking it was something she wanted him to sign. "I said, 'That's for you to keep,'" she says giggling.

Miranda himself could not make it to the contest, but his father Luis A. Miranda Jr. did drop by at the end to meet the contestants. While Miranda himself is inimitable and original, this ad-hoc event was truly a tribute to the writer and actor's impact on the theatre industry, theatre fans, and also the city of New York. As one passerby remarked as he watched the different Lins perform, "This is why I love New York."

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Photos: The Lin-Manuel Miranda Look-alike Contest

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