In response to the charge that he’d sidelined dark-skinned Latinos in “In the Heights,” for instance, he said in a statement that he fell short in “trying to paint a mosaic” of New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood, where the musical takes place, and promised to do better “to make sure we are honoring our diverse and vibrant community.” Miranda, who was born in New York to Puerto Rican parents, didn’t duck the criticism. What makes his achievement all the more impressive is that, as recently as six months ago, Miranda appeared to be facing a backlash, mocked (by teens on TikTok, no less) for his lip-chewing earnestness and condemned for the colorism at play in the casting of “In the Heights.” Not long before that, the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Hamilton” creator even came in for a bit of reconsideration by young folks who pointed out that the show could’ve thought harder about the founders’ enslavement of Black people. Then his mentor, Drakeo the Ruler, was killed. Remble stood poised to become one of 2022’s breakout stars.

Music Remble is L.A.’s next big hip-hop star. Yet his gains actually go beyond that: After years when Broadway relied on existing pop and rock tunes for jukebox musicals such as “Mamma Mia!,” “Jersey Boys” and “American Idiot,” you can almost think of Miranda as helping to reverse the flow of material - as reestablishing the musical as a source of real-deal pop hits, as it was way back in the form’s so-called golden age. Pair “Encanto’s” runaway success with Miranda’s acclaimed directing job on Netflix’s “ Tick, Tick … Boom!” (about the late “Rent” creator Jonathan Larson) - then contrast those wins against Stephen Sondheim’s death and the box-office failure of Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” - and it seems clear that Miranda has been anointed the spiritual leader of American musical theater, not only in terms of new work but in how the legacy of the classics is curated. And on YouTube, the streaming platform of choice for the elementary-school set, “Bruno” just racked up its 100 millionth play in a matter of weeks. Top 50 tally, where the song is trailed by five additional cuts from “Encanto,” a magical-realist tale of a family in rural Colombia with special powers. Fueled just as “Drivers License” was by its use in countless TikTok videos, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is at No.

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