In the Heights

Issue 13 · Winter 2008
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by David Low ’76

The critically acclaimed off-Broadway musical In the Heights — with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02 and directed by Thomas Kail ’99 — will move to the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway in February 2008. (The musical ran at the 37 Arts Theater in Manhattan from January through July 2007.) Miranda also is one of the stars of the show. An earlier version of the work premiered at Wesleyan.

In the Heights is set in a vibrant and tight-knit Latino community at the top of the island of Manhattan. The show illuminates the hopes and dreams of three generations as they struggle to forge an identity in a neighborhood on the brink of transition. The score by Miranda reflects the musical influences of traditional Broadway, salsa, merengue, and hip-hop.

The show won several prominent theater awards including the Outer Critics’ Circle Award and Lucille Lortel Award for outstanding musical and outstanding choreography, the Drama Desk Award for outstanding ensemble performance and outstanding choreography, the Village Voice Obie Award for outstanding music and lyrics, and the Clarence Derwent Award and Theatre World Award for Miranda’s performance.

A scene from In the Heights
Lin-Manuel Miranda (center)
Photo credit: Joan Marcus

Wesleyan, the University magazine, Issue II 2007 contains a feature about the journey of In the Heights from Wesleyan to New York City and includes in-depth coverage of Miranda and Kail’s creative work on the show. The article appears online within the Wesleyan Magazine.