BWW TV: Miranda Talks HEIGHTS on the Road

Broadway/L.A. presented the opening of the Pantages Theatre engagement of IN THE HEIGHTS on June 23, 2010. The show, which won four 2008 Tony Awards including Best Musical as well as the 2008 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Show Album, will now play through Sunday, July 25th. Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Tony Award®-winning creator, composer-lyricist and original star of Broadway's IN THE HEIGHTS, reprises the lead role of ‘Usnavi' in the shows Southern California premiere engagement at the historic Pantages Theatre. BroadwayWorld reporter Audra Stafford went behind the scenes of HEIGHTS with Miranda to talk about revisiting the role he made famous on Broadway on the road.

Tickets for performances of IN THE HEIGHTS are available now online at www.BroadwayLA.org and by phone at 1-800-982-ARTS (2787). Tickets may also be purchased in person at the Pantages Box Office and all Ticketmaster ticket outlets. The Pantages Theatre is located at 6233 Hollywood Boulevard, just east of Vine Street, and the box office is open every day beginning at 10AM.

IN THE HEIGHTS tells the universal story of a vibrant community in New York's Washington Heights neighborhood - a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. It's a community on the brink of change, full of hopes, dreams and pressures, where the biggest struggles can be deciding which traditions you take with you, and which ones you leave behind.

Lin-Manuel said, "To be honest, I've been itching to play with the tour cast since we began their rehearsals last fall. It has been a joy to watch Kyle Beltran and the rest of this company make this show their own, and to win over audiences all over the country. I'm excited to play at the gorgeous Pantages Theatre, which I had the privilege of visiting two weeks ago. I can't think of a better way to prepare myself for the demands of playing Usnavi in the movie version of HEIGHTS. Most of all, I can't wait to get back on that stage, in Usnavi's shoes."

The performance schedule for IN THE HEIGHTS is Tuesday through Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm & 8pm, and Sunday at 1pm & 6:30pm. Please note that there will be no evening performance on Sunday, July 4th, and there will be one added weekday matinee on Thursday, July 1st at 2:00pm. (Please note that Lin-Manuel Miranda is NOT scheduled to appear in five performances: Sunday Matinee 6/27, Thursday Matinee 7/1, Sunday Matinee 7/11, Sunday Matinee 7/18 and Sunday Matinee 7/25.)

Following the Los Angeles engagement, the National Tour of IN THE HEIGHTS will travel to San Diego, playing the San Diego Civic Theatre from July 27-Aug 1 at San Diego Civic Theatre.  For tickets and more information to the San Diego run, visit www.broadwaysd.com. A Costa Mesa two-week engagement at the Orange County Performing Arts Center will follow from August 3-15.

IN THE HEIGHTS is presented locally by Broadway/L.A. as the seventh show of its 2010 Pantages Season. For more information, please visit the Pantages Theatre's official website: www.BroadwayLA.org.

For more information on IN THE HEIGHTS, visit www.InTheHeightsTheMusical.com.

Audra Stafford is excited to share her love of San Diego theatre with BroadwayWorld.com! As the entertainment reporter for ABC-10 in San Diego, Audra covered the world premieres of A Catered Affair and Dancing in the Dark at The Old Globe, the West Coast premiere of Xanadu at the La Jolla Playhouse, and she was also one of only two journalists in the nation to be embedded in a production of CATS during its national tour. Audra has also interviewed many of Hollywood?s and Broadway?s finest actors, directors and producers, including Scott Sanders, Tom Hulce, Frankie Valli, Robin Williams, Jon Voigt, Helen Mirren, George Lopez, Teri Hatcher, Dakota Fanning, Jerry Bruckheimer and Henry Selick. Audra is a distinguished graduate of San Diego State University?s Television, Film and New Media Production program, where she earned two Student Emmys. She also received an Emmy for her work as producer of 10-4 San Diego. Audra is a proud member of the Screen Actors Guild. To see more of Audra?s entertainment coverage in San Diego, check out her blog: http://audrastafford.wordpress.com

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