BWW Flashback: Mandy Gonzalez Takes Final Bows in IN THE HEIGHTS!

We're throwing back this Thursday as we celebrate ten years since the first Broadway preview of In the Heights. watch as Mandy Gonzalez, who played Nina in the original cast, chronicles her last day in the show that took over Broadway back in 2008!

With music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes, the show captured the heart of audiences of all ages with its universal theme of chasing your dreams and finding your true home.

The story is set over the course of three days in the vibrant New York community of Washington Heights - 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.

In the Heights became the toast of Broadway in 2008 and was recognized as a groundbreaking 21st-century musical, ushering in the next chapter in the classic American musical history. The show earned thirteen Tony Award nominations, winning four. The soundtrack went on to win a Grammy Award for "Best Musical Show Album" and earned a nomination for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Mandy Gonzalez is currently starring in the Broadway musical sensation Hamilton as Angelica Schuyler. She is also known for originating the role of Nina Rosario, in her brilliant performance in the Tony Award winning, Lin-Manuel Miranda Broadway musical In the Heights, a role she originally created Off-Broadway at 37 Arts and which received a Drama Desk Award. She starred as Elphaba in the Broadway production of Wicked, blowing the roof off of New York's Gershwin Theatre each night as she belted out signature song "Defying Gravity" and for which she was rewarded with a Broadway.com Award for "Best Replacement." Other Broadway roles include Princess Amneris in the Elton John and Tim Rice musical Aida and the Broadway show Lennon where she portrayed multiple roles including that of Beatles' icon John Lennon. Mandy made her Broadway debut in Jim Steinman's Dance of the Vampires starring opposite Michael Crawford. Mandy received an OBIE Award and overwhelming critical praise for her performance in the Off-Broadway production of Eli's Comin', directed by Diane Paulus and based on the music and lyrics of renowned singer-songwriter Laura Nyro.