Photo Coverage: FutureStage Students @ 'In The Heights'

On Wednesday March 26th, Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast of In The Heights welcomed 130 Fidelity FutureStage students from Brooklyn's JHS 383K, Phillippa Schuyler and HS for Enterprise, Business & Technology and Manhattan East School for the Arts & Academics (in East Harlem) to performance of the new hit musical In The Heights and to a post-show talk back immediately following the matinee performance.  Tickets to Broadway shows & talk-backs are just one of the main highlights of the landmark Fidelity FutureStage program.

Fidelity FutureStage is a comprehensive arts education initiative designed to bring professional theater into the classrooms of participating New York City schools created by Fidelity Investments, Leap (Learning Through An Expanded Arts Program) and The Viertel/ Frankel/ Baruch/ Routh Group.  Now in its second year, the program provides a unique playwriting and production curriculum for more than 800 area students, representing 10 underserved inner-city schools. Fidelity FutureStage affords students the extraordinary opportunity to learn from some of the Broadway community's leading playwrights, directors, designers and actors - both in their classrooms and at Broadway theatres - and ultimately experience the thrill of bringing their own creativity to life on a professional stage.   In June, one play from each participating school will be selected for the Fidelity FutureStage landmark finale event, marking an unprecedented New York theatrical debut for every student involved.

In The Heights officially opened on Sunday, March 9, 2008 on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theater.  With music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, book by Quiara Alegría Hudes, and conceived by Lin-Manuel Miranda, In The Heights is directed by Thomas Kail and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler.  .

"In The Heights is the quintessential New York musical, about a vibrant and tight-knit community at the top of the island of Manhattan. The music pulses with the hopes and dreams of three generations as they struggle to forge an identity in a neighborhood on the brink of transition," explains press notes.

The playing schedule for In The Heights is as follows:  Tuesday - Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 7pm, with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2pm.  Added performances on Monday March 17 at 8pm, and matinees Wednesday March 12, March 19, and March 26 all at 2pm.  No performances on Wednesday, March 12 at 8pm, Sunday, March 23 at 2pm and 7pm, and Sunday, March 30 at 7pm.  For more, visit http://www.intheheightsthemusical.com

Photos by Peter James Zielinski