Photo Flash: Lin-Manuel Drops In Uptown with the Kennedy Center Cast of IN THE HEIGHTS

Lin-Manuel Miranda surprised the standing-room-only crowd at the Kennedy Center's Broadway Center Stage production of his Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights on Saturday night. He was joined in the audience by Hamilton and In the Heights music director Alex Lacamoire, Hamilton and In the Heights percussionist Andrés Forero, and Hamilton and In the Heights star Javier Muñoz. At the end of the performance, Lacamoire led the on stage orchestra in the show's finale with Forero joining on percussion. Miranda then joined the cast for their final bow.

The cast of In the Heights includes Vanessa Hudgens (Gigi) in the role of Vanessa, with Anthony Ramos (Hamilton) as Usnavi, Ana Villafañe (On Your Feet!) as Nina, local D.C. actor Mateo Ferro as Sonny, Eden Espinosa (Wicked) as Daniela,J. Quinton Johnson (Hamilton) as Benny, original Broadway cast member Blanca Camacho as Camila, Saundra Santiago(Nine) as Abuela Claudia, Broadway cast member Rick Negron returning to the role of Kevin, Virgil Gadson (After Midnight) as Graffiti Pete, Arianna Rosario (On Your Feet!) as Carla, and original Broadway cast member Eliseo Roman reprising the role of Piragua Guy.

The production is directed and choreographed by Stephanie Klemons, who recently choreographed the NFL Super Bowl ad featuring Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. An In the Heights original Broadway cast member and Assistant Dance Captain, Klemons has a long history with Miranda's work, having gone on to serve as Associate Choreographer for both Hamilton andBring it On.

The In the Heights ensemble includes David Baida, Nico DeJesus, John Edwards,Hope Easterbrook, Rosie Fiedelman,Henry Gainza, Carlos Gonzalez, Morgan Marcell, April Ortiz, Khori Petinaud, and Voltaire Wade-Greene.

In the Heights is Lin-Manuel Miranda's debut Broadway musical with a book by Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Alegría Hudes. Winner of four 2008 Tony Awards® including Best Musical and Best Score, 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. Presented as a part of Broadway Center Stage, a Kennedy Center-produced series of musicals in semi-staged concerts, In the Heights runs March 21-25, 2018 in the Eisenhower Theater.

The Broadway Center Stage series of musicals in semi-staged concerts is Executive Produced by Jeffrey Finn. The season began with the sold-out production of CHESS. Following In the Heights, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, the Tony® and Pulitzer Prize­­-winning musical lampooning life on the corporate ladder, with an exhilarating score by Frank Loesser, will take to the Eisenhower Theater stage, June 6-8, to complete the season.

Photos by Yassine El Mansouri