VIDEO: On This Day, January 9: IN THE HEIGHTS Closes Up Shop On Broadway

Before there was Hamilton, there was Lin-Manuel Miranda's cutting edge musical masterpiece In the Heights.

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.

The show took its final bow on January 9, 2011 and its beloved composer took to the stage to teach us all how to say goodbye. See the video to watch Lin-Manuel give his show the poetic send-off it deserved