TV: Lin-Manuel Miranda Talks HEIGHTS Movie

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 and here, about the upcoming film version of IN THE HEIGHTS. 

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.

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.