Winner of the 2008 Tony Award for Best Musical.
Welcome to the kind of musical that comes around once in a generation. A musical that builds on the best traditions of theater while forging into fresh new territory. A musical about the importance of home, family and finding where you belong.
IN THE HEIGHTS tells the universal story of a vibrant community in Manhattan's 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.
Discover where you belong, at Broadway's new Tony Award-winning classic, IN THE HEIGHTS.
Much like “West Side Story,” the musical purports to be about young heterosexual lovers, but its most dramatically fulfilling relationships are between men. Single and vaguely sleepy and hyperkinetic all at once, Usnavi can’t seem to connect with women, unlike his best friend, the infinitely more manly Benny (Christopher Jackson). The woman Benny loves is named Nina (Mandy Gonzales); her parents run the gypsy cab company where Benny works as a driver. The play is heavy with plot, but one quickly tunes out the mechanics of it for the charms of watching Usnavi hang with Benny in the shadow of the George Washington Bridge. Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes (who wrote the book) have rendered a simple and not at all offensive world, and brought little that is new to the familiar Broadway spectacle of earnest, smiling immigrants singing and dancing for our delectation.
First seen Off Broadway last year, “In the Heights” moves uptown with its considerable assets confidently in place: a tuneful score enlivened by the dancing rhythms of salsa and Latin pop, sounds that are an ear-tickling novelty on Broadway; zesty choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler that seems to put invisible wings on the young cast’s neon-colored sneakers; and a stage amply stocked with appealing actors who season their performances with generous doses of sugar and spice. Its fundamental deficiencies are also along for the ride, unfortunately. Conceived by Mr. Miranda, with a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes, “In the Heights” consists of a series of vignettes that form a vivid but somewhat airbrushed mural of urban life. Directed by Thomas Kail, it is basically a salsa-flavored soap opera, and if there is an equivalent of schmaltz in Spanish, this musical is happily swimming in it.
2005 | Waterford, CT (Regional) |
Reading Waterford, CT (Regional) |
2007 | Off-Broadway |
Original Off-Broadway Production Off-Broadway |
2008 | Broadway |
Broadway Transfer Broadway |
2009 | US Tour |
First National Tour US Tour |
2011 | US Tour |
Work Light Productions National Tour US Tour |
2015 | West End |
West End Production West End |
2018 | Washington, DC (Regional) |
Kennedy Center Concert Production Washington, DC (Regional) |
2020 | Motion Picture |
2020 Motion Picture Motion Picture |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2009 | The Pulitzer Prize | The Pulitzer Prize for Drama | Quiara Alegría Hudes |
2009 | The Pulitzer Prize | The Pulitzer Prize for Drama | Lin-Manuel Miranda |
2009 | The Pulitzer Prize | The Pulitzer Prize for Drama | Quiara Alegría Hudes |
2009 | The Pulitzer Prize | The Pulitzer Prize for Drama | Lin-Manuel Miranda |
2008 | Tony Awards | Best Book of a Musical | Quiara Alegria Hudes |
2008 | Tony Awards | Best Choreography | Andy Blankenbuehler |
2008 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Musical | Paul Tazewell |
2008 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Musical | Thomas Kail |
2008 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Musical | Howell Binkley |
2008 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Jill Furman |
2008 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Sander Jacobs |
2008 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Robyn Goodman |
2008 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Walt Grossman |
2008 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Peter Fine |
2008 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Everett/Skipper |
2008 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Kevin McCollum |
2008 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Jeffrey Seller |
2008 | Tony Awards | Best Orchestrations | Bill Sherman |
2008 | Tony Awards | Best Orchestrations | Alex Lacamoire |
2008 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre | Lin-Manuel Miranda |
2008 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical | Robin De Jesus |
2008 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical | Lin-Manuel Miranda |
2008 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical | Olga Merediz |
2008 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Musical | Anna Louizos |
2008 | Tony Awards | Best Sound Design of a Musical | Acme Sound Partners |
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