Cats and West Side Story aren’t the only Broadway classics headed to the silver screen — in summer 2020, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s exciting original production In the Heights will be coming to life with a star-studded film adaptation. Musical stans, rejoice. Your time is finally here.
Miranda’s first musical project, In the Heights tells the tale of a changing Upper Manhattan neighbourhood. Washington Heights is bright and colourful, its close-knit community composed of Latinx people from all over the diaspora. The protagonist is a hardworking bodega owner named Usnavi de la Vega, and he is the heart and soul of the Heights. The events of the musical unfold in the peak of a blazing hot New York summer, telling a tale of a community struggling to maintain its identity in a rapidly changing world.
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After a brief but successful run off-Broadway, In the Heights made its Broadway debut at the famed Richard Rogers Theatre in 2008 with Miranda starring as the lead. The musical, which featured most of its original off-Broadway cast (including Mandy Gonzalez, Christopher Jackson, and Karen Olivo), went on to win four Tony Awards and a Grammy that year. It spawned international versions as well, with theaters in the Philippines, Panama, Japan, South Korea, and Germany putting on their own productions of the beloved musical.
Though Miranda will not be reprising his role in the Warner Bros. production, our new Usnavi is just as gifted; Anthony Ramos is set to lead the talented ensemble. The Brooklyn-born singer and actor has worked with Miranda before, having previously starred in his one-act musical 21 Chump Street, as well as the smash hit Hamilton. Ramos has also appeared in Spike Lee's Netflix series She's Gotta Have It and A Star Is Born, alongside Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.
Ramos is joined by a group of amazing actors, including Corey Hawkins, Melissa Barrera, Leslie Grace, Jimmy Smits, Olga Merediz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Stephanie Beatriz and Dascha Polanco. In the adaptation, the cast will be performing all of the musical's greatest hits; beloved songs like "Pacienca Y Fe" and the titular "In the Heights" will definitely get their due.
With Miranda's blessing (and the direction of Crazy Rich Asians' Jon Chu), In the Heights is poised to be the must-see musical experience of the summer.
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In the Heights opens cinemas in summer 2020
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