New York City Center is starting the hype train early for their upcoming gala production of Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes‘ In the Heights, set to take the stage of the Manhattan venue later this fall. The theatre will host a free celebration August 23 at Washington Heights’ United Palace, with festivities to include music from radio station La Mega 97.9 with Frederick Martínez “El Pachá” emceeing; live performances from The Brotherhood Sister Sol, City Center’s Preludes! Summer Teen Theater Intensive, The Peoples Theatre Youth Company, and more; and In the Heights merchandise giveaways.
The event will also offer 5,000 $28 rush tickets for the upcoming performances, part of City Center’s affordability initiative. Attendees will be able to sign up for a digital rush at the event beginning at 9 AM. All registrants will receive further instructions and a special code to access the digital rush beginning at 2 PM ET that same day. Tickets will be sold on a first come, first served basis—up to four tickets will be available per registrant.
In the Heights will run at New York City Center October 28–November 15. It will kick off with a gala performance October 28.
David Mendizábal (Mexodus) will direct the new staging, which will feature choreography by Mayte Natalio and music direction by Alejandro Senior. Casting, by The Telsey Office, and further creative team members are to be announced.
The musical, which began as a college project during Miranda’s time at Wesleyan University, served as the now Tony winner’s debut work, playing a 2005 try-out at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and Off-Broadway’s 37 Arts Theater in 2007 before transferring to the Main Stem. The musical would go on to win four 2008 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and was a finalist for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The work also became a spiritual predecessor for Miranda’s seminal megahit Hamilton, which reunited director Thomas Kail, choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler, and music supervisor Alex Lacamoire on the creative team, along with much of the cast (Christopher Jackson, Jon Rua, Javier Muñoz, Mandy Gonzalez, and KO—formerly Karen Olivo—are all Heights and Hamilton alum, amongst others).
The musical—which features music and lyrics by Miranda and a book by Hudes—centers on New York City’s Washington Heights neighborhood and its citizens, a vibrant immigrant community trying to get the American Dream while navigating a rapidly changing world. Miranda starred as bodega owner Usnavi, the ensemble musical’s protagonist, in the original company. Following the success of Miranda’s Hamilton, a film version of In the Heights was released in 2020, directed by Jon M. Chu and featuring performances from Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Melissa Barrera, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Jimmy Smits, and more.
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