In the Heights

In the Heights is a musical with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes. The story is set over the course of three days, involving an ensemble cast of characters in the largely Dominican-American neighborhood of Washington Heights in New York City.

After productions in Connecticut (2005) and Off-Broadway (2007), the show opened in a Broadway theatre production in March 2008. This production was nominated for thirteen Tony Awards, winning four: Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Choreography (Andy Blankenbuehler), and Best Orchestrations (Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman). It won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album. It was also nominated for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Background

Miranda wrote the earliest draft of In the Heights in 1999, his sophomore year of college. After the show was accepted by Wesleyan University's student theater company Second Stage, Miranda worked on adding "freestyle rap ... bodegas, and salsa numbers." It played from April 20, 1999 to April 22, 1999. After seeing the play, three Wesleyan seniors and one alumnus, John Buffalo Mailer, Neil Stewart, Anthony Veneziale and Thomas Kail approached Miranda and asked if the play could be expanded to be on Broadway. In 2002, Miranda and Mailer worked with director Tommy Kail and wrote five separate drafts of In the Heights.