Details about the length, casting and launch date of the tour have not been officially revealed, but Playbill.com has learned that a fall 2009 start is being planned. Presenters in major cities around the country are currently planning their subscription seasons for 2009-10 and will announce programming in the coming months.
In the Heights producer Jill Furman told Playbill.com last spring that she had no question about the show's viability around the country — and not just in Latino-rich markets such as Southern California and Florida. Despite the show's setting in Washington Heights, the vibrant Latino community in northern Manhattan, she said the show is about universal concerns — leaving home, being an American, fitting in, embracing your heritage, falling in love, pleasing and honoring your parents.
Newcomer Lin-Manuel Miranda conceived the show in college and penned the music and lyrics (winning a Best Score Tony Award in 2008). He also played charming Dominican bodega owner Usnavi, snagging a Best Actor Tony nomination for his work. Usnavi is the hip-hop friendly narrator and guide into the romantic musical comedy that has more to do with Fiddler on the Roof than with hardcore urban rap. The show is about finding love in a time and place of transition.
The musical tale of friends, lovers and neighbors of the tight-knit Manhattan neighborhood — where the George Washington Bridge gleams in the background as a central metaphor for migration, change, escape and promise — recently broke even on Broadway, officially making it a hit. Performances continue at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.
The Caribbean-breeze-scented musical has been Miranda's brainchild since college, and he often refers to the work as a literal dream come true. *
Kevin McCollum, Jeffrey Seller and Jill Furman, the lead producers of the 2008 Tony Award-winning Best Musical In the Heights, announced on Jan. 8 that they recouped the show's $10 million investment after only 10 months and 337 performances. The pop tale of the changing face of a Manhattan Latino community, Washington Heights, opened on Broadway March 9, 2008, after a 2007 developmental production Off-Broadway.
In the Heights has a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes. It won four 2008 Tony Awards (Best Musical, Best Score, Best Choreography, Best Orchestrations), and snagged a 2008 Grammy Award nomination for the original cast album.
In November 2008, Universal Pictures acquired the rights to produce a feature film based on In the Heights.
In the Heights has choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler and direction by Thomas Kail. Alex Lacamoire is music director and music arrangements are by Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman.
In the Heights is produced by Kevin McCollum, Jeffrey Seller, Jill Furman, Sander Jacobs, Robyn Goodman/Walt Grossman, Peter Fine and Sonny Everett/Mike Skipper with associate producers Ruth Hendel and Harold Newman.
On Broadway, In the Heights stars Andréa Burns, Janet Dacal, Robin De Jesús, Mandy Gonzalez, Marcy Harriell, Christopher Jackson, Priscilla Lopez, Olga Merediz, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Rick Négron, and Seth Stewart leading a cast of 28 that features Tony Chiroldes, Rosie Lani Fiedelman, Afra Hines, Marcus Paul James, Nina Lafarga, Doreen Montalvo, Javier Muñoz, Krysta Rodriguez, Eliseo Román, Luis Salgado, Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Rickey Tripp, Michael Balderrama, Joshua Henry, Stephanie Klemons, Jon Rua and Elisa Santora.
For tickets and more information visit www.ticketmaster.com or intheheightsthemusical.com.
