Lin-Manuel Miranda: Make what’s missing
How the lack of Latino roles inspired him to write "In The Heights."
Songwriter and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda (on the lack of Latino roles in the musical theater canon):
“I decided to make what I saw was missing,” he said. “I didn’t realize it at the time, but that’s the best advice you could give anyone: make what’s missing.” So, he continues, “I wrote a musical full of scenes where people are rapping outside of bodegas [and] doing the stuff that me and my Latino friends used to do.” He set his musical in a majority-Latino neighborhood (Washington Heights) near where he grew up, he filled it a majority-Latino cast, and he titled it, In The Heights. He wrote it over the course of 5 years—mostly on nights and weekends—while “I was a ‘whichever teacher is sick’ substitute teacher.” And on March 9, 2008, In The Heights premiered on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. That same year, it won a Grammy (Best Musical Show Album) and four Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
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