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The music and its muse come home (again)
Story by Owen Panettieri
In the Heights: In Concert comes to 'United Palace' for just one night.
Viva Broadway, an initiative of the Broadway League, in collaboration with 5000 Broadway Productions and the United Palace of Cultural Arts, and The Manhattan Times have announced that the original stars of the Tony Award-Winning Musical In The Heights will reuniting on stage for a one-night only concert five years after the musical opened on Broadway.
And where else but in Washington Heights would such a stage be set?
In the Heights: In Concert will take place at the esteemed United Palace Theatre on the evening of Mon., Feb. 11th, 2013.
Tickets will go on sale via Telecharge.com on Fri., Dec. 14th, 2012, and will also be available for sale at The Manhattan Times office.
“In The Heights has always been a celebration of the community in Washington Heights. It has been my dream to bring that celebration back to the neighborhood,” said creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.
“I’m thrilled to bring In The Heights: In Concert to United Palace of Cultural Arts, an incredible venue in the heart of northern Manhattan. I am also looking forward to sharing the stage with my In The Heights family again.”
The musical In The Heights, which helped put northern Manhattan and its community on the map, tells the universal story of the Washington Heights neighborhood, “a community on the brink of change, full of hopes, dreams and pressures, where the biggest struggles can be deciding which traditions you take with you, and which ones you leave behind,” explained Miranda.
The show ran for three years on Broadway starting on February 14, 2008 and was followed by two very successful national and international tours.
In The Heights: In Concert marks the first time ever that members of the original Broadway and national touring companies (including actor, creator, composer-lyricist and northern Manhattan native Miranda), will join together to bring In The Heights to the uptown neighborhood that inspired it all.
Additional original Broadway cast members include Tony Award nominees Olga Merediz, and Robin De Jesús, as well as Broadway luminaries Tony Award winner Karen Olivo, Mandy Gonzales, Christopher Jackson and Janet Dacal. Tony Award-nominated director Tommy Kail and Tony Award-winning orchestrator Alex Lacamoire are returning for the concert presentation, along with Tony-nominated original lighting and sound designers Howell Binkley and Nevin Steingberg.
The concert is produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and co-produced by his father, The Manhattan Times publisher Luis A. Miranda, Jr. and tour producer Stephen Gabriel.
Sandra García-Betancourt, Executive Director of the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance (NoMAA) noted, “This concert is a milestone for the performing arts in our community. Lin-Manuel and his dad Luis, co-founder of NoMAA, are real champions of our neighborhood.”
“It’s going to be an amazing night,” said creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.
“It is very significant that In The Heights: In Concert is coming to the Heights, and to the stage of the United Palace,” added Xavier Eikerenkoetter, President of United Palace of Cultural Arts (UPCA). “We are thrilled to have the music of Lin-Manuel’s acclaimed production in our venue as the commencement to our new relationship with the midtown Broadway industry. In The Heights is a testament to the heart and soul of this rich community, which we at UPCA are part of and are pledged to support. I’m extremely happy about this collaboration.”
The United Palace is the second largest theater venue in New York City, after Radio City Music Hall, existing mostly as a hidden gem from the larger New York theater scene.
In The Heights: In Concert offers an opportunity for residents throughout the city to become more familiar with the history and beauty of this uptown theater space. Hundreds of tickets at $30 have been set aside for neighborhood residents.
“We want the neighborhood to come and celebrate,” said the elder Miranda.
In the five years since In The Heights opened on Broadway, Lin-Manuel Miranda has continued to see his star rise in the entertainment industry, winning roles in films such as this year’s The Odd Life of Timothy Green and guest appearances on TV shows including House, Modern Family, Sesame Street and The Electric Company. This January 2013 he can be seen in a recurring role on the highly-anticipated NBC mid-season show Do No Harm.
On stage, he has worked with such theater legends as Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents, providing Spanish translations to lyrics for the 2009 Broadway Revival of West Side Story. He appeared on stage in Sondheim’s and James Lapine’s 2012 revival of Merrily We Roll Along at New York City Center, and has had a new musical Bring It On: The Musical, for which he co-wrote music and lyrics, open for a successful limited run on Broadway. He has also contributed songs to Stephen’s Schwartz’s Working currently playing in midtown at 59E59 Theaters.
Throughout, Miranda has continued to bring attention to the uptown neighborhoods which have provided him with so much inspiration. He has shone alight on iconic uptown tourist attractions such as The Cloisters and Jeffery’s Hook Light, better known as The Little Red Lighthouse.
Most recently, Miranda was featured in a segment for NBC’s taxi service programming highlighting the exhibits at Morris-Jumel Mansion and The Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance Art Gallery.
While the success of In The Heights has led to many of Miranda’s other artistic dreams to be realized, he was committed to bring the show back to the neighborhood that inspired it all.
The Broadway League’s Viva Broadway initiative, a new audience development partnership with the Hispanic community intended to help bridge the world of Broadway with Latino audiences around the country, has embraced In The Heights: In Concert as one of its signature events for 2013.
Proceeds from ticket sales will be used to support local arts programming in Washington Heights and the Broadway League’s Family First Nights, a program targeted for at-risk families.
“Bringing Broadway to Washington Heights, the actual setting of In the Heights, is a wonderful celebration of live theatre and its many inspirations,” said Charlotte St. Martin, Executive Director of the Broadway League.
“It’s going to be an amazing night,” said Miranda.
Tickets for In The Heights: In Concert may be purchased online by visiting Telecharge.com or by calling 212.239.6200.
A special block of tickets is available for northern Manhattan residents that can be purchased in person for $30 each at The Manhattan Times office located at 5030 Broadway, Room 801, New York, New York 10034 starting Tues., Dec. 18th.
To purchase tickets, please call 212.569.5800.
Please note:
• Only one ticket will be sold per person.
• Buyer must show proof of residence in northern Manhattan, defined as between West 155th and 228th Streets).
• Tickets must be paid with cash or with a credit card, no checks.
For additional information on In The Heights: In Concert, please visit www.linmanuel.com, www.manhattantimesnews.com and www.broadwayleague.org.
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