In the Heights

Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first Broadway musical, In the Heights heralded the arrival of a major talent in American theater when it captured four Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score. Now Olney Theatre Center and Round House Theatre unite to transport Miranda’s beloved Washington Heights from the top of Manhattan to the Olney Mainstage.

Usnavi, the local proprietor of the corner bodega is the audience’s guide through a vibrant neighborhood of striving immigrants and young lovers, where hip-hop meets salsa and soul. He tells the story of Nina, a first-generation immigrant who returns to the old neighborhood after flunking out of Stanford, ashamed to tell her parents that she lost the American Dream sweepstakes. But as Abuela Claudia says, with “paciencia y fe” (“patience and faith”) fortunes can shift, romance can bloom, and a sense of home can be preserved in a shifting world. This production stars multi-Tony nominee Robin De Jesús.