Wow! I’m so proud of and happy for Lin-Manuel Miranda, whose musical In the Heights just received the most Tony Award nominations of any production this year!
Lin wrote and performed the original version of In the Heights during our sophomore year at Wesleyan. He spent a few years after graduation retooling the show, and it was hugely successful off broadway before moving to broadway this year. I’ll never forget opening up the NYTimes webpage a couple of years ago and seeing Lin’s face smiling back at me; I clicked on his face and it led me to a great review of the off-braodway production. If you’re in NY, here are Lin’s suggestions on where to eat.
It’s so much fun to see so many Wesleyan names associated with the show. Thomas Kail, who directs the show, was assistant director of a show that I was in my freshman year. He was a senior at the time, and had discovered in his junior year that he wanted to do theater work. I’m so excited to see him following his dream. Bill Sherman, also in our class, was somehow able to become something of a big band leader on a small liberal arts campus in New England.
I hope I have a chance to see the show when I’m back in the US.