In the Heights: two more original cast to return



Original cast members Christopher Jackson and Seth Stewart will join Lin-Manuel Miranda and return to the 2008 Tony and Grammy Award-winning Best Musical In The Heights before the show ends on 9 Jan 2011.

Seth Stewart will re-join the cast on 6 Dec 2010, Christopher Jackson will re-join on 20 Dec 2010, and Tony Award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda re-joins the cast on 25 Dec 2010 as previously announced. All three original stars will play through the final performance 9 Jan 2011.

Christopher Jackson's (Benny) credits: 'Free Love Supreme' (charter member). Broadway credits include 'Simba' in Disney's 'The Lion King.' TV: HBO's "Oz," "Guiding Light."

Seth Stewart's (Graffiti Pete) credits include, 'Sweet Charity' on Broadway. Off-Broadway: 'Red Hot Broadway 'and 'In the Heights.' Tours: Madonna "ReInvention," Paula Deanda. Film: "Sex and the City," Music and Lyrics. TV/commercial: Hip Hop Honors 2007, Jay-Z, Jennifer Lopez and "SNL."

In The Heights began previews on Broadway on 14 Feb 2008, after a six-month award-winning 2007 Off-Broadway run. The musical opened on Broadway on 9 Mar 2008, and recouped its $10 million investment in 10 months.

The show opened on Broadway to good reviews reviews: "There is no more joyful musical to see this season." (New York Theatre Guide); "What it lacks in story and believability it makes up for in a vibrant rap- and salsa-flavored score." (NY Daily News); "Delivers a festive time that plenty of people will enjoy." (Star-Ledger); "Not a great musical. But it's about as impossible to dislike as an adorable puppy." (USA Today); "Deeply flawed and deeply pleasurable." (NY Sun) and "an uncalculated charmer. (Variety).

Now in its third year on Broadway In The Heights is the winner of four 2008 Tony Awards including Best Musical. Lin-Manuel Miranda won the 2008 Tony for Best Music and Lyrics, Andy Blankenbuehler won the 2008 Tony for Best Choreography, and Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman won the 2008 Tony Award for Best Orchestrations.

With a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes and conceived by Lin-Manuel Miranda, In The Heights has music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler and is directed by Thomas Kail.

In The Heights won the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Original Cast Album. The first national tour of In The Heights launched in Oct 2009 in Tampa, FL at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center and will travel to cities including San Juan, Grand Rapids, Providence, Philadelphia, Detroit, Washington, DC, Nashville, and Miami. In November, 2008, Universal Pictures acquired the rights to produce a feature film based on In The Heights, now in pre-production.

In The Heights now stars *Jordin Sparks (Nina), Kyle Beltran (Usnavi), Marcy Harriell (Vanessa), Priscilla Lopez (Camila), Andrea Burns (Daniela), Olga Merediz (Abuela Claudia), Rick Negrón (Kevin), Clifton Oliver (Benny), Courtney Reed (Carla), Shaun Taylor-Corbett (Sonny) and Jon Rua (Graffiti Pete).
*Arielle Jacobs plays 'Nina' from 15 Nov 2010.

In The Heights: A quintessential New York musical about a vibrant and tight-knit community at the top of the island of Manhattan. The music pulses with the hopes and dreams of three generations as they struggle to forge an identity in a neighborhood on the brink of transition.

The musical is produced on Broadway by Kevin McCollum, Jeffrey Seller and Jill Furman, who also produced the Off Broadway production.

Originally published on

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