NEW YORK — David Mendizábal vividly remembers sitting in the audience for the final performances of playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights.
Almost two decades later, Mendizábal is directing the musical that was once his “portal to the theater.”
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With a new cast of Latino artists, the New York City Center is presenting “In the Heights” for a limited three-week run through Nov. It is the first major revival of the musical debuting at a time when, to Mendizábal, it’s vital to “show people the depth and breadth” of Latino communities.
Miranda, who also starred in the original production, recalled his experience resurrecting his barrier-breaking work. His songs and lyrics, alongside writing by Quiara Alegría Hudes, earned the original production best musical and best original score honors in its debut year. The show’s revival comes amid ongoing federal immigration enforcement operations that have affected Dominican and Cuban families like the ones portrayed in the musical. An operation in Manhattan last month involved a Dominican national who was shot in the neck by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer , as his five-year-old son watched, prompting large protests and condemnation from local and state elected officials.
“I think in this particular moment we need a great balm of joy, and this show brings that,” Mendizábal said. From its three-year Broadway run to the movie-musical debut in 2021, “In the Heights” has been hailed as “an exuberant celebration of the Latino immigrant experience. Eighteen years after its debut, the show “still holds up,” Miranda told the . “Sonny’s talking about gentrification, he’s talking about immigration, he’s talking about the racism within politics,” Gonzalez said in an interview on Friday. “In some ways, Sonny’s rap feels like the most present part of the show, the most present to the moment we’re living in.”
