In the Heights will return to London and the King’s Cross Theatre from 3 October to 1 November. Picture: Roy Tan
Tony Award-winning Broadway musical In the Heights will return to London this year following a critically acclaimed sell-out UK premiere at Southwark Playhouse in 2014. The production will transfer to King’s Cross Theatre on 3 October and is booking for a strictly limited four-week period until 1 November. Tickets go on sale at 10.m on Friday 10 July.
In The Heights is an uplifting journey into Washington Heights, one of Manhattan’s most vibrant communities – a place where the coffee is light and sweet, the windows are always open and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. It’s a community on the brink of change, full of hopes, dreams and pressures, where the biggest struggle can be deciding which traditions to take with you, and which ones to leave behind.
The musical opened at Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre in 2008 where it was nominated for 13 Tony Awards, winning four for Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Choreography and Best Orchestrations. It also won the 2009 Grammy Award for its Original Broadway Cast Album and was nominated for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in Drama.
Lin-Manuel Miranda is the Tony-winning composer-lyricist of In the Heights. He also originated the lead role of Usnavi for which he received a Tony-Award nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. Lin-Manuel is currently starring in the title role in his newest musical Hamilton, which had its world premiere at The Public Theater in January 2015 before transferring to Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre in July 2015. The production has so far received a record-breaking ten Lortel Awards, three Outer Critic Circle Awards, eight Drama Desk Awards, the 2015 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best New Musical and the 2015 OBIE Award for Best New American Play.
In The Heights is directed by Luke Sheppard whose recent credits include Oliver! (Watermill Theatre), Adrian Mole (Curve Theatre, Leicester), Next Fall (Southwark Playhouse), Peter Pan (Beck Theatre), Mort (Rose Theatre), Bed and Sofa (Finborough Theatre) and Jet Set Go! (Jermyn Street Theatre). Sheppard is also associate director of Matilda the Musical in the West End and on Broadway.
It is choreographed by Drew McOnie, who won the 2015 Off West End Award for Best Choreography for his work on In the Heights at Southwark Playhouse. Recent credits include Bugsy Malone (Lyric Hammersmith), Oklahoma! (UK tour), Chicago (Curve, Leicester) and In The Heights (Bridewell Theatre). McOnie is also the artistic director of The McOnie Company and an associate artist at The Old Vic, for which he is currently creating a new dance-thriller version of Jekyll and Hyde.
Luke Sheppard said today: “We were overwhelmed by the response at Southwark and it’s a real privilege to be able to revisit this extraordinary musical. We’ve thought long and hard about the right way to bring the show back to London whilst keeping the experience up close and personal, and this is a brilliant space for us to take over and immerse our audience in the sounds and sweat of this passion-infused piece.”
In the Heights is conceived by Lin-Manuel Miranda with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes. It is directed by Luke Sheppard with choreography by Drew McOnie, musical supervision by Tom Deering (Made in Dagenham, From Here to Eternity), set design by takis (Chicago, Curve Theatre), costume design by Gabriella Slade (Alice in Wonderland, Oxford Playhouse), lighting design by Howard Hudson (Adrian Mole, Titanic) and sound design by Gareth Owen. It is produced in London by Tristan Baker and Charlie Parsons for Runaway Entertainment Ltd and Paul Taylor Mills Ltd.
King’s Cross Theatre is a brand new purpose-built theatre at King’s Cross Station. The venue is currently home to The Railway Children which has just extended its run until 3 January 2015 and will continue to play in rep with In the Heights. King’s Cross Theatre will also be opening a late night bar to coincide with the run of In the Heights, opening an hour before every performance until late, with live music and DJs after certain performances.
Casting to be announced.
Look out for our interview with director Luke Sheppard soon!!
Readers may also be interested in:
Interview – Altar Boyz producer Paul Taylor-Mills is hitting the Heights
In the Heights – Southwark Playhouse – Review
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