Before he turned a biography of
the so-called “Ten-Dollar Founding Father” into the Broadway and theatrical
juggernaut that is “Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda was already known for an
earlier musical, one that he had been working on since 1999. Its original form
was described in a university production as a “hip-hop version” of 1993 musical
“Rent.” Said work was expanded and eventually became “In the Heights,” spotlighting
the lives of Hispanic-American residents in New York City’s Washington Heights
neighborhood. Efforts were made to have a film adaptation of it since it hit
Broadway in 2008. The current production under Warner Bros. Pictures released
the first trailer for it Thursday last week.
Entertainment Weekly tells us that the “In the Heights” musical
film from Warner Bros. finally put out an initial full-length trailer on
December 12, one day after a short teaser was shown by the studio. Almost
immediately the preview hams up the fact that it is based on a musical with
music and lyrics by “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also originated
the role of the narrator/main character. The second big-name draw is the
director of this adaptation: Jon M. Chu, who became a superstar filmmaker by
adapting “Crazy Rich Asians,” also for Warner Bros.
What probably makes this
musical-to-movie adaptation works is the presence of many cast members from the
former who are playing roles in the latter. Miranda himself is not playing his
original role of Washington Heights bodega owner Usnavi, but he is portrayed by
Anthony Ramos, who took it up in 2018 for the JFK Center run. And Lin-Manuel is
also present as the Piragua guy. But the center of the story is Usnavi, his
plans to return to his parent’s home country in the Dominican Republic, and how
they are complicated by his relationship with salon hairstylist Vanessa, and
the onset of a heat wave.
There has been quite the rise of
musical films in production lately, from old classics such as Steven Spielberg’s
new take on “West Side Story” for 20th Century Fox, and the
extremely artsy (and divisive) Universal Pictures adaptation of “Cats” coming
this Friday. “In the Heights” is a bit more contemporary that those two, as a
trailer scene with a mention of “Dreamer” deportations indicates. And of
course, the combination of a recently well-known and loved story with
Lin-Manuel Miranda is always hard to beat.
“In the Heights” also stars Corey
Hawkins, Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera, Olga Merediz, Daphne Rubin-Vega,
Stephanie Beatriz, Dascha Polanco, Jimmy Smits and Marc Anthony. The original
musical book writer Quiara Alegría Hudes also returns to do the screenplay. The
film premieres next year in June.
0 comments:
Post a Comment