Before writing the brilliant Pulitzer Prize winning musical theater masterpiece that is
Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote something a little closer to home. The 2008 multiple Tony winner
In the Heights is basically a love letter to his family, his neighborhood, his community, his people. Specifically, a community of Latin American immigrants and the children and grandchildren of such immigrants. After seeing
the Ordway's glorious production last night, I was reminded of what Oskar Eustis (artistic director of the Public Theater where
Hamilton debuted) said about Miranda on the
PBS documentary Hamilton's America, that he elevates the language of the common people in a way no one has done since Shakespeare. I was also reminded of playwright August Wilson. I recently saw the movie version of his play
Fences, followed by a discussion led by his friend and colleague Marion McClinton, who said that Wilson's plays show that just living a life is noble.
In the Heights tells a simple story about average people, in some ways the opposite of
Hamilton, which tells an epic story about the founding of a new nation. But
In the Heights is epic in its own way, and like August Wilson, Lin-Manuel Miranda reminds us that the common people who never get rich or famous or written about in history books still live noble lives with stories worth telling and worth listening to. And also, by the way, super fun and entertaining and moving and engrossing.
