In The Heights at Kirkpatrick Theatre / Oklahoma City University

This weekend! Lin-Manuel Miranda’s debut musical, In the Heights, makes its Oklahoma City University debut April 22-24, with a 36-member cast led by guest director and choreographer Luis Salgado of the Tony Award-winning Broadway production. 

“The show is about community, it's about family, it's about home, and we invite everybody in the OCU area to be a part of this great experience,” Salgado said. “Revisiting this musical at OCU is re-visiting a perspective of validation, self-worth and cultural pride…We get to go deep into the concepts of belonging, of being, of accepting, of searching for what home really is.”

In The Heights will be presented on OCU’s historic Kirkpatrick stage, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., in three performances: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with a 3 p.m. Sunday matinee. 

Tickets ($14-28) are available from 405.208.5227 or www.okcu.edu/tickets.

A free director’s talk will be held 45 minutes before each performance. Salgado will share insights before the Friday and Saturday performances, with Associate Director Claudia Mulet speaking before the Sunday matinee.

In the Heights features music and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize winner Lin-Manuel Miranda and a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes. The musical unwinds over three days, involving characters in the primarily Dominican-American neighborhood of New York City’s Washington Heights. 

The pioneering work — which won the 2008 Tony Award for Best Musical and was released as a feature movie in 2021 — melds musical styles from rap and hip-hop to the Latin rhythms of salsa, merengue and samba to Motown-inspired R&B to ballads inspired by classics from Broadway’s golden age.

The New York Times praises its “uncalculated exuberance,” describing the show as a “singing mural of Latin-American life” with “an infectious, bouncy Latin-pop score…When the collective dance numbers catch fire, heat fills the stage and starts flowing outward…like water from a hydrant turning to steam as it hits the asphalt on a July day.”

The 13-piece In the Heights orchestra is under the direction of Dr. Matthew Mailman. Eric Frei is vocal coach, with Jack Malm assistant music director and Rachel Whatley assistant vocal coach/pianist.

The creative team includes Claudia Mulet, associate director, and Alana Martin, associate choreographer. Laura Tapia is student assistant to the director.

Costume design is by Gabriela Bastidas, scenic design is by Jaime Dimas, lighting design is by Jack Beckey, and sound design is by Jacob Henry.

“Coming to Oklahoma, specifically to OCU, with a show like In the Heights, is a great responsibility in today's world,” Salgado said. “This show creates a space to celebrate the idea of representation, giving a voice to those unheard voices in our world…For me, it is a great honor to have been trusted by Dean Mark Parker to explore the potential of the artists inside this fantastic university.”

This year marks the 70th consecutive season for OCU’s award-winning Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company, the world’s oldest campus troupe devoted to both opera and music theater. OCU has won 11 National Opera Association production awards in the past nine years; seven in the past four seasons.

For more information on events, visit www.okcu.edu/music.

THE CAST: Featuring Annette Barrios-Torres (Angelí Peña understudy) as Vanessa; Adamaris Lopez (Audrey Logan and Alexandria Magaña, understudies) as Nina Rosario; Abigail Stephenson (Elizabeth Delgado-Savage, understudy) as Abuela Claudia; Angelí Peña (Brianna Sadofsky and Delgado-Savage, understudies) as Daniela; Cara Orlich (Cecelia Touzan and Grace McLean, understudies) as Carla; Elizabeth Ramirez (Magaña and Kyra Gomes, understudies) as Camila Rosario; Iván Moreno (César Carreño, understudy) as Usnavi de la Vega; Riordan Banks (Chris Ritchie, understudy) as Benny; Eli Nash (Owen Kelly, understudy) as Sonny; Julian Ibarra (Chance Ingalls, understudy) as Kevin Rosario; Rodney Thompson (Emma Noël, understudy) as Graffiti Pete; and Gabriel Lemus (Ibarra, understudy) as Piragua Guy. In the Ensemble: Morgan Andrews, Emma Noël, Ellie Guzzano, Sophia Rodrigues Patterson, Audrey Logan, Elizabeth Delgado-Savage, Preston Bussell, Peyton Davis, Owen Kelly, Chance Ingalls, Catherine Garcia, Kyra Gomes, Alexandria Magaña, Grace McLean, Zibby Nolting, Hannah Souza, Brianna Sadofsky, Jordan Smith, Martina Theríault, Cecelia Touzan, Brandon Barskdale, César Carreño, Wesley Hodges, Chris Ritchie and Vangeli Tsompanidis. 

Authors

• Lin-Manuel Miranda
• Quiara Alegría Hudes

Tony Awards and Nominations for In The Heights