In the Heights to close 9 Jan - Miranda to return

The 2008 Tony and Grammy Award-winning Best Musical In The Heights will play its final Broadway performance on 9 Jan 2011 at Broadway's Richard Rodgers Theatre. The musical had been selling tickets through to 26 Feb 2011.

When the musical closes it will have played 29 preview and 1,185 regular performances, making it the 79th longest running show in Broadway history, positioning it between the original Broadway productions of 'Guys and Dolls' and 'Amadeus.'

Beginning 25 Dec 2010, Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator, original star and Tony and Grammy Award-winning composer of In The Heights, will return to his Tony nominated role as 'Usnavi' for the final 19 performances of the Broadway run.

In The Heights began previews on Broadway on 14 Feb 2008, after a six-month award-winning 2007 Off-Broadway run. The musical opened on Broadway on 9 Mar 2008, and recouped its $10 million investment in 10 months.

The show opened on Broadway to good reviews reviews: "There is no more joyful musical to see this season." (New York Theatre Guide); "What it lacks in story and believability it makes up for in a vibrant rap- and salsa-flavored score." (NY Daily News); "Delivers a festive time that plenty of people will enjoy." (Star-Ledger); "Not a great musical. But it's about as impossible to dislike as an adorable puppy." (USA Today); "Deeply flawed and deeply pleasurable." (NY Sun) and "an uncalculated charmer. (Variety).

Now in its third year on Broadway In The Heights is the winner of four 2008 Tony Awards including Best Musical. Lin-Manuel Miranda won the 2008 Tony for Best Music and Lyrics, Andy Blankenbuehler won the 2008 Tony for Best Choreography, and Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman won the 2008 Tony Award for Best Orchestrations.

With a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes and conceived by Lin-Manuel Miranda, In The Heights has music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler and is directed by Thomas Kail.

In The Heights won the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Original Cast Album. The first national tour of In The Heights launched in Oct 2009 in Tampa, FL at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center and will travel to cities including San Juan, Grand Rapids, Providence, Philadelphia, Detroit, Washington, DC, Nashville, and Miami. In November, 2008, Universal Pictures acquired the rights to produce a feature film based on In The Heights, now in pre-production.

In The Heights now stars Jordin Sparks (Nina), Kyle Beltran (Usnavi), Marcy Harriell (Vanessa), Priscilla Lopez (Camila), Andrea Burns (Daniela), Olga Merediz (Abuela Claudia), Rick Negrón (Kevin), Clifton Oliver (Benny), Courtney Reed (Carla), Shaun Taylor-Corbett (Sonny) and Jon Rua (Graffiti Pete).

In The Heights: A quintessential New York musical about a vibrant and tight-knit community at the top of the island of Manhattan. The music pulses with the hopes and dreams of three generations as they struggle to forge an identity in a neighborhood on the brink of transition.

The musical is produced on Broadway by Kevin McCollum, Jeffrey Seller and Jill Furman, who also produced the Off Broadway production.