Here's every In the Heights cast member who was in the original Broadway show. The musical’s film adaptation, directed by Jon M. Chu from Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara AlegrÃa Hudes’ music and screenplay, finally opened in theaters after a year-long wait. Led by Hamilton’s Anthony Ramos in the lead role, the movie features a mostly new cast singing and dancing their way around the New York neighborhood of Washington Heights, but there are a few members of the original Broadway cast who do appear.
Miranda began crafting songs for In the Heights in 1999 when he was still in college before the musical finally made it to the stage, first in 2005 for tryouts in Connecticut before it moved to off-Broadway in 2007 and, finally, to Broadway in 2008. In the Heights went on to win four Tony Awards and, despite its success on stage, it has taken more than a decade to finally adapt the musical to the big screen after initial plans fell through.
While the filmmakers decided on bringing in other actors to play the leading roles for In the Heights, fans of the Broadway musical will recognize a few familiar faces from the original cast lighting up the screen.
Olga Merediz originated the role of Abuela Claudia and is the only original cast member to reprise her role for the In the Heights film adaptation. Merediz joined the cast of the musical back in 2007, when In the Heights ran for a while Off-Broadway. The actress carried on playing Claudia when the show officially opened on Broadway in March 2008. Abuela Claudia is crucial to the play and she is at the heart of Washington Heights, so it’s pretty special that Merediz was able to come back to the role once more.
Lin-Manuel Miranda is no stranger to any musical fan and, with the additional success of Hamilton, Miranda is now a household name. The performer originated the leading role of Usnavi de la Vega, playing the character in both the Off-Broadway and Broadway runs of the show. While he passed on reprising the role for the film, passing the baton to Anthony Ramos to take his place, Miranda featured in the movie as the man selling piragua, a shaved ice dessert, to the local neighborhood kids. It’s a minor role, but it’s big enough that he got to sing his own song and join in on the fun of “Carnaval del Barrio,” among other numbers.
Best known for playing George Washington in Hamilton, Christopher Jackson actually originated the role of Benny for In the Heights’ Broadway run. He was also one of the only cast members who was a part of the show as early as its tryouts in Connecticut in 2005, going on to play Benny in the off-Broadway run as well. Jackson has the smallest role of the original Broadway cast in the film, playing a Mr. Softee truck driver, the Piragua Man’s rival. While Jackson doesn’t have any major lines or a song to sing and dance to like Miranda or Merediz, his cameo is a nice nod to his years-long involvement with In the Heights.
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June 17, 2021 at 12:41AM
