Lin-Manuel Miranda in conversation with Quiara Alegría Hudes & Jeremy McCarter
discussing their book,“In the Heights: Finding Home”
The eagerly awaited follow-up to the New York Times bestseller Hamilton: The Revolution, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s new book gives readers an extraordinary inside look at In the Heights, his breakout Broadway debut, written with Quiara Alegría Hudes, now a Hollywood blockbuster.
Lin-Manuel Miranda is an award-winning composer, lyricist, and performer, as well as the recipient of a 2015 MacArthur Foundation Award. His most recent musical, Hamilton-book, music, and lyrics by Miranda; he also originated the title role-opened on Broadway in 2015. Hamilton was awarded the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and earned a record-breaking sixteen Tony Award nominations, winning eleven Tonys, including two for Miranda personally for Best Book and Best Score of a Musical. Miranda’s first Broadway musical, In the Heights, received four 2008 Tony Awards (including Best Orchestrations, Best Choreography, and Best Musical). Miranda contributed music, lyrics, and vocals to several songs in Disney’s feature film Moana, earning him an Oscar nomination and a Grammy Award for the original song “How Far I’ll Go.”
Quiara Alegría Hudes is the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Water by the Spoonful and the author of a memoir, My Broken Language. She wrote the book for the Tony-winning Broadway musical In the Heights and later adapted it for the screen. Her notable essays include “High Tide of Heartbreak” in American Theatre magazine and “Corey Couldn’t Take It Anymore” in The Cut. As a prison reform activist, Hudes and her cousin founded Emancipated Stories, a platform where people behind bars can share one page of their life story with the world. She lives with her family in New York but frequently returns to her native Philly.
Jeremy McCarter is the author of Young Radicals and co-author, with Lin-Manuel Miranda, of the #1 New York Times bestseller Hamilton: The Revolution. He is the founder and executive producer of Make-Believe Association, a Chicago-based production company. He spent five years on the artistic staff of the Public Theater and has served on the jury of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He has written about culture and politics for New York magazine, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications. He lives in Chicago with his family.
“For 20 years In The Heights-a show about a community-somehow manages to create camaraderie and community every time it is performed. This book is a collective diary looking back and shining a spotlight on the people and moments that have nurtured the journey and evolution of this show with paciencia y fe for checks notes LITERALLY half of my life. Quiara and I are so grateful that the hundreds of stories and recuerdosthat make up In The Heightsare collected here.” - Lin-Manuel Miranda
In 2008, In the Heights, a new musical from up-and-coming young artists, electrified Broadway. The show’s vibrant mix of Latin music and hip-hop captured life in Washington Heights, the Latino neighborhood in upper Manhattan. It won four Tony Awards and became an international hit, delighting audiences around the world. For the film version, director Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians) brought the story home, filming its spectacular dance numbers on location in Washington Heights. That’s where Usnavi, Nina, and their neighbors chase their dreams and ask a universal question: Where do I belong?
In the Heights: Finding Home reunites Miranda with Jeremy McCarter, co-author of Hamilton: The Revolution, and Quiara Alegría Hudes, the Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist of the Broadway musical and screenwriter of the film. They do more than trace the making of an unlikely Broadway smash and a major motion picture: They give readers an intimate look at the decades-long creative life of In the Heights.
Like Hamilton: The Revolution, the book offers untold stories, perceptive essays, and the lyrics to Miranda’s songs-complete with his funny, heartfelt annotations. It also features newly commissioned portraits and never-before-seen photos from backstage, the movie set, and productions around the world.
This is the story of characters who search for a home-and the artists who created one.