Sandy Alvarez News

Walnut Street Theatre opens its landmark 205th season with the groundbreaking 21st century musical IN THE HEIGHTS. Directed by Bruce Lumpkin, with choreography by Michelle Gaudette, this exhilarating musical about chasing your dreams and finding your true home begins previews on September 3rd, opens on September 11th and runsthrough October 20th on the WST Mainstage.

Last Monday night the touring cast of IN THE HEIGHTS performed two benefit concerts to raise funds for a Puerto Rican hospital. The concert, entitled 'Guilty Pleasures', featured over 20 members of the cast performing their guilty pleasure songs.

Once in a while, one of the most fortunate things about west coast debuts of touring shows is when a Broadway hit finally transfers here, bringing with it some of the original stars that helped launch it. For those able to catch the Los Angeles premiere of the 2008 Tony® Award-winner for Best Musical IN THE HEIGHTS (now playing at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood through July 25), the pleasant surprise is the presence of the show's original lead actor, who also happens to be the man who conceived the hit musical, as well as write the show's music and lyrics. Not to disparage those that have (and will) take on the same role, but at the very second Lin-Manuel Miranda appears on stage as Usnavi-the show's central hero and de facto narrator-the electric energy is palpable. In Miranda, we see the show's very heart and soul, filled with the hopes and dreams of the characters he helped personally craft. With his lead, the show literally comes to effervescent life.

Those folks you will see sweating in Chicago's Loop for the next three weeks won't be working too hard, wearing too many clothes or worrying about the local real estate market. They will merely be lucky Chicago theatergoers, responding to the warmth, light and fire of the very first touring production of the 2008 Tony Award-winning Best Musical, "In The Heights."

On Tuesday, Kyle Beltran, Rogelio Douglas Jr., Natalie Toro and Shaun Taylor-Corbett kicked off the National Tour of IN THE HEIGHTS in Tampa, Floria at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center with a bang. Though most shows try desperately to keep the critics out during the first preview performances to work out any kinks, IN THE HEIGHTS was an exception, according to Tampa Bay Online. And boy, were they pleased.

As previously reported, Kyle Beltran, Rogelio Douglas Jr., Natalie Toro and Shaun Taylor-Corbett are set to star in the upcoming National Tour of IN THE HEIGHTS, which will launch October 27 at Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Complete casting has been announced today.

As previously reported, Kyle Beltran, Rogelio Douglas Jr., Natalie Toro and Shaun Taylor-Corbett are set to star in the upcoming National Tour of IN THE HEIGHTS, which will launch October 27 at Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

As previously reported, Kyle Beltran, Rogelio Douglas Jr., Natalie Toro and Shaun Taylor-Corbett are set to star in the upcoming National Tour of IN THE HEIGHTS, which will launch October 27 at Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Complete casting has been announced today.

Bristol Riverside Theatre will conclude a season of its America Rising: Voices of Today reading series with Elliot, A Soldier?s Fugue by Philadelphia native, 2007 Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Award-nominee Quiara Alegría Hudes. This reading will take place Sunday, May 3 at 5 p.m. at St. James Parish Hall, 225 Walnut Street in Bristol.

Tony Award nominee, John Herrera will join Bristol Riverside Theatre's cast for a May 3 reading of Elliot, A Soldier's Fugue by Philadelphia native, 2007 Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Award-nominee Quiara Alegría Hudes.

Bristol Riverside Theatre will conclude a season of its America Rising: Voices of Today reading series with Elliot, A Soldier?s Fugue by Philadelphia native, 2007 Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Award-nominee Quiara Alegría Hudes. This reading will take place Sunday, May 3 at 5 p.m. at St. James Parish Hall, 225 Walnut Street in Bristol.