Bijou Theatre to Present IN THE HEIGHTS, Begin. 7/11

The Bijou Theatre, located in Downtown Bridgeport, has announced its Young Adult theatre program's performance of the Broadway smash hit, In the Heights. The musical first took some serious acclaim while still Off-Broadway at the 37 Arts Theater where it was nominated for nine Drama Desk Awards. Shortly thereafter it moved into direct Broadway stage light and ran for over 1000 shows, winning one Grammy for Best Musical Show Album. This musical hits home with many of the cast as it is based around an inner city, Washington Heights, Manhattan. Leads Jessica Paige (Nina) and Marques Christopher (Benny) currently reside in the Downtown Bridgeport area and most of the cast and design team grew up or currently live in the inner cities of Bridgeport, Norwalk and West Haven.

The Bijou Theatre feels the need to give back to the community; by not charging the cast even a costume fee to participate in the production, they have found a way to do just that. They have expanded their outreach to the local community and to quite a number of talented young performing artists who will take the stage in just a few short weeks.

The Artistic Director of the Bijou, Maggie Pangrazio had this to say about the theatre's outreach. "We are part of the community and the community is a part of us. At the end of the day it's the local community who is going to support us, and I want to support them in their endeavors as much as I can." When asked whether or not the latter part was a way to say thank you to the community, Pangrazio had this to say, "It's simply the right thing to do. I appreciate the patronage of course, but I believe that community service is very important to every business, especially those with such a strong community support like ours."

In the Heights, directed by Christy McIntosh and choreographed by Emily Frangipane, with musical direction by Eli Newsom, plays at The Bijou Theatre July 11th, 12th, 18th, and 19th at 8:00pm, July 13th at 6:00pm, and July 19th at 2:00pm. Tickets are $15 for students, $19 for theatre seats, and $24 for tables and high tops, and can be purchased at thebijoutheatre.com.