ABSTRACT
In the Heights turned heads with its 2008 Broadway debut. A team of Broadway newcomers helmed the show: director Thomas Kail, book writer Quiara Alegria Hudes, choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler, and Miranda, the composer, lyricist, and star. Miranda’s next show, Bring It On, seemed on its face to be a complete turnabout: he went from an original story with In the Heights to a loose adaptation of a film; from a story about an intergenerational community to one about high schoolers; and from a project he originated and starred in to a highly collaborative endeavor with co-composer Tom Kitt, co-lyricist Amanda Green, and book writer Jeff Whitty. Bring It On’s narrative is not without problems. It springs from a type of story built on a clichéd trope: that of a white figure saving a minority community. Miranda is most widely known for his third Broadway musical, the cultural juggernaut Hamilton.
