How often is it that college friends are able to translate a senior thesis project to the Broadway stage? For Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02 and Thomas Kail ’99, this was precisely the process for their musical “In the Heights.”
Now on Broadway, “In the Heights,” experienced its first incarnation at the University’s student-run ’92 Theater in 2000. The last time a musical originated on a college campus and made its way to the Broadway stage was in 1970 when “Godspell” premiered at Carnegie Mellon University.
“In the Heights” is a hilarious, riveting and tuneful homage to Miranda’s childhood neighborhood of Washington Heights in New York City. From gentrification to the local bodega’s offerings, the show vibrantly captures the community of The Heights through the lives of its residents.
Miranda first conceived of the idea of the musical while a sophomore living in La Casa. While he originally created the characters for a theater class project, he then developed the show further for his senior thesis in theater, composing the show’s music and lyrics.
Kail, the director, first became interested in the show when his friends, John Buffalo Mailer ’00 and Neil Stewart ’00, saw Miranda’s thesis and recommended it to him.
Kail then produced the next installment of the show with Back House Productions, the brainchild of alumni Mailer, Stewart, Kail and Anthony Veneziale ’98. The musical ran off-Broadway for six months in 2007 and opened on Broadway on March 9, 2008, with Miranda in a starring role.
The New York City theater community and national publications alike immediately lauded the show.
“As you watch Mr. Miranda bound jubilantly across the stage, tossing out the rhymed verse currently known as rap like fistful of flowers, you might find yourself imagining that this young man is music personified,” wrote theater critic of The New York Times Charles Isherwood.
Although the musical has been transformed from its first production on High Street, Kail assures that some things have stayed the same.
“The characters that were born at the ’92 Theater are still alive on stage today,” Kail said.
Kail developed his education in theater not inside the classroom but rather through the University’s extracurricular offerings. Even though he was a history major, Kail became involved with Second Stage during his junior year and credits it with fostering his interest in acting, producing and later directing. He also recognizes his post-college mentor Gilbert Parker ’48 as another source of support.
“Second stage was such an important part of my life,” he said. “Those shows forced a lot of the bonds with people I still talk to every day of my life.”
During his first year at the University, Kail also wrote for the Ampersand section of The Argus with Veneziale; however, Kail explained that they were quickly fired for their lack of comedic skills.
Kail reflected positively on his Wesleyan education.
“Wesleyan gave me the power to believe in myself, and the freedom to do anything,” he said. “From writing my thesis on Eugene O’Neil as a history major to taking a statistics class. It gave me the opportunity to learn, which I found was quite unique to the University.”
Kail also praised the University for encouraging his diverse interests. He jokingly suggested that at any other college he would have been cloistered away in the library studying for the LSAT, while at Wesleyan he was able to navigate his own path.
“Tommy Kail is very, very gifted, very talented and so down to earth, so humble,” said “In the Heights” actress Olga Merediz, who plays Abuela Claudia, a character inspired by Miranda’s own grandmother figure. “He’s really brilliant. [He] let’s the actors do their own thing, then he comes in and guides us along. He doesn’t interfere with the actor’s process.”
Although Kail and Miranda only crossed paths once during their college yearswhen both were in shows at WestCo Caféthey have become a collaborative dream team since. In addition to their partnerships at Back House Productions and In the Heights,” the two also star in Freestyle Love Supreme (FLS), an improvisational rap group that they created with friends Veneziale and Bill Sherman ’02 while at the University. Now, Sherman also serves as the co-arranger and orchestrator for “In the Heights.”
Yet with all of the buzz surrounding the musical, its creators remain down to earth.
“From mediocre Wesleyan student to Broadway director, what a success story!” Kail quipped.
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