| Lin-Manuel Miranda and his father, Luis, recall the New York City memories that sparked the Hamilton creator’s latest—and most personal—project, the joyous movie musical In the Heights. |
| In the latest Parade, find out how In the Heights (in theaters now and on HBO Max) is Lin-Manuel Miranda’s celebratory ode to the Washington Heights neighborhood of his childhood, and how his father has played a role in his life and career. An important move. Lin-Manuel’s father, Luis, relocated his family to the Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights when little Lin-Manuel was just a baby, because the community’s spirit reminded him of his native Puerto Rico. Lin-Manuel began writing In the Heights as a college student, setting it in the place where he grew up, “one of the most musical neighborhoods in New York,” he says, “where bodies in the street sing, sweat and dance.” Stages of success. In the Heights became a Tony-winning hit on Broadway—years before Lin-Manuel became the toast of Broadway with Hamilton. Lin-Manuel starred in the stage version and now has a cameo in the movie as a piragua (shaved ice) vendor. “This was my first attempt to bring all of me into my work,” he says proudly. Proud papa. Luis Miranda, who spent years as a political consultant for New York City mayor Ed Koch and later on Senate campaigns for Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer, now promotes his son’s projects—and lives with his wife, Luz, just a few blocks from their son and his family, in the original house where they raised Lin-Manuel. And they have no plans to move. “If we did, it would require 10 moving trucks!” says Luis. “We’ve saved everything, including Lin-Manuel’s letters when he was a little boy.” The write stuff. Speaking of letters, a letter from Lin-Manuel’s father when he was a child to one of his early idols, movie star Debbie Reynolds, changed his son’s life—when, decades later, Lin-Manuel found out that the actress had actually written back. “Because Debbie Reynolds answered me when I was a kid, Lin-Manuel answers every single letter he gets,” Luis says proudly. Parade.com/1221102/maramovies/lin-manuel-miranda-in-the-heights |