Tony Award-winning 'In the Heights' at the Lied Center March 2-3

            "In the Heights," winner of four 2008 Tony Awards and the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album, is coming to the Lied Center for Performing Arts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for performances at 7:30 p.m. on March 2 and 3.

            Critics and audiences rave about "In The Heights" revitalizing the genre with its spirited music and energetic choreography. New York Magazine called "In the Heights," "A ground-breaking 21st-century musical!" and Michael Kuchwara of the Associated Press described it as "Joyous, tantalizingly atmospheric, with sexy, hip-swaying choreography and spice swirling through its liveliness."

            "In the Heights" tells the universal story of a vibrant community in New York's Washington Heights neighborhood -- a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. It's a community on the brink of change, full of hopes, dreams and pressures, where the biggest struggles can be deciding which traditions you take with you, and which ones you leave behind.

            In addition to the show winning the 2008 Tony Award for Best Musical, it's creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, won the Tony for Best Music and Lyrics, Andy Blankenbuehler won for Best Choreography, and Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman won for Best Orchestrations. Universal Pictures has acquired the rights to produce a feature film based on the smash hit musical.

            Tickets are $49, $45 and $41, and may be purchased online at www.liedcenter.org, by calling 402-472-4747, or in person at the Lied Center, 301 N. 12th St.

            Laurie Lessman, voice and beginning piano instructor at Harris Music Studios, will give the pre-talk for Friday's performance. Alisa Belflower, UNL musical theater director, will give the pre-talk for the Saturday performance. Both talks are at 7 p.m. in the Lied's Steinhart Room.

Writers: Matthew Boring and Jessica Robertson