from hidden hamilton references to
secret cameos and west side story easter
eggs lim manuel miranda's in the heights
is filled with sizzling details or make
you love it even more
yipikaya movie lovers i'm jan and in
this video i'm revealing over 50 amazing
things you missed and fun facts about
the musical
when kevin rosario rings stanford about
his daughter's tuition fees the cheery
music he hears when he's on hold is a
muzak version of you'll be back king
george iii
breakup song to the american colonists
in hamilton
[Music]
the tune is more than just a fun easter
egg for hamill fans though because it
fits the moment perfectly as kevin is
trying to get his daughter back to
university after she's decided to drop
out and the song foreshadows the fact
that eventually nina chooses to go back
to stamford
lim manuel miranda makes a fun
appearance as a piraguero who has an
intense rivalry with an ice cream cellar
which is where the next hamilton
connection comes in
as the mr softy truck driver is played
by christopher jackson
who starred as george washington in
miranda's revolutionary musical
and before that jackson also starred in
the stage version of in the heights
originating the role of benny who's
played by corey hawkins in the film
casting jackson and miranda as rivals
street vendors in the adaptation is an
amusing in-joke about their real-life
close friendship and their many creative
collaborations
from the heights and hamilton musicals
to the improv hip-hop group freestyle
love supreme and the disney musical
moana where jackson provided the singing
voice for her father
by the way make sure you stick around
till the very end of the movie's credits
this is an extra fun little scene where
the piraguero gets his own back on the
rival who outsold him earlier in the
film when mr softy's truck breaks down
cue the piragua guy taking full
advantage of the heat and indulging in a
bit of surge pricing now his
competition's out of the game
the spectacular 96 000 song is one of
the highlights
of the movie and as director john m chu
says it isn't just an i want song for
one character but for the whole
neighborhood
the song's number has several layers of
significance in the story
first of all miranda says he chose 96
000 as a prize amount
because although it would be enough to
make a person's life a little easier
it wouldn't be enough to completely
change things miranda also says that for
him personally the number 96 has a
subconscious wealth lying connotation
because as a child growing up in new
york city he noticed the difference
between the price of living on 94th
street where he went to school versus
200th street where he lived
which resulted in him viewing 96th
street the northern border of the upper
west and east sides as a kind of
economic dividing line
something which is also referenced in
the opening song i've never been north
of 96th street and there may even be a
reference to 96
000 in hamilton which was miranda's next
broadway show after in the heights
in the song right hand man the line 32
000 troops in new york harbor repeats
three times and of course 32 000 times 3
equals 96 000. a detail that only those
familiar with the stage version of 96
000 may have noticed is the lyric change
when benny fantasizes about what he'd do
if he's the lotto winner
in the movie benny says he'll play golf
with tiger woods
whereas in the original song benny brags
he'd be so rich that he'd have donald
trump as his caddy
in an interview with variety miranda
explained that when he originally wrote
in the heights he viewed trump as an
avatar for the monopoly man just a
famous rich person
but now times made a fool of that lyric
so they changed it
the movie's version of the song is an
incredible dance extravaganza that was
filmed at new york's highbridge pool
and shooting the sequence was an
insanely difficult feat to pull off with
the cast and dancers having to perform
in freezing cold water while
thunderstorms kept interrupting filming
in fact the weather was so bad that the
sky and pool had to be colour corrected
in post-production
as in the film it's supposed to be one
of the hottest days of the year
the aerial shots of vanessa with an
ensemble of synchronized swimmers moving
in geometric patterns
channel busby berkeley's renowned
choreography from classic musicals like
million dollar mermaid
however achieving the perfect overhead
shots proved a lot
harder than initially anticipated
firstly drone filming is prohibited in
new york and a crane had to be carefully
constructed to avoid damaging tunnels
beneath the pool
then whenever the swimmers around
vanessa moved the ripples and splashes
caused the tube she floated on to drift
off
in the end they decided to film vanessa
separately and digitally splice her
footage in with the other swimmers
even then vanessa's pool ring kept
moving around during filming until
jon chu decided to wade into the water
himself and hold it steady for the shot
another interesting detail is that
although the movie uses lots of bright
color to fit the story celebratory feel
for this scene vanessa was dressed in a
black bikini to help her stand out in a
sea of color
through shades of west side story and
when the sun goes down
benny and nina's love song about their
soon-to-be long-distance relationship
which they sing on a fire escape
reminiscent of tony and maria's love
duet tonight whose own roots are in the
iconic balcony scene from shakespeare's
romeo and juliet
interestingly some of miranda's own
favorite childhood memories are walking
through his neighborhood and looking up
at the fire escapes
and he got his own west side fire escape
moment in the new movie during the
carnivale song
and according to john chu filming that
scene led to an especially touching
moment
when the whole cast chanted miranda's
name in gratitude at what he'd created
funnily enough during location shoots
for in the heights in 2019
steven spielberg was mere blocks away
filming his new take on west side story
miranda even snuck over to say hello and
actually miranda has some history with
west side story himself having directed
the musical at high school
translated some of sondheim's lyrics
into spanish for the show's broadway
revival in 2009 and
sometimes influence is found in both in
the heights as well as hamilton
miranda played the lead part of us navi
when the show opened off-broadway in
2007
and originally he was going to reprise
that role for the musical's big screen
adaptation when the movie
rights were picked up by universal after
the show won best musical among other
awards at the tonys in 2008
but after the screen version fell into
development hell
bouncing around various backers before
warner brothers won the rights in a
bidding war 10 years later
miranda felt he was too old to play the
part anymore
as as navi sings about emigrating from
the dominican republic he looks
wistfully at the map of the caribbean on
the wall of his bodega
to make this map unique and give it some
character the movie's production
designer nelson coates decorated it with
items navi sells in the store there are
pepperidge farm goldfish crackers to
represent the fish in the sea
as well as lids from cans perhaps a
reference to the tins of condensed milk
abuela claudia recommends he uses a milk
substitute
the dominican republic itself is made up
of various pieces of coloured tiles and
a form that resembles the country's flag
which ties in nicely with the opening
song's chorus line
in the heights i hang my flag up on
display
and there's a cute fun moment you might
have missed when vanessa first walks
into the store
and benny and sonny are trying to get us
navi to work up the courage to ask her
out
notice the little rose that benny gives
to sonny which he later places on the
coffee cup that us navi's about to give
her
uz navi isn't having any of it though
and tosses the flower away
speaking to the hollywood reporter
miranda said the movie's production
designer recreated an in the heights
doodle that miranda did when he was in
college and placed it on the piraguero's
cart
it's only on screen for a second during
the main movie but i managed to spot it
right here in this blink and you'll miss
it moment
and it gets a smidge more screen time in
the post-credits scene
in a change from the broadway production
nina's mother doesn't appear in the
movie
however there's a little easter egg to
actress priscilla lopez who played her
on stage
via the photo of her next to the tv
during nina's childhood flashback
another nice detail from that scene of
nina as a child
is the rainbow on the top she's wearing
when her father gives her a new computer
as a symbol of nina's restored hope for
the future she also wears a top with a
very similar rainbow towards the end of
the movie
when she goes to the protest with sunny
and then explains to her father how she
can use her education at stanford to
help her community and those who are
undocumented
by the way jimmy smits who plays nina's
father in the film has a previous
connection within the heights
when he first saw the musical
off-broadway he was so blown away that
he told miranda that if they needed
anything he was there for them
and that offer led to smith's voicing
the national commercial for the
musical's move to broadway
during nina's song breathe as she's
welcomed back by the community one of
the original broadway ensemble cast
members doreen montalvo has a cameo she
sadly passed away in 2020 and there's a
tribute to her with the mural doreen
parasiempre in the movie's credits
montalva was the first actress to
audition for the musical she's also the
voice of the bolero singer on the
scratch record that plays as
navi is planning to leave new york and
return to the dominican republic
miranda said that he played the
piraguero as a love letter to his
grandfather
so those glasses you see around the
piragua guy's neck actually belonged to
miranda's abuela
and he also carried his granddad's
cowboy novels with him during filming
and i noticed him reading one of those
books at the start of his song
speaking of grandparents the character
abuela claudia was based on miranda's
real-life grandmother and she's played
by the same actress who originated the
role on stage
olga meredith seth stewart who was part
of the ensemble in hamilton and played
graffiti pete during the off-broadway
and broadway runs of in the heights
pops up in a cameo in the club as a
bartender and of course we can't forget
the movie's lead anthony ramos who
before now is best known for his double
roles of john laurens and hamilton's son
miranda's mum and dad also get a cameo
during the song breathe as nina walks
through her block
luis miranda and dr luth towns miranda
pop up to greet her return
welcome home it feels appropriate that
his parents should appear during one of
nina's songs as miranda has said that
spiritually he's much closer to the
character of nina thanos navi who he
played on stage
miranda's wife vanessa nadal gets a
cameo at the end too in the water
hydrant scene
director john chu keeps the family theme
going as well with his mum ruth getting
a secret shout out in the ghost sign for
ruth's bridal hidden beneath the sign
for daniela's salon
and i spotted another chew family hat
tip on vanessa's rental application
where the real estate agency willow
amelia and co
is named after choo's daughter whose
name was inspired by one of his favorite
films growing up the 1980s fantasy movie
willow
and there's even more tributes to chew's
family in the winning lottery numbers
his wife's birthday is the fifth month
of the year
chew's daughter was born in july 2016
that's 7-16
and 33 is choo's favorite number as for
number 26 that's a date his second child
was born in 2019
and chu decided to name him after the
movie calling him jonathan heights chew
a few more cameos in the film include
kiara alegria hoodies who wrote the book
for in the heights
and javier munoz who has played us navi
and hamilton on stage
and according to the hollywood reporter
anthony ramos mother and sister
also have cameos in the movie too and to
discover all the things you might have
missed in hamilton as well as secret
characters tap here to watch my full
musicals playlist
so what did you think of in the heights
and did you notice any other cool
details in the movie
let me know in the comments below if you
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thanks for watching and see you next
time yupikai movie lovers