June 14 (UPI) — Lin-Manuel Miranda has joined the cast of the “In the Heights” movie.
The 39-year-old actor, composer and playwright announced in a tweet Friday he will play Piraguero, formerly known as Piragua guy, in the big-screen adaptation.
“One last bit of casting. [Rolls piragua cart on set…] #InTheHeightsMovie,” Miranda wrote.
“(See you on set),” he added in another post.
“In the Heights” is based on Miranda’s musical of the same name. The show opened on Broadway in March 2008 and won four Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score.
Jon M. Chu (“Crazy Rich Asians”) is directing the film adaptation, which opens in theaters in June 2020. Anthony Ramos stars as Usnavi, with Leslie Grace as Nina, Corey Hawkins as Benny, Melissa Barrera as Vanessa and Gregor Diaz as Sonny.
“In the Heights” follows characters over the course of three days in the Washington Heights neighborhood in New York City. Miranda said in an interview with Remezcla in May the adaptation will be set in 2019, rather than 2008.
“I mean, immigration was an issue in 2008. But when I think of Sonny’s lyric — you know ‘Politicians be hating / Racism in this nation has gone from latent to blatant.’ It’s more true in 2019, than it was in 2008,” he explained.
Miranda is also known for creating the Broadway musical “Hamilton.”
