“The last thing Broadway needs is yet another revival of “Gypsy” or “Grease.” So how refreshing that “In the Heights,” nominated for 13 Tony Awards, has potential to make the Great White Way appealing to someone besides tourists. Unlike last hip staging “Rent,” “Heights” isn’t begging sympathy for slacker kids; instead, it is a vibrant cultural snapshot about a close-knit Latino community at the top of Manhattan. The double-CD soundtrack contains 23 songs written by Puerto Rican show lead Lin-Manuel Miranda, who conceived the story as a one-act in 2000 at Wesleyan University. Supporting cast members are first-rate, and while the soundtrack is more memento than stand-alone collection—with highlights “When the Sun Goes Down” and “96,000″—it’s an exemplary, authentic spectacle of salsa, mambo and rap. A superlative way to live it again. —Chuck Taylor”
