In The Heights vs. Hamilton: Which Lin-Manuel Miranda Musical Is Better

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway In The Heights and Hamilton have some key themes in common, not to mention Miranda’s distinctive lyricism and musical flow, but in many ways they’re also very different stories. In The Heights, Miranda’s first show, is an intimate portrayal of a sweltering summer in the Manhattan borough of Washington Heights, focused on a bodega owner who dreams of moving back to the Dominican Republic to reopen his father’s beachside bar. Meanwhile, Hamilton is an ambitious retelling of the founding of the United States, told through the life story of Alexander Hamilton.

Both In The Heights and Hamilton are built around American immigrants and their goals and ambitions. Miranda himself is of Puerto-Rican descent and grew up in Inwood, just north of Washington Heights. After the success of In The Heights, Miranda read Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton and began writing a concept album based on it, which later become the runaway hit that was Hamilton. A filmed performance of the Hamilton stage show was released on Disney+ in 2020, and In The Heights was adapted into a feature film by director Jon M. Chu, which is now out in theaters.

While Hamilton is the better-known of Miranda’s two musicals, it’s best viewed in tandem with In The Heights as part of a greater narrative about the life of immigrants in America – from before the country was founded, to the present day. But which Lin-Manuel Miranda musical is better overall?

In The Heights vs. Hamilton: Songs

Lin-Manuel Miranda collaborated with musical director Alex Lacamoire on both In The Heights and Hamilton, so the two shows share a similar voice and style. Though generally described as hip-hop musicals, their soundtracks also include traditional Broadway ballads like In The Heights‘ “Breathe” and Hamilton’s “Burn.” In The Heights has a stronger sense of identity, being based specifically around the lives of Latin-Americans living at the top of Manhattan, as opposed to the broader and more abstract view of American immigrants featured in Hamilton. Its music works in conjunction with the movie’s sound design to feel like it’s simply another part of the everyday sounds of Washington Heights – something that particularly comes through in the reprisals of “Piragua” (sung by a piragüero who is played by Miranda himself). It’s not easy to make characters bursting into song feel natural, but In The Heights achieves it.

That said, Hamilton has the clear edge in terms of showstoppers. While In The Heights has some serious heavy-hitters like “In The Heights” and “96,000,” Miranda and Lacamoire built off the foundation of that distinctive style to create more complex, witty lyrics and soaring, epic music for songs like “Helpless” and “The Room Where It Happens.”

Winner: Hamilton

In The Heights vs. Hamilton: Choreography & Production

Comparing Disney+’s release of Hamilton and Chu’s adaptation of In The Heights obviously isn’t fair. One is a filmed stage show, while the other is a full-blown feature film with elaborate sets and location shooting, not the mention the enhancement of visual effects (used strikingly in Nina and Benny’s duet “When The Sun Goes Down,” with the two characters shifting gravity to dance along the side of a building). Hamilton’s choreography is also limited since it has a smaller team of dancers, compared to In The Heights‘ massive dance numbers. Even with those caveats in place, however, In The Heights still has the edge over Hamilton in terms of choreography and production.

Miranda’s first musical benefits from being set almost entirely in the same neighborhood, creating a distinctive soundscape that marries the music with noises like the elevated train that rattles Vanessa’s apartment, the murmur of voices, traffic and distant radios. Chu’s warmly-lit adaptation strives to make Washington Heights feel like home to the audience as well as the characters. Hamilton‘s choreography (by Andy Blankenbuehler) is distinctive and punchy, but also rather minimalist in its movement. Blankenbuehler also created the stage choreography for In The Heights, but the movie has all-new choreography by Christopher Scott in order to take advantage of the medium. “All the stuff that you can’t do onstage, like some of the bigger ensemble dance scenes, we wanted to make sure we could get on film,” said Scott in an interview with Dance Magazine. The efforts to expand In The Heights‘ choreography to fill a theater screen paid off, and it feels as much like a party as it does a movie.

Winner: In The Heights

In The Heights vs. Hamilton: Story

In The Heights is a fairly simple Broadway story, focused on the city of New York and an ensemble cast of characters who live there, in the tradition of stage shows like Rent, Newsies and West Side Story. It’s not full of major plot twists and turns, but rather is a snapshot of life taken over a summer in Washington Heights, as the characters deal with both interpersonal and internal conflicts. Usnavi is ready to embark on his “little dream” of moving back to the Dominican Republic, but in doing so he’s forced to confront just how much he’ll be leaving behind. Vanessa wants to move downtown to focus on her fashion career, even as she begins to develop feelings for Usnavi. Nina is expected to go back to Stanford and have a brilliant career, but deeply misses her community and is treated like a second-class citizen at college. Though the tone of In The Heights is generally upbeat and hopeful, these stories are set against a backdrop of Washington Heights being slowly consumed by gentrification, which gives them a sense of quiet anxiety.

There’s no doubt that In The Heights‘ story is more intimate and arguably more relatable to general audiences, but it also suffers from being overly focused on the will-they-won’t-they romance between Unasvi and Vanessa, to the detriment of both characters. Hamilton‘s story is all the more impressive because of how wildly ambitious it was, and how well it works. Miranda was faced with the challenge of taking historical events and retelling them in a way that modern audiences could connect with. While the musical could have brushed over details like Hamilton’s establishment of a national bank, it instead brings this rather dry subject matter to life by reinventing cabinet meetings as rap battles and connecting them to modern day political division. It takes history that’s been told many times before and makes it feel fresh and energized with the spirit of revolution. Though Hamilton has faced criticism for putting too glossy a spin on the founding of America and the concept of the American Dream, getting a generation of teens invested in 18th century politics is no mean feat, and it’s a testament to how well Hamilton‘s story works.

Winner: Hamilton

In The Heights vs. Hamilton: Cast & Characters

Lin-Manuel Miranda is known as a multi-faceted talent, not only writing the songs for In The Heights and Hamilton but also playing the lead roles in both of the shows’ original Broadway runs. Miranda reprised the role of Alexander Hamilton for the Disney+ production, but Anthony Ramos (known for his dual roles as John Laurens and Philip Hamilton in Hamilton) takes over the role of Usnavi de la Vega in the movie adaptation of In The Heights.

Despite his accomplishments on Broadway, Miranda isn’t a very strong singer – something that’s been pointed out by both critics and Miranda himself – and his singing voice can be a little grating, especially in a sung-through musical like Hamilton. He does bring a fierce sincerity to the role, and the fact that it’s his passion project shines through. Even imperfections like voice breaks help to enhance the emotion of the character. That being said, Ramos has the edge as a leading man due to how comfortably he slides into the role of Usnavi, his easy mastery of In The Heights‘ fast-paced patter, and his strong chemistry with the other actors.

Chemistry is also where In The Heights wins out over Hamilton in terms of its cast and characters. Hamilton has some powerful and hugely entertaining performances from actors like Daveed Diggs (who plays Thomas Jefferson as a swaggering playboy) and Renee Elise Goldsberry (who sings what is arguably Hamilton‘s most challenging and impressive song, “Helpless”). But In The Heights’ cast – which also includes Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera, Jimmy Smits, Gregory Diaz IV and Olga Merediz – fits together in a way that is crucial to selling the family vibe of Washington Heights, and the sense of community that is so central to the story.

Winner: In The Heights

Why Hamilton Is Better Than In The Heights

Though Hamilton has since faced the inevitable backlash that comes with success, there’s a good reason it became such a worldwide sensation and one of the biggest Broadway box office hits of all time. It broke the mold and took a big risk simply by being a hip-hop musical about, of all things, America’s first treasury secretary, and is all the more impressive because of how well it pulled that concept off. It took a story that audiences are already broadly familiar with, and made it feel new and relevant again through the eyes of one of the lesser-remembered founding fathers.

That said, Hamilton likely wouldn’t exist without In The Heights – and not just because it would have been a lot more difficult for Miranda to get the green light for an Alexander Hamilton musical without a hit already under his belt. In The Heights lays the groundwork for many of the themes explored in Hamilton: finding a family in a new country, striving and hustling to achieve a dream, and fighting back against oppression. It was an invaluable step in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s journey to finding his voice, and Hamilton clearly benefits from Miranda’s experience writing and performing in In The Heights. And while it may not have Hamilton‘s grand, epic scale or have a cast of famous historical figures, In The Heights‘ does have a joyful summery charm to it that’s effectively captured by Chu in the movie adaptation. For those who enjoyed Hamilton, In The Heights is a must-see.

About The Author

Hannah Shaw-Williams
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Hannah has been with Screen Rant since 2013, covering news, features, movie premieres, Comic-Con and more! You can follow her on Twitter @HSW3K

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