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With the news that the salsa-merengue-hip-hop musical “In the Heights” had garnered 13 Tony Award nominations, eclipsing most-likely-to-succeed musicals like “Young Frankenstein” and “South Pacific,” a buzz has begun about shifting tastes on Broadway. It is true that “Heights,” along with “Passing Strange,” nominated for seven awards, represent a younger, hipper trend in musical theater. But “In the Heights” is also notable because it has succeeded where so many Latino-based plays have failed, perhaps signaling another trend - is the Latino-themed musical poised to finally conquer the Great White Way?
Latin-themed Broadway theater has had a checkered past, if you overlook “West Side Story,” a play whose music was more driven by jazz than mambo. Luis Valdez’s socio-historical “Zoot Suit,” while not a complete disaster, closed in 1979 after just 41 performances, and in 1998, Paul Simon’s “The Capeman” couldn’t overcome negative publicity and its own complexity. Just three years ago, a much-anticipated production of Oscar Hijuelos’ “The Mambo Kings” canceled its Broadway run after lackluster reviews in San Francisco.”*
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