High hopes: A skinny Latino dreamer, with an assist from Miami’s deep theater talent pool, creates a Tony Awards heavyweight - Lin-Manuel Miranda

At the start of another scorching July day, the guy who runs the corner bodega perfumes the air with the scent of café con leche. Hip-hop begins percolating, too, one ingredient in a musical stew flavored with salsa, merengue, bachata, mambo, Reggaeton. Dominicans, Cubans and Puerto Ricans breathe to these beats, some getting ahead, others just getting by.

The scene could be a snapshot from many a Miami neighborhood. But it’s actually the opening sequence of the Broadway show In the Heights, whose 13 nominations make it the leading contender going into Sunday’s 62nd annual Tony Awards.

The musical represents a nine-year odyssey and, no matter what happens on Sunday, a dreamer’s triumph for its wiry creator and star, 28-year-old Lin-Manuel Miranda.”*

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