In the Heights, the Tony- and Grammy Award-winning musical that brought the barrio to Broadway in 2008, is breaking new ground in early 2010 thanks to one of the hottest young talents around: Corbin Bleu, who recently stepped into the lead role of Usnavi, narrator/bodega owner/Romeo wannabe/rapper extraordinaire.  

Granted, the street-savvy Usnavi is not exactly Chad Danforth, Bleu’s basketball-playing High School Musical alter ego, but clearly the Brooklyn-born actor/recording artist seems to have built his career on seeking out new experiences -- and challenges. To date, this has resulted in a string of feature films, a couple of blockbuster singles, and a number of TV credits including CW’s The Beautiful Life opposite Elle MacPherson, Mischa Barton and Sara Paxton. And while Bleu is no stranger to the stage, having appeared Off-Broadway and studied dance with Debbie Allen, In the Heights has tossed a particularly daunting gauntlet his way.

Bleu, you see, will be starring in the role originated by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creative springboard who took the world in which he grew up and transformed it into a never-seen-before theatrical event.

Story wise, In The Heights taps into Miranda’s first-hand experience with the sights, sounds and characters that inspired him; musically, it is a melting pot of genres including hip-hop, salsa, ballads and showstoppers—a brilliant switchover for Bleu, whose recent album, Speed of Light, was predominantly R&B.  

Composed by Miranda, the In the Heights score is well matched by Andy Blankenbuehler’s often-explosive choreography and a multi-talented company of actor/singer/dancers. Notably, several of the show’s original performers -- going back to its Off-Broadway breakthrough days -- have remained with the cast, including Tony winner Priscilla Lopez, Mandy Gonzales, Christopher Jackson, Robin De Jesus, and the show-stopping Olga Merediz, who brings down the house nightly as Abuela Claudia, the figurehead grandmother of the neighborhood family of Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and Cubans.

“One of the most gratifying things about the early days of the show was having people who grew up in Washington Heights in the ’40s and ’50s come up to me and say, ‘You got the feeling right,’” recalled Miranda in an interview shortly after the show moved to Broadway. “The feeling of home is what they got -- the idea of your own little corner.”

Miranda went on to acknowledge that the themes of the show -- community, survival, life’s disappointments and surprises -- are universal. “And people have really responded. Latin audiences...are coming back and bringing others.”

Now, of course, the show’s success is well known and the theatergoers who fill the Richard Rodgers Theatre seem to hail from every neighborhood on the planet.

Still, with Corbin Bleu front and center, there’s a very good chance that the audience might just skew a bit young -- and a bit female -- for the next several weeks. Just a guess.

In the Heights is currently playing at Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre, 226 W. 46th St. For reservations, call 212-307-4100 or click here. [Corbin Bleu’s limited 13-week engagement with the company will end on Sunday, April 25th.]