Lin-Manuel Miranda (discussed) his musical, “In the Heights,” at the Pantages theatre on Tuesday. The show, which won four Tony Awards in 2008, including Best Musical, is set to debut in Los Angeles on June 22.

"In the Heights" is coming to the Pantages Theatre (photo by Ian Lovett)

“In the Heights” depicts life in the largely Latino Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights, where the coffee is light and sweet, the windows are always open, and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music.

Miranda, who created the musical and starred in the original Broadway version, wrote “In the Heights” while he was still a student as Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

“It was easy to get outside of the stereotypes of the Latino community,” Miranda said. “Those stereotypes only encompass two percent of our community, so that left me the other ninety-eight percent to work with. Believe it or not, I’ve never been in a knife fight, except on stage.”

Leaders from Los Angeles’ Latino community joined Miranda to help introduce the show. Eva Longoria Parker delivered the keynote speech, while Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stopped by to say a few words at the end.