In the last few years the Hayes Theatre has fostered a string of productions – such as Calamity Jane and Assassins – that have gone on to charm audiences in larger venues or on tour. The latest such success story is director Luke Joslin’s production of Hamilton composer Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first musical In the Heights – a vibrant, heart-warming musical focusing on a Latin American community in Manhattan’s rapidly gentrifying Washington Heights – which completely sold out before it opened at the Hayes last year and has since picked up nine nominations in the Sydney Theatre Awards, including Best Production of a Musical and Best Direction of a Musical.

The cast of In the Heights at the Sydney Opera House. Photo © Clare Hawley

The biggest question facing Joslin’s production this time around was whether or not what worked in the tiny Hayes could work in a venue 20 times its capacity – the Sydney Opera House’s Concert Hall. Fortunately the simple set, which frames the bodega owned by central character Usnavi (the role played by Miranda himself on Broadway) expands easily to fill the stage and works a treat with...