In The Heights features a sneaky Hamilton easter egg (Picture: Warner Bros)
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s latest movie In The Heights just so happens to feature a sneaky easter egg for his Broadway production Hamilton.
The film adaptation of the director’s first musical was recently released to cinemas and on HBO Max in the US, and it didn’t take long for fans to uncover the hidden reference.
The movie, which follows a similar plot to the original musical, focuses on the Washington Heights area of New York City, where each member of the community pursues their dream of a better life.
About half an hour into the feature, a scene features businessman Kevin Rosario (Jimmy Smits) trying to get through to Stanford’s financial office on the phone to see if he still has time to pay tuition for his daughter Nina (Leslie Grace), who had informed him that the deadline had passed.
While he is on hold, we hear a small snippet of the holding music he’s listening to, which features a melody identical to that of the Hamilton song You’ll Be Back, which is performed by King George.
Viewers of the movie have loved the subtle nod to the critically-acclaimed musical, with one tweeting: ‘Particularly enjoyed this little #Hamilton reference in the #InTheHeights movie,’ as they shared a clip of the scene in question.
‘OMG just found a Hamilton easter egg in “In The Heights”!’ another wrote. ‘While Nina’s father is on hold on the phone, the elevator music playing is “You’ll Be Back.”’
A melody identical to that of the Hamilton song You’ll Be Back plays as holding music on the phone in the specific scene (Picture: Warner Bros)
While one ecstatic fan added: ‘The You’ll Be Back instrumental as the hold music on the phone OMG Hamilton reference in In The Heights Lin you genius.’
In The Heights director Jon M Chu recently confirmed that this easter egg was very much Lin-Manuel’s idea.
He told TheWrap: ‘That was indeed a Lin idea, and we wanted to make it a Muzak version.
‘It’s all part of the Lin-ematic Universe.’
This isn’t In The Heights’ only tie-in to Hamilton, as Anthony Ramos, who starred in the original Broadway cast, plays the role of Usnavi in the flick.