During production on 2021’s In The Heights, the musical’s creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and the film’s director Jon M. Chu became close friends. The two are powerhouses in the movie industry, so it’s little surprise that they’ve both had huge films come out at the tail end of the 2024 release schedule. Miranda wrote original songs for Mufasa: The Lion King and Jon M. Chu directed the musical phenomenon Wicked. Even though they’re not working together on said projects, it seems that Chu lifted some choreography from In The Heights, and after Lin called him out in spectacular fashion, the director responded to his “sassy” friend.
I had the privilege of speaking with both men on behalf of their respective projects, and after Lin-Manuel Miranda gave me a message to deliver Jon M. Chu questioning this “homage” in the choreography, I gave the Wicked director a chance to respond:
You’re sassy Lin. I would say, you know, Chris Scott, who is also the choreographer on In the Heights was definitely cognizant of what we were doing there, and we like little nods to our own work, even if it’s Step Up 2: The Streets or whatever. So there’s breadcrumbs. I would say I can’t confirm nor deny those reports. You might have to ask Christopher Scott, but yes, we were aware that there are some fun things that are little winks to ourselves.
Sassy indeed! And since the Crazy Rich Asians director was being coy about this specific Wicked choreography, I took his advice, and delivered Lin’s message to Wicked and In the Heights’ choreographer Christopher Scott, who said the following:
I love when you can kind of see a parallel, because Oz is as fantastical as it gets, and that was always our intention with Washington Heights, was to show the beauty in there and make it larger than life as well. And of course Lin is going to catch it because he’s sharp, he’s a sharp one… I did both, so I get to copy—it’s all the same, from me.
Of course, the two make solid points, and they both own the somewhat repetitive choreography as an homage to their own work. In all fairness, both scenes take place in a nail salon, and if you have the same choreographer and director shooting nail choreography, it’s going to feel similar. The real question is, did they think anyone would notice or were they trying to slip it under the radar?
That’s the question Lin-Manuel Miranda wanted answered, anyway. If you didn’t catch it when the story first broke, here is what Lin had to say to his buddy and collaborator during my interviews for Mufasa: The Lion King:
Here’s my message. There’s the moment in one short day where they’re suddenly in a salon and the nail choreography is suspiciously familiar to some nail choreography in In the Heights. Was that an homage, or did you just figure no one really saw it the first time?
Of course, Lin-Manuel Miranda was just teasing Jon M. Chu and Christopher Scott, and they were both good sports about it. Anything else would simply register as jealousy considering that Wicked has become a worldwide sensation! Our own Wicked review gave the film a perfect 5 stars, and now that the year is coming to an end, we can look forward to Wicked: For Good, which will be coming our way at the tail end of the 2025 movie schedule. With that coming, Jon M. Chu cannot stop teasing what’s to come, which seems to include a huge crossover to The Wizard of Oz through Dorothy. Now, I’m wondering if there will be more choreography parallels too…
However, you don’t have to wait for the sequel to get more Glinda and Elphaba, as you’ll be able to purchase or rent Wicked at home starting December 31! Happy New Year indeed!
