Lin-Manuel Miranda turns piano where he wrote ‘In the Heights’ hits over to aspiring artists

See more of our coverage in your search results. A once-dingy basement on West 39th Street has been transformed into a black box theater for aspiring artists creating new works, thanks to “Hamilton” scribe Lin-Manuel Miranda and director Tommy Kail. The duo are co-owners of the Drama Book Shop, alongside “Hamilton” producer Jeffrey Seller and theater owner James L. Nederlander. In recent years, Miranda used an unfinished space below the bookstore to hash out his upcoming Broadway musical “The Warriors” with co-writer Eisa Davis. Now, it’s been cleaned up, painted, and reimagined as a small performance studio complete with room for 50 audience members and a dressing room. “There were no cobwebs, but there was definitely some dripping,” Miranda told Page Six, recalling the many hours he spent in the space with Davis. “It was a great place to meet every week to write ‘The Warriors.’ All I need is a deadline and a great collaborator and I’m good.” Lin-Manuel Miranda, left, and Thomas Kail at the Gilbert Parker Studio with the piano where Miranda wrote songs from “In the Heights” behind. Tricia Baron The theater is now named the Gilbert Parker Studio in honor of Kail’s mentor, the late theatrical talent agent. Before 2019, the Drama Book Shop was in a different space on 40th Street, but rent hikes forced it to leave that location. That’s when Miranda and his partners bought the business and moved it south a block. The original 40th Street location featured a black box space, the Arthur Seelen Theatre, in the basement where Kail and his college theater troupe became resident artists in 2002. That spring, Kail met a young Lin-Manuel Miranda at the theater, and Miranda went on to write much of his hit musical “In the Heights” on the house piano, which is now at the Gilbert Parker. Miranda first performed the musical in 2005. He is shown here in 2021 at the Tribeca Film Festival screening of the movie version. Bloomberg via Getty Images Miranda used an unfinished space below the bookstore to hash out his upcoming Broadway musical “The Warriors.” Getty Images It’s also where “Hamilton” and “Moana” star Christopher Jackson met his future wife, singer Veronica Vazquez-Jackson. “We had our first auditions for ‘In the Heights’ down there, and we were so young looking that we actually had our friend Andy Gale sit with us, because he had a beard,” Miranda recalled. “Because we looked like two children in a trench coat trying to put on a show.” “Billy Eichner used to do the show ‘Creation Nation’ down there, where he debuted this guy chasing people around on the street,” Kail recalled. The space is now known as the Gilbert Parker Studio in honor of Kail’s mentor, the late theatrical talent agent. Getty Images Miranda has a long history with the Drama Book Shop, which was previously in a different location. GC Images “‘Freestyle Love Supreme’s first show was down there,” Miranda added, referring to his hit hip-hop improvisation project that made it to Broadway in 2019. “For 16 people, we rapped about every single person in the audience. It was that bespoke.” Artists who would like their own chance to create something in the room where all that happened can inquire at the Drama Book Shop. “Now that Lin doesn’t live here anymore, there’s a chance for more people to come and use this space for whatever suits their purposes,” said Kail. Community Guidelines Welcome to the Page Six Community! Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas in a safe space. In order to do so, we've created a simple set of rules that will improve your experience. Simply put, keep it civil. Your post will/might be rejected if it contains: Spam Insults, profanity, incoherent, obscene or inflammatory language and threats of any kind Attacks on the identity of other commenters or the article's author User accounts will/might be blocked if we notice: Continuous attempts to re-post comments that have been previously moderated/rejected Racist, sexist, or homophobic comments Attempts or tactics that put the site security at risk So, how can you be a power user? Stay on topic and share your passion. Feel free to elaborate to get your point across. 'Like' or 'Dislike' when you are filled with emotions! Protect your community. Use the report tool to alert us when someone breaks the rules. Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Don't forget, freedom of speech is not the freedom of reach!