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Lin-Manuel Miranda

TheIn the Heightspremiere wasn’t just a dream come true forLin-Manuel Miranda— it was everything he ever dreamed of.

TheHeightslyricist, composer and original Broadway star, 41, was on hand to introduce the movie adaptation of his hit musical at the opening night of the Tribeca Film Festival on Wednesday, where he gave a hyped-up speech about how meaningful the night was.

Taking place at the United Palace theater in his home of Washington Heights, Miranda explained how the moment was a true full circle for him.

“Pre-Hamilton, before I had any money, I went halfsies on this screen with [the theater],” Miranda revealed as he stood in front of the large screen. “I said I’ll pay half the price for a new screen for the Palace if you guys pay the other half. And we did it. I paid for the HD projector before I could afford to pay for the HD projector.”

“So when I tell you this is not a dream come true, this is seven dreams come true at the same time,” Miranda said as the excited crowd cheered for him.

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Marc Anthony, Christopher Jackson, Michael Travers, Melissa Barrera, Jon M. Chu, Dascha Polanco, Anthony Ramos, Leslie Grace, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Gregory Diaz IV, Olga Merediz, Jimmy Smits, Nelson Coates, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Christopher Scott attend the “In The Heights” Opening Night

Miranda went on to describe how personal the story is to him. He wroteIn the Heightsas a teenager and workshopped it for years until it became a Broadway smash, winning the best musical Tony Award in 2008.

“When you’re 19 years old and you write a love letter to your neighborhood, and then you get to film the movie about that show in the f—– neighborhood, and then have the premiere on 175th street, are you kidding me?!” Miranda said, with the emotion and excitement palpable in his voice.

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The after party later took place a few blocks away in partnership with Crown Royal, Cafe Bustelo and Tribeca Film Festival.

In the Heightsis in theaters and streaming on HBO Max now.

source: people.com