WARNING: The following contains spoilers for In the Heights, which is now in theaters and streaming on HBO Max.
Among its many dazzling musical numbers, In The Heights includes a subtle Easter egg from Lin-Manuel Miranda's other hit Broadway musical, Hamilton.
One of In The Heights' protagonists is Nina, the bright, young star of their community. She was the valedictorian in high school, worked at her father’s dispatch center and was always looking to capitalize on her future potential. After she graduated, she was accepted to numerous colleges, but she decided to attend the prestigious Stanford University. After her first year, however, things are not what she expected.
When Nina got to school, there was no Latinx community there to welcome her and no one that really understood her. At one point in the movie, she recounted one particular story about how her belongings were searched because her roommate had “lost” a pearl necklace; as it turns out, it was just in the bottom of the roommate’s bag. Following this and other experiences with racism, she decided to drop out. When Nina gets home, she tells her father that she isn't going back to school because the date has passed for sophomore registration.
Her father, however, is not pleased with this because he knows that Nina can do better and that she needs to be at Stanford. So, he calls the university to see if he can get her enrolled for sophomore year. While Nina’s father is waiting on the phone, the on-hold music that plays is an instrumental version of “You’ll be Back,” one of King George III’s songs from Hamilton.
This is a fun reference for fans of Miranda's other project, but there is actually more to it than that. Although Nina is initially set on dropping out, she does eventually decide to go back to Stanford. Over the course of In The Heights, she realizes that doing so might enable her to make a difference for her community. Thus, the song is foreshadowing that “[she’ll] be back” at school despite her misgivings.
Directed by Jon M. Chu and based on the musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda, In the Heights stars Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace, Melissa Berrera, Olga Merediz, Jimmy Smits, Gregory Diaz IV, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Stephanie Beatriz, Dascha Polanco and more. The film is currently in theaters and streaming on HBO Max.