Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival (PSF) launches its Main Stage season with the Broadway musical “In the Heights,” June 13 - July 2, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, DeSales University, Center Valley.

The Tony Award-winning musical has music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a book by Quiara Alegri´a Hudes

“In the Heights,” Miranda’s pre-”Hamilton” breakout hit, is a celebration of community. It focuses on neighbors in Washington Heights, New York City.

The residents include Usnavi de la Vega, owner of the local bodego; his cousin, Sonny; Vanessa, an employee of Daniela’s Hair Salon, and the Rosario family, who own and operate the Rosario Car Service and are celebrating their daughter Nina’s recent return from her first year at Stanford University.

The show, premiering on Broadway in 2008, was nominated for 13 Tony Awards and received four Tonys, including for best musical and score.

Miranda first produced a version of “In the Heights” during his sophomore year in 1999 at Wesleyan University.

The musical has salsa, reggaeton, traditional Broadway show tunes, rap and hip-hop. The sounds reflect Miranda’s experience living in northern Manhattan.

The production stars Broadway’s Danny Bolero as Kevin Rosario. Bolero played Kevin on Broadway and originated the role in the first national tour.

In 2022, Bolero appeared on Broadway in “Plaza Suite” with Sarah Jessica Parker and Mathew Broderick.

Bolero’s Broadway credits include “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” He was in the national tours of “Joseph” and “Man of La Mancha.”

Bolero received the 2022 Bistro Award for his one-man cabaret show, “They Call Me Cuban Pete,” playing Desi Arnaz.

Joining Bolero in the cast is DeSales University graduate Ryan Reyes as Usnavi, who reprises the role from his performance at the Rubicon Theatre Company, Ventura, Calif.

Reyes made his Off-Broadway debut at New World Stages in the musical, “!Americano¡” He played Chino in “West Side Story” at Florida Repertory Theatre and Ritchie Valens in “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story” at North Shore Music Theatre.

Reyes is a horse trainer and stuntman in independent Western movies.

Reyes was last seen at PSF in 2021 in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream“ and in PSF’s Young Company Shakespeare Project, “Love’s Labour’s Lost.”

The PSF cast includes Luis-Pablo Garcia, Tauren Hagans, Daisy Marie Lopez, Solomon Parker III, Ralphie Rivera de Jesús, Kevin Matthew Solis, Jacquelin Lorraine Schofield, Ariana Valdes, Gabrielle Villarreal and Chelsea Zeno.

The PSF production is directed by Valeria Cossu, with musical direction by Walter “Bobby” McCoy and choreography by Michael Anthony Sylvester.

“In the Heights” has costume designs by Jeannette Christensen, lighting design by Max Doolittle and sound design by Hayat Dominguez.

Actors’ talk-backs are after June 22 and 29 performances.

An audio-described and open-captioned performance is June 28.

“In the Heights,” 7:30 p.m. June 14-17, 21-23, 28-30; 2 p.m., 7:30 p.m. June 18, 24, July 1; 6:30 p.m. June 20, 27; 2 p.m. June 25, July 2, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Main Stage, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, DeSales University, 2755 Station Avenue, Center Valley. Tickets: 610-282-9455, http://pashakespeare.org

Play reading in Reading:

The Reading Theater Project has “They Say: A Love Story” as the final play in its 2023 Play Reading Series in partnership with GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading. The reading is 7 p.m. June 15, Albert and Eunice Boscov Theatre, GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading.

“They Say: A Love Story” is written by Douglassville, Amity Township, Berks County, playwright Andrea Kennedy Hart and is a solo performance about the life and loves of “Whistlin’ Jack McConnell,” a 1920s gang member in Philadelphia who was revealed to be a woman after 16 years of living as a man. K. O’Rourke will direct Mel Krodman in the solo role.

As with other plays in the series, “They Say” is part of this year’s “Shadows from the Past” theme for Reading Theater Project productions.

“They Say: A Love Story,” The Reading Theater Project, 7 p.m. June 15, Albert and Eunice Boscov Theatre, GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, 201 Washington St., Reading. Tickets are “pay-what-you-will”: https://readingtheaterproject.org/

Curtain Rises” is a column about the theater, stage shows, the actors in them and the directors and artists who make them happen. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com