Lin-Manuel Miranda Gets (Flash) Mobbed at In the Heights in Los Angeles

Tony Award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda got a warm welcome to the sunny city of Los Angeles on June 26, 2010, when a few hundred fans surprised the In the Heights composer and original star with a flash mob set to his own “96,000.” Miranda, who just kicked off a run reprising his Broadway role as Usnavi for the show’s national tour engagement at L.A.’s Pantages Theatre, thought he was settling in for an intimate press event and between-shows meal at the Hard Rock Café when the opening strains of a very familiar new show tune began blasting over Universal City Walk. What he didn’t know was that Flash Mob USA, an organization that organizes and documents spontaneous choreographed outbursts across the country, and about 300 participants hidden throughout the shopping plaza and stores were about to rock his world. Check out the video capturing the moment, complete with Miranda’s outright adorable reaction. In the Heights plays Pantages Theatre through July 25.