Ever since he shot to fame with "In the Heights," the story of his own youth in the New York neighborhood of Washington Heights, Miranda has achieved this status by becoming synonymous with hip hop-influenced musicals that have been able to attract huge, young audiences while still containing enough traditional melody and form to simultaneously delight traditionalists. Many see Miranda as the natural heir to such figures as Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and to Stephen Sondheim.