Ever since I first saw the poster for The Harder They Come outside the Arsht Center early this summer, I’ve been eager to see what happens when Broadway meets reggae (well, okay, when reggae meets London’s Theatre Royal Stratford East). Could the ultimate slack of Jimmy Cliff’s performance in the 1972 movie survive the cheery lights of a stage musical? After all, this is reggae, not ABBA.

But of course, over the past 37 years, reggae has become a feel-good soundtrack around the world and a source of pride for Jamaicans of every stripe. In Miami, as in London where the show originated, The Harder They Come will be more than a theatrical event. It will be a homecoming, a celebration of Jamaican culture for the many West Indians who grace us with their presence in our community.

That much was already clear at the screening of the recent documentary, Rise Up, at the studio theater, the first event that the Arsht has offered as part of the center’s membership program. That screening brought out Arsht members and reggae enthusiasts in equal numbers in what was surely of foreshadowing of the mix that will turn out for Saturday night’s premiere of THTC. Broadway meets reggae might be a strange hybrid, but it’s a perfect fit for our strange, hybrid community.

Like Jimmy Cliff sang, We can get together if we really want.

The Harder They Come at Ballet Opera House, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami, Saturday through Sept. 13 at 8 p.m. Thursday-Sunday, 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Tickets: $50 and $95; 305-949-6722; www.arshtcenter.org