There is a certain dark irony about seeing this musical by an American with Puerto Rican ancestry just days before a Trump rally obviously (and thus intentionally) patterned on the infamous 1939 Nazi rally at the same location. During the opener, a comedian (should I say “alleged” here? He wasn’t remotely funny…) let loose with a series of racist jokes, including one at the expense of Puerto Rico.
In The Heights, of course, is all about immigrants in New York City that come from that part of the Caribbean. Puerto Rico, which is part of the United States - although a shocking percentage of Americans do not know this.* But also the Dominican Republic, which is known for producing some of the world’s best baseball players, among other things.** And Cuba.
The musical was the first effort of Lin Manuel Miranda, who would become world famous a few years later with Hamilton. Miranda wrote the first draft of In the Heights while a college sophomore. That version was performed at school, and a few people with connections to both the school and professional theater saw it, and asked Miranda to expand it into a full length theater. Along the way, Quiara Alegria Hudes joined the effort, and ended up writing the book to go with Miranda’s music and lyrics.
A few years later, the musical opened off Broadway before starting a Broadway run in 2008. A star was born. Miranda starred in the lead role, and won awards for both his acting and his writing. The rest is history.
My wife saw this musical at The Empty Space some years ago, and was impressed by how they managed to fit a huge blockbuster into that tiny space. I had a schedule conflict, so this was my first time.
I have to admit, it did seem that it needed stage space, and it was definitely nice to have a fairly large live band backing the singers. Overall, this production was outstanding and a real pleasure to experience.
The plot has a lot of the standard Musical tropes. Shy boy meets girl, loses girl, and gets her back. Boy from the wrong social class wins the higher class girl, but experiences rejection from her father. Matriarch holds everything together, and when she dies… you get the idea. Nothing wrong with these stories, and it was nice to see such a normal story in a context where you often see oppression become the only topic of discussion.
(I’ve discussed this in other posts: it is easy for stories about minorities to become all about the bad stuff - and these stories are necessary. But it is also necessary to tell the other stories, of ordinary people and their ordinary universal human experiences of love, family, aspiration, sorrow, and reconciliation.)
I won’t get into the plot further than that, other than to mention that the characters are what drive the plot - and the characters are memorable and delightful.
The set for this one was one of the best I have seen Stars do over the years. It really nailed the look of New York City, and in particular the little Barrio touches needed for this setting. I grew up in Los Angeles, which is different in many ways, but there were parts of that set that all I can say is, if you know, you know. Someone involved in this production did some homework. (Bethany Rowlee - local theater veteran who does everything apparently - designed the set, so kudos there. I wish there was an official photo of the set.)
The cast included both some usual suspects and some new faces - lots of young people in the ensemble. It was nice to see both.
I’ll start with the main guy, Nick Ono as Usnavi. He played this role in the Empty Space production, so he seemed thoroughly comfortable throughout. Honestly, I can’t think of anyone else in town better suited to the role, which requires acting, singing, dancing, and rapping. I loved Nick’s performance, from the physicality of the dancing to the clarity of the lyrics.
This was my first time seeing my legal colleague David Torres on stage - he’s been there before, but I missed it. As the old school father, Kevin Rosario, I wondered at times if he was playing himself. I’ve known that type all my life - including the complexity between machismo and tenderheartedness. Also, Torres sings pretty well, which I did not know. The legal community should be proud of the job he did on stage.
It has been a long time since I saw Rosie Ayala in anything, so it was great to see her back on stage. As Abuela Claudia, she got to showcase her incredible alto voice.
I’ll also call out the two young female leads, Isabella Pelayo as Nina, and Jenny Rejon as Vanessa for outstanding vocal work. Serious torch song chops.
Zachary Alva as Benny, Paddie Patterson as Sonny, and Benjamin Ha as Graffiti Pete made me smile.
Lots of other singing and dancing and acting that was good - I really can’t think of any sour notes. Everyone was prepared and on their game, which says a lot about the careful prep work, including good vocal coaching and choreography.
I have to mention the band as well. I know many of the people in it - it’s a small musical community here. This production had a lot of difficult rhythms, but the group was tight all night. Good stuff, and I want to say again how much I appreciate those local theaters who still hire live music.
In the Heights runs one more weekend, so I encourage local folks to go and see it. You can get tickets here.
*Note: when our kids were little, we had a group of homeschool families that took field trips to various places in the Los Angeles area. The father in one of the families is from Puerto Rico, so my kids at least know quite a bit about it. Most of their other friends did not, however.
**Note: something the notorious (and now thoroughly dead) racist and misogynist agitator Phyllis Schlafley complained about.
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