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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2010 > April > 21 > Entry
Review: ‘In the Heights’
The title of “In the Heights” references the Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights, but the title could just as well describe the musical’s constantly soaring music and dance numbers and its insistent optimism.
Even as the neighborhood faces the economic realities of gentrification, the musical pulses with warmth. “In the Heights” national touring production, which opened Tuesday at UT’s Bass Concert Hall, has much to offer—a full slate of well-sung musical numbers, laugh-out-loud jokes and a fantastic cast.
“In the Heights,” with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a book by Quiara Alegria Hudes, offers immense pleasure. The musical’s happy tone is almost bizarre since many of its stories are quite sad. It takes a magic solution — a winning lottery ticket — to offer main character Usnavi (Kyle Beltran) a path out of economic ruin. The bodega owner struggles to avoid the fate that befalls the businesses around him: accepting low-ball offers from real estate developers or moving to the Bronx to avoid escalating rent.
Nina (Arielle Jacobs), who returned home after feeling like an outsider at Stanford, agrees to return to school — a choice facilitated by her father’s sale of the family business. But it seems unclear as to whose desire Nina’s return fulfills, hers or her parents, and whether the isolation she felt among Stanford’s rich, white culture will ever lessen.
Whatever the realities of the neighborhood’s future might be, all of the characters celebrate how the place and its people have offered a sense of being at home. To be at home in “In the Heights” means to experience — anticipate even — the familiar. When Nina’s parents invite friends over to welcome Nina back, Nina’s mother, Camila (Natalie Toro) luxuriates in getting to dance to her favorite part of an old record: a scratch that makes one rhythm repeat over and over again. Afterwards, she notes that the scratch on the record is the best part, and as he arrives Usnavi asks, “Did we miss the scratch on the record?” Home may be imperfect, but the familiarity of even its failings produces a common bond. Only Nina’s father’s treatment of Benny, his African American employee and Nina’s love interest, tests the boundaries of the musical’s community.
The repeated emphasis on similarity bringing people together is most interesting in contrast to the musical’s movement and music vocabulary. The opening noise of “In the Heights” is that of a radio blaring as a dial is turning, producing a collage of musical varieties from salsa to hip hop. In interviews about the show, creator Miranda has named the radio moment as a metaphor for how his concept for the musical as a collage of the diversity of an urban Latino neighborhood. “In the Heights” absolutely creates a vision of diverse vibrancy, thanks to Thomas Kail’s direction and Andy Blakenbuehler’s choreography. The staging and dancing produce a kinetically driven, never static picture of urban life. Anna Louizos’s set beautifully emphasizes stoops and fire escapes, a feature that points to how semi-public spaces become stages for relationship building in cityscapes.
The layers of “In the Heights” necessitate a cast that can take on a great deal, from a range of dance styles to heavy, but quick language. As Usnavi, Kyle Beltran is excellent in more traditional song and in Usnavi’s quick flip rap. Beltran embodies the musical’s immense likeability, and the bounce in his step seems well paired with the musical’s optimism.
As Usnavi’s young cousin Sonny, Shaun Taylor-Corbett is hilarious. He delivers what could be mere one-liners with an attention to detail in acting and physicality that make Sonny one of the show’s greatest delights. Jacobs, as Nina, and Sabina Sloan as Usnavi’s love interest Vanessa, deliver solid performances in somewhat underdeveloped roles. In a show of many big money musical numbers (maybe too many), Toro, as Camila, and Isabel Santiago as salon owner Daniela most fully assume center stage for their songs, “Enough” and “Carnaval del Barrio” respectively.
‘In the Heights’ 8 p.m. through Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Sunday Bass Concert Hall, 2300 Robert Dedman Dr. www.texas
performingarts.org
Clare Croft is an American-Statesman freelance arts critic.
Photo by Joan Marcus.
Comments
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By Abraham
April 22, 2010 10:36 PM | Link to this
I am so excited to see this show again Saturday night. I saw it in NY and fell in love in with it. I was so excited when I found out it was coming to Austin.