This summer, Artistry is doing just the second #TCTheater production of Lin-Manuel Miranda's first musical,
In the Heights (the first was
the Ordway in 2017). While his most well-known musical
Hamilton (currently the 16th longest running musical on Broadway, closing in on #15) is an epic story about famous people - the founding fathers -
In the Heights is an intimate story about everyday people - a Latin American immigrant community in NYC's Washington Heights neighborhood. But it's epic in its own way, telling stories of home, family, community, identity, growing up, that are relatable to anyone with a home or a family or a community. Artistry's production features a fantastic local cast, and is full of energy, joy, and heart. And it's particularly wonderful to celebrate a community of immigrants right now, when our own immigrant communities are in danger.
In the Heights is a love letter to the hard-working, close-knit neighborhood communities that make up NYC, that make up America. Don't miss this rare chance to see the 2008 Tony-winning best musical
In the Heights -
head to Bloomington between now and August 23.
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| photo by Dan Norman |
Our everyday hero and storyteller is named Usnavi (a name his parents gave him inspired by a ship they saw as they were immigrating from the Dominica Republic - US Navy). But this isn't really Usnavi's story, it's a story of his Washington Heights neighborhood and the people who inhabit it. There's Usnavi's young cousin Sonny, who helps him run the bodega (a neighborhood grocery/convenience store), and Vanessa, Usnavi's crush, who dreams of getting out of the heights and moving downtown. Nina is returning home for the summer after her first year at Stanford, with a secret she's forced to share with her parents, who run the local car and limo service. Benny is a driver with the service, and a love interest for Nina despite her parents' disapproval (he's not Latino). And everybody loves Abuela Claudia, the grandmother to the neighborhood. The dramatic tension comes from a certain winning lottery ticket and changes in the neighborhood, some of which are due to gentrification which makes it harder for working-class people to live and work there. But in the end, as Usnavi sings in the finale, this is and will always be Home.*
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| photo by Dan Norman |
Maija Garcia directs the play with great energy and heart, with a talented 17-person cast, smaller than previous productions I've seen but filling up the stage with life. Several members of the cast are recent graduates or current students in the U of M BFA program, including Andrés-Román Wood, with a breakout performance as Usnavi, so natural and relatable and easy to root for. Other highlights include Pierce Brown as the adorably youthful Sonny; Janely Rodriguez pouring so much emotion into Vanessa with that powerful voice; Raquel Ponce, fresh off her own breakout performance in
Lyric Arts' Mamma Mia!, as Nina; Lisa Vogel again playing her mother; Pedro Bayon reprising his role as Nina's dad from the Ordway production; Jen Santoro Rotty as Abuela Claudia, the heart of the piece (a role she understudied at the Ordway); Chris Owusu as the sweet and hard-working Benny; and Isa Condo-Olvera and Julia Diaz adding much humor as Vanessa's salon coworkers.
A member of the ensemble of the Ordway's production nine years ago, Abby Magalee has created some dynamic, modern, and exciting choreography, well performed by the ensemble. The seven-piece pit orchestra, led by music director Kate Mariana Brown on keys, plays this Tony-winning score that incorporates rap, hip-hop, and pop with a Latin beat that makes you want to get up and dance. Three large structures made of what looks like brick replicate the NYC neighborhood on stage, complete with balconies, the doors opening to reveal the insides of the local businesses. Characters are dressed in chic character-defining street wear from the mid-aughts. (Scenic design by Eli Sherlock, prop design by Madelaine Foster, costume design by Zamora Simmons Stiles, lighting design by Karin Olson, sound design by Paul Estby.)
This timely and timeless, intimate and epic, exciting and heart-warming production of In the Heights continues through August 23.
