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Music, dance soar to great 'Heights'
(by Herb Hammer - February 25, 2010)
THEATER, BY HERB HAMMER
Music, dance soar to great 'Heights'
The more you pay attention to the fresh choreography, the pulsating music and the incomparable singing, the more you will fall in love with the 2008 Tony Award-winning "In the Heights" at the Palace Theatre in Playhouse Square.
Lin-Manuel Miranda's impressive mix of Latin, jazz and rap has a once-in-a-lifetime sound and feel. Mr. Miranda not only wrote the music, he wrote the lyrics and actually thought up the whole idea.
We are in the upper west side of Manhattan known as Washington Heights, where a mix of Caribbean Latinos work and live. Tall tenements and the George Washington Bridge can be seen as part of Anna Louizos' eye-popping set.
This is the national touring company of "In the Heights." Building this enormous set on the Palace Theatre stage for a short run is a near miracle.
The story line or story lines are not so miraculous. Quiara Algria Hudes' book is filled with contrived, difficult-to-follow vignettes, all of which lack suspense or urgency. Mingling these stories with the incomparable singing and dancing only makes the plot more troubling.
We are given Nina, who has returned home after dropping out of Stanford. Lack of money and struggles with school while working two jobs have sent her back to the Heights. Will her father sell his second-rate cab company to raise the money for Nina to go back to school? And will her father deny Nina's non-Latino boyfriend?
There are other questions: Who's got the winning lottery tickets? Will Grandma live until the play ends? Or will Grandma reach her goal of returning to the Dominican Republic? Will lovely Daniela move her beauty shop to the Bronx? These daytime television plots do nothing more than interfere with the hard-charging songs and splendid dances.
Almost everything takes place in front of Usnavi's bodega, where he sells his flavors of the week. Usnavi has his own stories to tell.
As the difficult plots struggle, the excitement of the songs and dances are thrilling. Miss Hudes' book appears to come from a different planet.
Andy Blankenbuehler has created dances that show amazing imagination. Music director Justin Mendoza has his orchestra light up the show, while director Thomas Kail does his best to keep the story line from getting in the way of the music.
Kyle Beltran plays Usnavi with unstoppable energy. He has been able to make his character the centerpiece of the show. Arielle Jacobs is a confused-yet-smiling Nina, while Else Santora, as Claudia, has more than one scene-stealing song.
"In the Heights" is a big cast musical that is lights-out terrific. Ignore the cliche stories and get in the swing of this dynamic show.
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