In the Heights a moving portrait of moving…and coming home

by Ruth Isenberg

In the Heights is about movement—and about moving. The annual musical performance at the PA Shakespeare Festival at DeSales University is always popular, always fun, and always a showcase for talented singers and dancers. In the Heights checked all those boxes, with energetic dancers at the top of the list.

Co-written by Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Alegría Hudes, In the Heights is set over a Fourth of July weekend in New York’s Washington Heights. The plot isn’t the point, exactly. Every character is an immigrant, or the son or daughter of an immigrant, and every character faces challenges and opportunities in the vibrant city neighborhood that is their home.

The cast is multi-ethnic, reflecting the makeup of the part of Queens they portray. The set is stark, at first glimpse, but more complex as the action unfolds, and reflects the colorful mix of people.

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Usnavi, played by Ryan Reyes, is the center that holds the show together. His corner bodega is a hub for the community, and the center of the action. He is an alumnus of the DeSales University theatre program and PSF’s Young Company, and says it is a role he relates to, “not only with my

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