Theatre Review: In the Heights

In the Heights

Jefferson Performing Arts Society Brings heart to Lin Manuel Miranda's Musical about "Familia"

Story and photo by Alexandra Kennon

“Lights up, in Washington Heights, up at the break of day…”

Sitting in the audience during the Jefferson Performing Arts Society’s (JPAS) run-through for their upcoming production of In the Heights, I watched as the fluorescent-lit Elmwood rehearsal studio was transformed into a bustling, sticky-hot street of Washington Heights, Manhattan. Even without the sets, costumes, or props doing work to set the scene, the cast of actors—equipped with Lin-Manuel Miranda’s complex score and a talented lone pianist (music director Richard Cordova, in town from Manhattan) accompanying them—were so grounded in the realities of their characters’ lives that my imagination easily filled in the sights, sounds, and smells of the bodega.

JPAS’s production will mark the first time the Tony- and Grammy Awardwinning musical that rocketed Miranda to acclaim (in 2008, long before Hamilton’s opening) is performed in the Gulf South, and they’ve made efforts to do it right.

“I’m excited about this whole show, because I have family from Nicaragua, and I’m originally from New Orleans,” said Director Michelle Pietri, “and so much of this show is about finding what home is—whether home is a place, or if it’s really a feeling of family. Family is not always blood—family is who you love, and who accepts you for who you are, and how you are. And of course, if you have any Hispanic background, it’s so nice to see Hispanic people represented in a loving, positive, and uplifting way.”

The cast, from New Orleans and Houston, collectively possesses connections to Honduras, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Their personal connections to the script and the struggles and victories of their characters, in combination with the extensive character development Pietri has guided them in (like creating social media profiles and playlists from their characters’ perspectives), render emotionally authentic, captivating performances. And as the ensemble dances and belts their way through their characters’ day-to-day lives— gossiping, graffitiing, and all the rest—they each contribute to creating a rich depiction of the Hispanic Upper Manhattan neighborhood.

Within only three musical numbers that shifted seamlessly from English to Spanish, singing to rapping, speaking to dancing, I was entirely emotionally invested in the Washington Heights community that had sprung up before me. I can only imagine that when the show opens this month, fully-realized and in all its glory, that audiences will be completely enthralled with the heartfelt, captivating, musical story of familia, too. h

In the Heights will run at the Jefferson Performing Arts Center from October 7–16, with performances at 7:30 pm Friday and Saturday, 2 pm Sunday. $23– $78 at jpas.org.