The musical ‘Hamilton’ has been the centre of Broadway’s spotlight for the last few months; however, as it’s only onstage in New York, combined with the fact that tickets are sold out for the next several months make it a little difficult for the multitude of fans to enjoy the musical. Although, there is an alternative. ‘Hamilton’ is not creator Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first musical. In 2005, ‘In the Heights’ opened in Connecticut, reaching the Off-Broadway stage in 2007, and making the ‘big-time’ in 2008. Showing in both Edinburgh, and London, with tickets still available, it is certainly more accessible than ‘Hamilton’. Despite being a little less polished (which is no surprise, considering Miranda started writing at age nineteen), the characters are just as compelling, and the music just as melodic and memorable.
‘In the Heights’, as the title suggests, is based in ‘Washington Heights’, an area in New York with a largely Hispanic-American population. Despite not growing up in Washington-Heights, Miranda, the son of Puerto-Ricans, was eager to widen the narrow field for Hispanic individuals who wished to become musical actors, as well as placing Bolero and salsa music into main-stream musical culture. Although some may argue that focusing on Hispanic culture shuts out all non-Hispanic audience members, they are truly wrong. The lively music, and occasional switch to hybrid-Spanish may be unusual to some, but the story told still speaks to all.
The story begins with protagonist Usnavi addressing the audience (“Hey y’all, good morning’”). Through his bodega, we are introduced to the other relevant characters, each on their way to pick up their morning coffee, papers, and lottery tickets. There’s Abuela Claudia, given her title as the Matriarch of the area, the Rosarios who run the taxi company, Benny, one of their employees, Daniela and Carla, owners of the Salon, Sonny, Usnavi’s cousin, and Vanessa, his crush. We also meet Nina, ‘the one who made it out’, back from her first year of University at Stanford, terrified to reveal the bad news she has brought with her. Despite their monetary struggles, the blackouts, and the gentrification slowing forcing people to move away, there is a sense and celebration of community. Each character displays a desire to leave at some point; some to return to their, or their parent’s home countries, others to leave the poor area, moving to other parts of New York, or even a different part of the country. The end message, however, is clear: Despite feeling connections to many places, your home is where your community, and your loved ones are.
Winning four out of its thirteen Tony nominations, as well as a Grammy for ‘best original show album’, ‘In the Heights’, although Miranda’s first musical, is certainly as lively, intelligent, and exciting as ‘Hamilton’. Based in modernity, rather than history, with beautiful costumes, outstanding dance numbers, and catchy songs, ‘In the Heights’, if you have the means, is without a doubt one of the best things currently on the West End. Original Cast Album can be found on iTunes.
Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0d/In_the_Heights.jpg
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