How many Latinx Broadway musicals can you name? Unsurprisingly, this question doesn’t offer a plethora of responses, but there is one show that defied the odds and told a Latinx story written by Latinx writers on Broadway—In the Heights, playing in a first-rate production through Oct. 20 at the Dallas Theater Center (DTC). In the Heights, with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and book by Quiara Alegría Hudes, won four 2008 Tony Awards and has become the most recognizable Latinx musical. Under the direction of James Vásquez, DTC’s In the Heights is everything you would expect from the show. It’s full of hope and a celebration of home, all told through a Latinx lens.
Abuela Claudia introduces the backbone of the show—and in many ways the foundation for Miranda and Hudes work at large—in “Paciencia y Fe” (Patience and Faith), a song in which she details the struggles she has faced in life from growing up poor in Havana to immigrating to New York to becoming the matriarch of the block. Played masterfully by Nancy Ticotin, Abuela Claudia sings:
“And ay Mamá,
What do you do when,
Your dreams come true?
I’ve spent my life,
Inheriting dreams from you”
Like many immigrants from Latin America, the decision to come to the United States was not in Abuela Claudia’s hands. Much of her life was planned by her mother, including the dream of finding success—and more importantly home—in New York. Nearing the end of her life, Abuela Claudia has already achieved some version of the so-called “American Dream.” As the song hits its climax, she reveals that she has the winning $96,000 lottery ticket. Instead of excitement, she is at a loss. Her mother could never have prepared her for this and she is in uncharted territory much like many children of immigrants who grow up in the US and face an entirely different reality than their parents ever could have imagined they would face. Abuela Claudia’s message permeates the show’s other story lines. And, ultimately, as she tells everyone, all they need to get by is patience and faith (not to mention each other).
Following “In the Heights,” we are introduced to Nina, who has been off at Stanford University. As everyone tells us, she was the one to make it out of the neighborhood. She is their success story, which makes it even more difficult for her to tell everyone that she had to drop out when she couldn’t keep up with her classes because she was working two jobs to pay for books and living expenses. Her parents, Kevin and Camila (David Lugo and Crissy Guerrero) left Puerto Rico to escape their parents and pursue their dreams in New York. Their dream? To provide Nina with the life they never could have. The mere act of going to college is a success so when Nina returns home, she struggles with being autonomous and living up to her parents’ high expectations that she will be “to one to make it out.”
Perhaps the most noticeable difference is the staging itself. The Wyly Theatre’s flexible performance space features a thrust configuration for this production with audiences surrounding Usnavi’s block on three sides. Vásquez quite literally places the audience on the block, with Washington Heights’ brownstones towering above the audience and the iconic George Washington Bridge, or the GWB as everyone calls it, standing in the distance. Dahlia Al-Habieli’s scenic design is at once recognizable to anyone who has been to New York and flexible as a performance space with ramps, nooks, fire escapes, steps, and sidewalks for Vásquez to play with.
Rickey Tripp’s choreography pays homage to Andy Blankenbuehler’s Tony Award winning work while not being derivative. This In the Heights still relies heavily on Latin and contemporary hip hop dance moves, but does not simply regurgitate the show’s original choreography as if often done. The ensemble, which features a full spectrum of Latinx identities (re: the cast is comprised of many racial and ethnic identities), effortlessly transitions from salsa to hip hop. In many ways, the highlight of this production is the ensemble.
The cast uniformly shines, but DTC Resident Acting Company members Tiffany Solano DeSena and Christopher Ramirez (Sonny) deliver knockout performances in roles that were seemingly written for them. As much as Solano DeSena makes you feel her pain at not living up to her parents’ high expectations, Ramirez leaves you in stitches laughing from his expert comedic timing.
Just as with musical offerings in previous seasons such as Hair and The Rocky Horror Show, the Dallas Theater Center once again proves that they are at the top of the game as far as producing exciting musical theater in Texas. DTC’s In the Heights is not simply a Latinx story, but it is an American story. It’s a story about the beauty of the United States. It’s a story that anyone can relate to regardless of their ethnic or racial identity. Miranda and Hudes’ musical is as relevant now as it was when it debuted in 2008.
-TREVOR BOFFONE