In the Heights: A Renovated Joy

I'm not sure if it's the mood I was in, or the fact that the creators have made some really effective changes, but I enjoyed In the Heights soooo much more this time around. When I first caught the show Off Broadway at 37 Arts, I was less than impressed. (Read my review.) But I figured that I couldn't continue to bash the show without seeing how the authors spiffed it up for its Broadway bow.

When I entered the Richard Rodgers Theater, I noticed that the stage is a lot narrower than the one at 37 Arts, necessitating a considerably tighter set. Well, just as the set has become more compressed, so has the show itself become more focused. The plot is more coherent, and the drama more credible, although the plot is still a bit hackneyed and predictable, and any racial tension is sanitized for your protection.

Another major improvement is that director Thomas Kail seems to have reined in some of the more excessive Off-Broadway performances, including Olga Merediz as Abuela Claudia and Mandy Gonzalez as Nina. Overall, the cast seemed a lot more real and honest, and the performances a lot less forced.

The main selling points for the show remain Lin-Manuel Miranda's tuneful and often clever songs as well as Andy Blankenbuehler's energetic choreography. ("And the Tony Award goes to...") The show is at its best during its numerous buoyant production numbers, including "No Me Diga" and the showstopper "96,000." What makes the big dance numbers effective is that they have more on their mind than just entertainment: each number is not only effectively staged, but is also interwoven with dramatic purpose, particularly the complex club scene at the end of act one and the rousing "Carnival de Barrio" in act 2.

The are, however, still too many "wanting" songs in act one. Much of the first act seems like a continuous setup for yet another solo character number. Particularly egregious in this respect is "Inutil (Useless)," a song that I continue to find aptly named: it lacks dramatic necessity and justification. "Paciencia y Fe" seemed a bit more effective this time: the 1940s flashback staging, which I don't recall from the Off Broadway version, gave the number some added dimension, but I'm still not sure what the song is meant to convey. The character singing the song has just won the lottery (Can you say "deus ex machina"?), and yet she's filled with this inexplicable angst. Is the song trying to say that the money came too late to do her any good? Most of the solo numbers also suffer from RLNS (Really Long Note Syndrome), but for all I know that may be true to the musical styles Miranda is paying homage to.

So, go figure. In the Heights simply didn't work for me Off Broadway, but on Broadway it did. The show still has its minor problems, but overall it's an exuberant celebration of the lives and loves of a very amiable cast of characters. The show is hardly the genre-busting watershed that some reviewers have made it out to be. But it's a heck of a lot of fun, very affecting, and far more deserving of hit status than some of the supposed blockbusters now gracing the Rialto.

Comments

[Ben Simpson]

I'm so happy you liked the new and improved version! I TOLD you they were fixing it! :)

- Ben from last semester ;)

[SarahB]

I knew it! And of course your mood must be attributed to sitting between me and Steve at lunch first.

[chris caggiano]

Yes, Sarah, your proximity lifted my mood immeasurably. But the show was also a slight help in this regard.

Hey, it's a blogger's prerogative to change his or her mind.

Geez, maybe I should have given Lestat a second shot...

[Esther]

I loved "In the Heights" but I had some of the same problems with the very weak plot. I wonder if it would have worked better if Nina had been trying to decide whether to stay home for college or go away? That would have allowed a deeper exploration of what it means to leave your neighborhood, the fear of losing your identity. Plus, it would have given a little added gravitas to her love story.