In The Heights
Runs through May 17 at American Stage in the Park, Demens Landing, St. Petersburg
8 p.m., Wednesdays-Sundays
$13-$32
727-823-PLAY, americanstage.org
Perhaps the best thing that In the Heights does for its audience is bring us the feel — the look and sound and flavor — of a kinetic New York City barrio. After two-and-a-half hip-hop and salsa-filled hours with the loving, struggling, dancing and singing denizens of the musical’s Washington Heights, we can’t help but imagine that we know now what it’s like to share an endangered neighborhood with more-or-less Americanized Latinos from Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, store owners and hairdressers and taxi dispatchers and piragua vendors.
So even when the show’s plot is less than riveting — for much of Act One, to be exact — there’s still something thrilling about In the Heights’ success in bringing us so many sympathetic characters (colorfully clothed by Saidah Ben-Judah) toiling to pay the electricity bill, eke out a college degree, and protect the walls from graffiti artists. Add some memorable solo anthems, a couple of show-stopping ensemble pieces, and a forward-charging energy that only a block of granite wouldn’t move to, and the result is a very good time only occasionally compromised by that plot thing.
Did I say that in Act Two, all the (long-awaited) personal complications are solved so painlessly that the show pretty much loses all credibility? Oh well — who needs the Truth when you’ve got the Beat? And the Beat of this musical is pretty much sublime. As are the actors. And the staging. Hey, leave your lie-detector at Will Call.
The characters of In the Heights (music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, book by Quiara Alegría Hudes) sing out their lives on a street of wonderfully realistic — and worn-out-looking — storefronts created on American Stage’s Demens Landing environment by the talented Steve Mitchell. It’s here that we meet Usnavi (the superb Justin Gregory Lopez), the bodega owner who’s too shy to make advances toward the girl of his dreams, Vanessa (the sharp Christie Prades), and whose Abuela Claudia (Melanie Souza) tries lovingly to stand in for his lost parents. Here too we meet Kevin and Camila Rosario (the fine Jorge Acosta and Susan Haldeman), whose daughter Nina (excellent Jessica Kahkoska) is back from Stanford, and whose employee Benny (top-notch Marquez Linder) is maybe too friendly with the returned student.
And then there are Daniela and Carla (Renata Eastlick and Ericka Womack-Brown) who gossip relentlessly as they prepare to move their unisex hair salon to the Bronx. For most of Act One, there’s little narrative movement, but we’re delighted nonetheless with Usnavi’s hip-hop self-examination (“Reports of my fame are greatly exaggerated/Exacerbated by the fact/That my syntax/Is highly complicated”) and Kevin Rosario’s lament “Inútil” (“I will not be the reason/That my family can’t succeed/I will do what it takes/They’ll have everything they need.”) There’s some terrific dancing (choreographed by Domenic Bisesti), and all the exuberant atmosphere of a world where the economy is tough, but the dreams refuse to fold (as Benny sings, “I’ll be a businessman, richer then Nina’s Daddy!/Donald Trump and I on the links, and he’s my caddy!”).
And eventually there isn’t just situation, there’s story. Someone in the barrio may possess a Lotto ticket worth $96,000. Someone else might actually have a date with the girl he adores. And someone (no spoilers here) may just be earning the fury of her father with a romantic choice opposite to what he’d choose for her. There’s a problem with the power company, some vandalism, some real estate decisions…lots of challenges. Unfortunately, the very real difficulties that these developments represent are untangled so magically by show’s end, you’d think a Disney godmother had passed through, magic wand at the ready.
On the other hand, the second act offers two of the most powerful features of the show: the rollicking, ebullient ensemble song-and-dance “Carnaval del Barrio” and Usnava’s plaintive ballad “Alabanza.” And we’re once again so charmed by the actors’ commitment to their characters, and the out-and-out brilliance of Karla Hartley’s direction, we’re willing to overlook the authorial sleight-of-hand and just enjoy the entertainment.
So no, this isn’t a new generation’s West Side Story, whatever the promo material says. But it’s a catchy urban street fair that repeatedly overcomes its shortcomings.
And it’s a glimpse at a world so well-described, you’ll think you’ve been there.
And in a way, you have.
This article appears in Apr 30 – May 6, 2015.