Thursday, June 05, 2008

In the Heights


So Lahua and I saw "In The Heights" a couple of nights ago. It is a new musical nominated for 13 Tonys (and will probably win).
.
First off, let me say I liked it a lot. It was good and fun and much more old school than I was lead to believe.
.
The hype on Broadway is that this is a "NEW MUSICAL STYLE", which is not true. The lead character (the guy in the red shirt in the poster) does some rapping instead of singing - that is kind of the whole "different" thang.
.
And I don't like rap. I do not like it on the stage, I do not like it in a cage. I do not like it here and there, I do not like it anywhere.
.
But it wasn't all that "rappy". It was well done and fun. But there was a leading love story, a secondary love story, life lessons, a death, exuberant dancing and the lead comes to terms with life he has not the life he imagines. Your basic musical.
.
Having said that, I must say that Lin-Manueal Miranda (the guy in the red shirt) was AMAZING! His acting was very good, his singing/rapping was very good. But here is the kicker, he wrote the show, lyrics and music. So he wrote some great songs that others carried off very well.
.
The Heights, by the by, is Washington Heights - a mixed Latino neighborhood. You may have heard of it in the song Broadway Baby (from Battery Park... to.ohhh.. Washington Heights). The show is about interwoven stories from the neighborhood (see, I said it was more traditional that it let on).