Usnavi owns a bodega (convenience store) in Washington Heights, a primarily Latino district of Manhattan. He sells coffee, lotto tickets, newspapers, snacks and sodas. It’s summer. His younger teenage cousin, Sonny, helps him. As In the Heights opens, we hear the song of Piragua man, who sells aguas (flavored waters) and snow cones. The women who run the Beauty Salon, Claudia, Usnavi’s Abuela (Grandmother), Nina Rosario and her parents, who own a limousine service, Benny, who works for the Rosarios, Vanessa, Usnavi’s girlfriend, other folks from the neighborhood emerge, join in, harmonizing with the vendor, picking up on the background rhythm to dance. Each has their own story. Nina’s struggling at Stanford, Benny’s in love with Nina, Claudia became Usnavi’s grandma when he was left an orphan, Vanessa needs a home apart from her alcoholic mother.
Conceived and composed by Lin Manuel-Miranda and Quiara Alegria Hudes, In the Heights, has a sublime (almost frantic) energy that’s impossible to resist. The salsa dancing (among other kinds) and rapping, so seamlessly blended with traditional songs, inject the show with vibrancy and exuberance. When you consider the premise (or cold practicality) the narrative might have easily become melodrama or a series of predictable ethnic parodies. But there’s a warmth, a sense of compassion and frankness that earns our trust and respect. Claudia is genuinely caring and charitable but she never comes off as self-righteous. Nina’s mother can be very fierce, but when chaos prevails, it helps that she can take charge. Each character has their charms but also very human flaws, and In the Heights weaves each person’s situation with the others. Each character has their contribution and role to play in this community. Even Graffiti Pete the frustrated muralist and Daniela, the gossipy owner of the Unisex Hair Salon.
From Dahlia Al- Habieli’s congenial scenic design, to Rui Rita’s intimate lighting, there’s a cozy, familial feeling that welcomes us to this gathering of struggling, yet optimistic folks. Manuel-Miranda and Hudes don’t just encourage us to peer through the fourth wall, they invite us to empathize and identify. They bring food to your party, but also ask you into their homes. When a winning lottery ticket is sold, when there’s a power outage, when a neighbor passes on, it creates an extended interpersonal affect. Everyone in the neighborhood directly feels it, and so do we. We aren’t just sympathetic, we’re involved. At the risk of lapsing into political rhetoric, in light of the current upheaval, In the Heights comes bearing much needed grace.
The Dallas Theater Center presents In the Heights, playing September 21st- October 20th, 2019. Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre. 2400 Flora Street, Dallas, TX 75201. 214-522-8499. www.dallastheatercenter.org