Top Five Songs: In the Heights

Here’s a bit more about everyone’s favorite Latin hip-hop Broadway musical!  As I said in my review, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s score is simply phenomenal – catchy, clever, genuine, and emotional.  It deftly weaves different styles together while telling its story in a compelling way.  It’s a score that’s hard to narrow down to only five favorites, but this is my best shot.

 

“In the Heights” – The fabulous opener introduces the major characters, as well as the central focus of everyone in the neighborhood doing their best to get by.  Though these characters aren’t rich or even comfortable, they don’t dwell on it, instead emphasizing community, relationships, and dreams.  Not to mention, Usnavi’s witty, exuberant rapping fits him to a T.

 

Best Line:  “I am Usnavi / And you prob’ly never heard my name; / Reports of my fame / Are greatly exaggerated.”

 

“It Won’t Be Long Now” – In the Heights sometimes feels filled with “I want” songs, and this is one of the best.  Vanessa has been spinning her wheels at the salon, but this upbeat solo shows how she pushes aside her problems to keep her goals firmly in view.

 

Best Line:  “As I sweep the curb, / I can hear those turbo engines / Blazing a trail through the sky. / I look up and think about the years gone by, / But one day - / I’m walkin’ to JFK / And I’m gonna fly!”

“96,000” – Another “I want” song, this one features a good chunk of the main cast.  When it’s discovered that a winning lotto ticket was sold at Usnavi’s bodega, word spreads through the neighborhood and everyone imagines what they’d do with the money, funding everything from education to relocation to urban rehabilitation.

 

Best Line:  “For real, though, / Imagine how it would feel goin’ real slow / Down the highway of life with no regrets, / And no breakin’ your neck / For respect / Or a paycheck.”

 

 
“Blackout” – The Act I finale is less about theme and more about plot – all the characters are caught in the chaos of a massive blackout, and the resulting tumult sets up several second-act complications.  Still, it’s technically masterful.  The song juggles numerous threads and characters, layering melodies on melodies that come together for a gorgeous climax at the end.

 

Best Line:  There aren’t many lyrics that particularly stand out here, but I really like the dual meanings of the repeated line, “We are powerless, / We are powerless.”

“Everything I Know” –After a startling event, Nina reflects on the past, her own and that of the entire block, on the things and people who came before her and made her who she is.  This beautifully contemplative solo is thanks to those who formed her and promises to be worth it.

 

Best Line:  “On the day they ran, / Did she dream of endless summer? / Did her mother have a plan? / Or did they just go? / Did somebody sit her down and say, / ‘Claudia, get ready / To leave behind everything you know.’”

In the Heights (2008)

This may be a bit backwards, since I talked about Bring It On a while ago, but In the Heightsis simply superb.  The Broadway debut of composer/lyricist and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda, this show is in a class of its own:  a Latin hip-hop Broadway musical.  These days, just finding something original on Broadway is no easy task, and this show delivers in spades.  I remember watching the 2008 Tony Awards – at the start of the night, I knew almost nothing about In the Heights, but by the end of the telecast, I was cheering as it took home the award for best musical.

 

The nuts and bolts of the story are fairly simple.  Set in Washington Heights, a Latino neighborhood in northern Manhattan, the show follows its residents over the course of a sweltering 4^thof July.  Everything and everyone is in flux; all along the block, people are considering “packing up and picking up” for different reasons.  For instance, the cheery bodega owner Usnavi longs to find his roots, the Dominican Republic he’s never known.  Daniela and Carla, the insatiable gossips from the salon, struggle to stay afloat as their rent keeps increasing.  Bright, hardworking Nina has just returned from college, and the site of home makes her wonder where she really ought to be.  It’s a story of love, dreams, and family that bursts with life.

 

The characters are at once familiar and specific, weaving vibrant sparks of individuality into archetypes.  They’re all imperfect, entertaining, and utterly rootable, and they make it easy to invest in the fairly thin plot.  You care about them instantly, hope to see them get what they want, and enjoy just watching them spend time together.  Energetic, self-deprecating Usnavi (in the original cast, exuberantly played by Miranda, a fantastic rapper) is of course my favorite – absolutely the heart of the show.  Also noteworthy are Usnavi’s dream girl Vanessa and his best friend Benny, but I love them all.

 

The main attraction, though, is the amazing score.  It’s Broadway’s incredible introduction to Miranda, and I love about how truly multidimensional it is.  It’s so Latin, so hip-hop, and soBroadway, all at the same time.  Some new shows scored with modern music exude an air of “too cool for school,” like their composers have ridden in triumphantly to save Broadway from irrelevance and carry it singlehandedly into the 21^st century.  In the Heights has no such attitude.  Broadway runs through the veins of every song, telling the story and revealing the emotional lives of the characters with great theatrical sensibility.  Oh, and Usnavi name-drops Cole Porter in the opening number.  Yeah – that happens.  All the while, it’s stunningly clear that Miranda really knows his way around hip-hop.  The rhythms are catchy (and accompanied, I might add, by amazing choreography,) and the rapid-fire lyrics sparkle with playful wit and smart rhymes while brimming with heart.  And I’ll admit that I’m no authority on Latin music, but Miranda is more than capable here as well.  In an interview (can't find it now, sorry,) he discusses how he incorporates a wide assortment of Latin music into the score, using styles from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and other countries depending on what character is singing and where they’re from.  It’s put together so wonderfully and lovingly.  When I first got the cast recording, I played it nonstop for months, and it still puts me in a great mood every time I (frequently) listen to it.

 

Warnings

 

Some swearing, drinking, and a few sexual references.