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'In The Heights' Brings Lin-Manuel Miranda -And A Dose Of Nostalgia- To South Florida

For Latino immigrants, the saying 'home is where the heart is' is complicated. Home is where you settle your roots and build your family and your legacy. But there will always be that part of your heart that yearns for home, as in the land of your birth, the country of your ancestors.

If there's one theme throughout the Broadway show "In The Heights," that's pretty much it. The lead character, Usnavi, is an immigrant from the Dominican Republic who yearns to return to the country of his roots. Throughout the show he's striving to achieve that one goal. But eventually he learns, as many do, that often times home is right where you stand, and for him that's the New York City neighborhood of  Washington Heights.

"In The Heights" introduced the world to Pulitzer Prize winner Lin Manuel Miranda, the writer of the current Broadway hit "Hamilton." It was an ambitious show that challenged traditional Broadway ensembles with a more hip-hop soundtrack. But it's more than that. The show is a beautiful mix of hip-hop, salsa and powerfully emotional ballads. Oh, and is also bilingual.

All of those reasons are why directors John and Maria Rodaz  wanted to tackle it at their Miami conservatory, Area Stage Company

"It's just a wonderful show. It's so exuberant and we've been wanting to do it for a long time and we decided that this year was the time for it," says John Rodaz, one of the two directors of the show. "It's a very difficult show, and a very demanding, but I think we made the right decision."

His wife and co-director, Maria Rodaz, says it's a show that will touch audiences of all ages, "It will be an experience that you can't get anywhere else. It's a beautiful marriage of text and music that Manuel Miranda brought together with co-author Quiara Alegria Hudes. I think it's just a fantastic experience that really changed the landscape of New York Broadway." 

Credit Luis Hernandez / WLRN
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WLRN
John and Maria Rodaz make final adjustments before opening night.

The story still has stereotypes of characters, like the overly-protective father, the authoritarian mother, the gossip hounds at the beauty salon and so on.

Josephine Phoenix plays  Camila Rosario, one of the mothers in the story. She says In "The Heights" touches on all of those stereotypes Latinos know well, "You can have young kids in here loving the hip-hop narrative aspect of it because there's a bunch of rap and then you have the older characters. And mothers can relate to how a mother feels when her daughter goes away. Then you have the man of the house that tries to lay down the law that every grandfather and father can relate to."

Pablo Cartaya plays Camila's husband Kevin Rosario. And he is the atypical father-figure who tries to lay down the law. The Rosarios own a cab company in Washington Heights, and they are struggling with the fact their one daughter is away at college, something that is taking a financial and emotional toll on them. Oh, and add to that, their daughter Nina is in love with one of their employees, Benny.

Credit Luis Hernandez / WLRN
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WLRN
Pablo Cartaya sits in the wings of the stage waiting for his cue.

One other large theme in the show deals with gentrification, even though it's never mentioned, only implied.  In one line in the shows final song, Usnavi sings: "In five years, when this whole city's rich folks and hipsters, who's gonna miss this raggedy little business?" 

Cartaya says Miamians will relate: "I was just recently with my wife in Little Havana[which] has such a great vibe at night. It was a great lively atmosphere and you can buy a margarita for like four bucks or these little tacos that you can eat for two or three bucks, and there's that sort of sense of that old school neighborhood site. But then you can go to like Wynwood, which is a cool neighborhood but it's completely gentrified. I mean it's completely hipster-fied. There's nothing wrong with that. I think it's great, but it's, you know, there's a difference."

The Area Stage Company's version of 'In The Heights' opens Friday Aug. 5. The show runs Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Aug. 21. The last week of performances are Thursday Aug. 25 through Saturday Aug. 27.

Area Stage Company is at 1560 S. Dixie Highway, Coral Gables.

 

Luis Hernandez is an award-winning journalist and host whose career spans three decades in cities across the U.S. He’s the host of WLRN’s newest daily talk show, Sundial (Mon-Thu), and the news anchor every afternoon during All Things Considered.
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