In the Heights

Jefferson Performing Arts Society brings heart to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical about “familia”

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“Lights up, in Washington Heights, up at the break of day…”

Sitting in the audience during the Jefferson Performing Arts Society’s (JPAS) run-through for their upcoming production of In the Heights, I watched as the florescent-lit Elmwood rehearsal studio was transformed into a bustling, sticky-hot street of Washington Heights, Manhattan. Even without the sets, costumes, or props doing work to set the scene, the cast of actors—equipped with Lin-Manuel Miranda’s complex score and a talented lone pianist (music director Richard Cordova, in town from Manhattan) accompanying them—were so grounded in the realities of their characters’ lives that my imagination easily filled in the sights, sounds, and smells of the bodega.

Despite my presence—a stranger intruding upon the group’s established intimacy to watch their first run through in over a week—the ensemble’s energy felt palpably electric, and my toes seldom stopped tapping.

JPAS’s production will mark the first time the Tony- and Grammy Award-winning musical that rocketed Miranda to acclaim (in 2008, long before Hamilton’s opening) is performed in the Gulf South, and they’ve made efforts to do it right.

“I’m excited about this whole show, because I have family from Nicaragua, and I’m originally from New Orleans,” said Director Michelle Pietri, “and so much of this show is about finding what home is—whether home is a place, or if it’s really a feeling of family. Family is not always blood—family is who you love, and who accepts you for who you are, and how you are. And of course, if you have any Hispanic background, it’s so nice to see Hispanic people represented in a loving, positive, and uplifting way.”

The cast, from New Orleans and Houston, collectively possesses connections to Honduras, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Their personal connections to the script and the struggles and victories of their characters, in combination with the extensive character development Pietri has guided them in (like creating social media profiles and playlists from their characters’ perspectives), render emotionally authentic, captivating performances.

"So much of this show is about finding what home is—whether home is a place, or if it’s really a feeling of family. Family is not always blood—family is who you love, and who accepts you for who you are, and how you are." —Director Michelle Pietri

From lead Alcee Jones’s laid-back-yet-determined embodiment of lovestruck bodega owner Usnavi, to ensemble members like Adriel Aviles, who plays the guy who sells the Puerto Rican shaved ice treat piragua from a street cart with upbeat enthusiasm tinged with desperation— each character is fully-realized and renders sympathy from the audience. There isn't much of a villain in In the Heights; the characters’ personal and financial struggles as first and second generation immigrants living in a bustling American city provides enough impetus for action.

Kelly Laines embodies the ambitious pride of the neighborhood Nina with heart-wrenchingly sincere anxiety and sweetness, and sings with crystal-clear clarity as her character grapples with how to break it to her parents that she lost her Stanford scholarship because the two jobs she had to work to afford books didn’t leave her enough time to study. Paul Bello, who plays Nina’s father Kevin, volleys authentically from anger to heartbreak to helplessness to resoluteness as he decides whether he should give up the livelihood he has built for himself to support his daughter’s dreams. Gia Martinez’s Vanessa, Usnavi’s love interest who is continually behind on her rent, is both playful and fierce, with moments of soft melancholy piercing through. Benny as played by Neal Eli provides a needed comedic relief as the endearing and relatable goofball. And as the rest of the ensemble dances and belts their way through their characters’ day-to-day lives—gossiping, graffitiing, and all the rest—their characters each contribute to creating a rich depiction of the Hispanic Upper Manhattan neighborhood.

Within only three musical numbers that shifted seamlessly from English to Spanish, singing to rapping, speaking to dancing, I was entirely emotionally invested in the Washington Heights community that had sprung up before me. I can only imagine that when the show opens this month, fully-realized and in all its glory, that audiences will be completely enthralled with the heartfelt, captivating, musical story of familia, too.

In the Heights will run at the Jefferson Performing Arts Center from October 7–16, with performances at 7:30 pm Friday and Saturday, 2 pm Sunday. $23–$78 at jpas.org.