Dreams of a better life and reflections upon the dreams once had pervade multi-talented American songwriter, actor, singer, filmmaker, rapper, and librettist Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical In The Heights.
Making its mark with a melting pot of immigrant lives – set in the shadows of the grand George Washington Bridge in Manhattan’s Upper East Side beyond Harlem – the predominantly Hispanic neighbourhood of Washington Heights opens up its passionate beat with exhilarating heart and soul.
Germinating from early drafts in 1999, In The Heights opened on Broadway in 2008, was nominated for 13 Tony Awards and won 4, including Best Musical.
While the authenticity of its account of life in the neighbourhood could be debatable, its score – heavily influenced by hip-hop and Latin rhythms together with traditional Broadway musical elements mixed with rap, salsa, and merengue – captures a bristling spirit easy to latch onto.
Importantly, it also incorporates rap as a storytelling, recitative-like device that also mirrors the cultural landscape. Miranda, of course, brought that recipe of rap to sophisticated fruition in his later blockbuster musical, Hamilton.
A few minor problems, however, lie in the sometimes abrupt song endings, subsequent pregnant pauses and broken moods. Quiara Alegría Hudes’ book isn’t without issue either, often feeling tediously overpacked and dramatically lopsided. A bemusing rush to the finale with a change of mind by the show’s narrator and leading character, Usnavi, doesn’t help.
But wit and endearment emanate in Miranda’s libretto and energy and spunk are always in ample supply, filling the stage in this new non-replica production directed by Luke Joslin for Joshua Robson Productions.
Having played two Sydney runs at the Hayes Theatre and the Drama Theatre of the Sydney Opera House, it’s a welcome return of the show for Melbourne audiences who first had the opportunity to see StageArt’s production of In The Heights at Chapel Off Chapel in 2015 (remounted in 2016 at the National Theatre) or that of Old Carey Performing Arts Club, presented in 2022.
A dozen characters and a small additional ensemble populate an inglorious slice of Washington Heights, realised with effective simplicity by set designer Mason Browne and featuring the local brownstones and businesses with the George Washington Bridge looming high in the background.
Keerthi Subramanyam’s costume designs neatly articulate the contemporary social-economic make-up of the primarily Hispanic community and Jasmine Rizk’s broadly considered lighting design does the trick in creating the intimate, the festive, the fireworks for the 4th July and the mood of the setting’s heatwave.
It’s an overall convincing visual representation on which Joslin astutely marshals the cast as their characters’ local lives weave in and out. He is assisted brilliantly by Amy Campbell’s upbeat, physically demanding choreography that almost always feels like a natural extension of the particular circumstances.
The show is kept both engagingly and entertainingly buoyant by some wonderful performances but the singing has a few inconsistencies. He might not sport the most muscular of voices but Ryan González sings with warmth and sails through the passages of rap with much aplomb while doing a great job charming the audience and relating his rocked background as local bodega owner, Usnavi.
He’s smitten with Vanessa who works at Daniela’s salon and who Olivia Vásquez embodies with vibrancy, voluptuousness and powerful vocals. Sonny, Usnavi’s cousin who works with him, is a likeable youngster and jokester in Steve Costi’s superb dancing shoes and the big-hearted, grandmother figure of Abuela Claudia is generously captured by Lena Cruz. The sense of nostalgia and love she brings to Act 1’s Paciencia y fe (Patience and Faith) is a notable highlight.
So, too, is Vanessa Menjivar’s priceless performance and all out sassiness as Daniela in leading the troupe in Act 2’s hugely electric song and dance spectacle, Carnaval del barrio.
Then there’s the beautifully shaped performance and sweet vocals – despite occasionally pushing the top of the voice beyond necessity – that Mariah Gonzalez brings to the blossoming university student Nina. The chemistry she shares with Ngali Shaw as Benny, her developing love interest and employee of her father, is tenderly drawn with Shaw putting in a handsome, warm-blooded act alongside her.
Among the remaining characters, Richard Valdez, as Piragua Guy, gives the audience a bouncy shot with the catchy – I want to stop myself from suggesting irritating – show trinket, Piragua.
Musically, the flow and gusto of Miranda’s score soared from the pit on opening night with music director Zara Stanton presiding over just 8 musicians but sounding like so many more. The night, however, saw a few small technical issues both with sound amplification and lighting mishaps which will hopefully resolve.
As it should, the show oozes with the passion, sexiness and drama of Hispanic life and of dreams, personal struggles and community connection. It can be sentimental and stereotypical, too, but In The Height‘s energy alone will sure to enrapture a wave of fans.
In The Heights
Comedy Theatre, 240 Exhibition Street, Melbourne
Performance: Thursday 7 August 2025
Season continues to 6 September 2025
Bookings: www.ticketek.com.au
Following the Melbourne season, In The Heights will play at the Home of the Arts (HOTA), Gold Coast, from 12 September 2025. For more information, visit: www.intheheightsmusical.com for details.
Images: The Cast of In The Heights (supplied) | Ryan González as Usnavi (supplied) | Lena Cruz as Abuela Claudia (supplied) | Ngali Shaw as Benny and Mariah Gonzalez as Nina Rosario (supplied)
Review: Paul Selar