In the Heights

In this traveling production of Broadway's In the Heights, the design aspect that stuck out the most to me was the scenic design. Upon taking their seats, the audience knows immediately the type of setting in which the play will take place. From the subway entrance to Abuela Claudia’s stoop, the special attention to detail that the set designers took is evident. Even with space constraints, designers and actors were able to make it work by having moveable parts that could be adjusted depending on the scene’s requirements. The detailed set instantly reminded me of the Manhattan New York neighborhoods that it was trying to portray.

An area that always impresses me in a musical or play such as this is the costume design. In In the Heights, all of the costumes were just common street clothes and nothing particularly memorable. However, it is because of this that I find the costume design to be impressive. Too often costumes in musicals and plays such as this have costumes that are too over the top or do not necessarily match the situation. In this musical, not only did they do that, but they also allowed for the audience to be comfortable and identify with the main characters. The exception, of course, was the Rosario parents but the business formal costumes of those characters added to the necessary persona of the musical.

Finally, another area that I found to be satisfactory, was the sound design. Much like costume design, it is hard to pull off well and be remembered for being good, not bad. This musical’s sound design went beyond that by fitting so well into each scene that it seemed that music was part of their everyday conversation.

PLOT SUMMARY: Originally from the Dominican Republic, a man, now living in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, makes it part of his life’s mission to return to his homeland. When an unexpected opportunity arises, he must choose between leaving behind everything he has ever known or returning to the island he loves.

IDEA SUMMARY: Sometimes home is where you least expect it.