Words by Scarlett Harris
Ten years ago to the day of In the Heights’ Melbourne opening night was Hamilton’s Broadway debut. Though In the Heights pre-dates Hamilton as wunderkind Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first Broadway musical, it was the latter that revolutionised musical theatre and broke open traditionally white roles for non-white performers.
Hamilton, a rap musical based on the life of American founding father Alexander Hamilton, cast majority performers of colour in the roles of American revolutionaries. It marked a clear delineation between a majority white industry (make no mistake, it still is) and an influx of non-white performers on the stage.
In the Heights is no different. First opening off-Broadway in 2007 before a Broadway run in 2008, the musical centres on a ragtag group of Latinos in the Manhattan neighbourhood of Washington Heights. Usnavi is our protagonist and a clear Miranda stand-in, right down to the goatee (Miranda originated the role on Broadway). He runs his deceased parents’ bodega on a rapidly gentrifying block, where his fellow business owners—including Daniela, beauty salon owner, and Kevin, who owns a fleet of cabs and limousines—are also being priced out. He’s in love with Vanessa, who works at the salon but wants to get out of the barrio and move downtown. Meanwhile, Kevin’s daughter and the pride and joy of the block, Nina, has just returned home from her first year at Stanford University, which proved harder than she thought, academically and financially. The prodigal daughter catches the eye of Kevin’s employee, Benny, whom Kevin believes is not on Nina’s level. Tensions heighten during a record heatwave over Independence Day weekend and an ensuing blackout.
Melbourne’s ensemble cast, led by Ryan González as Usnavi, is hypnotic. Standouts include Olivia Vásquez as Vanessa, Mariah Gonzalez as Nina and Ngali Shaw as Benny. The opening night crowd went especially mad for Richard Valdez, who plays Piragua Guy, while I couldn’t take my eyes off Asmara Soekotjo, ensemble dancer.
Vásquez’s undeniable star power goes a ways to obscuring the fact that Vanessa is criminally underwritten. We never learn why she wants to move out of the Heights, whereas in the 2021 movie adaptation with Melissa Barrera (justice 4 Melissa Barrera) in the role, Vanessa is embodied as a fashion designer and low-key the narrative driver of the film. Though Usnavi is also planning to leave for the Dominican Republic where he was born, this could be made clearer and thus takes away from the impact of the finale song which states his intention to stay in the Heights. There’s also an outsized focus on heterosexual romantic partnerships, which takes away from the interiority of Vanessa and Nina, as well as Nina’s mum Camila, who I struggle to define as a character apart from being Kevin’s wife (perhaps this is why the character was done away with in the movie).
In the Heights lands in Melbourne amidst a stellar theatre season which has included Beetlejuice, Hadestown, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and the forthcoming MJ the Musical, most if not all of which feature diverse casts. It’s a far cry from the pre-Hamilton, pre-In the Heights theatre landscape.
