The cast of “In the Heights” at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire. (Photo by Liz Lauren)
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With “In the Heights” Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire takes on Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) musical that is arguably very different from the longtime traditional shows presented there.
And audiences know that immediately when a street artist Graffiti Pete (Phillip Wood) opens the show by spray painting an awning outside a neighborhood store and performs hip-hop style.
The musical goes on to tell about a distraught, mostly Domincan Latino community in Upper Manhattan’s NYC’s Washington Heights neighborhood that s worried about family, work, rent and changing times.
It centers on Usnavi (Joseph Morales) who runs the community’s bodega (small grocery/convenience store) inherited from his parents.
But it also deals with problems of love, parental approval and making it outside the community’s cultural boundaries.
If you go: Don’t expect “West Side Story” style songs and dances. “In the Heights” pulses to a very different beat. Think “Hamilton” which Miranda wrote and uses different rhythms.
“In the Heights” is at Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire, through March 17u, 2024.
Jodie Jacobs
For more shows visit Theatre in Chicago