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In the Heights

If I could play one role IN THE WORLD, it would be Usnavi de La Vega from In the Heights. I just love this character so much. And I love the musical a lot. I was a little Puerto Rican kid who didn't see much representation. I was raised with West Side Story on VHS and that was the only Puerto Rican representation I can remember seeing. And, honestly, it wasn't the best.

I didn't get into In the Heights until I got into Hamilton. Because, though I have been a fan of Lin-Manuel Miranda since he was Mario in Electric Company, I didn't know he was the amazing artist he is. I know I heard about In the Heights when Corbin Bleu was in it, but I knew nothing about it. I thought it was a movie.

I just think that In the Heights is so amazing and it deserves so much hype. So let's talk about it. I love the character of Nina because I relate to her. I had to take a semester off after the first semester of my sophomore year and that semester off turned into me leaving my college. So I appreciate having a character I can relate to.

Original Broadway Cast:
Lin-Manuel Miranda as Usnavi de la Vega
Mandy Gonzalez as Nina Rosario
Olga Merediz as Abuela Claudia
Janet Dacal as Carla
Andrea Burns as Daniela
Carlos Gomez as Kevin Rosario
Priscilla Lopez as Camila Rosario
Robin de Jesus as Sonny
Chris Jackson as Benny
Karen Olivo as Vanessa
Eliseo Roman as The Piagua Guy
Seth Stewart as Graffiti Pete
Tracklist:
Act I
1. In the Heights
2. Breathe
3. Benny's Dispatch
4. It Won't Be Long
5. Inutil (Useless)
6. No Me Diga
7. 96,000
8. Pacencia y Fe
9. When You're Home
10. Piragua
11. The Club
12. Blackout
Act II
1. Sunrise
2. Hundreds of Stories
3. Enough
4. Carnival del Barrio (Neighborhood Carnival)
5. Atencion (Attention)
6. Alabanza (Praise)
7. Everything I Know
8. No Me Diga (Reprise)
9. Piragua (Reprise)
10. Champagne
11. When the Sun Goes Down
12. Finale 
In the Heights was #5 in my top 10 favorite musicals for a lot of reasons. The show has great Latinx representation. The music was written by a fellow Nuyorican. The original Broadway cast is amazing. This is a musical that I'm glad exists.

Overall Thoughts:
Favorite Character: Sonny
Least Favorite Character: The summer heat is real in New York, believe me.
Favorite Song: "Breathe" because relatable
Least Favorite Song: "Atencion" because sadness
Rate out of 10: 10/10 would recommend!
I'm mostly adding this just for the Puerto Rican flag.
The music is great and the storyline is relatable, until Abuela Claudia wins the lotto, but it's ficional, so what can you do? I really do think that if you have not listened to the original Broadway cast album yet, you should. I don't think they have one for the West End cast, but I did not like the West End cast's performance of "96,000" at the Olivier awards. But I will say that I am glad David Bedella was casted as the West End's Kevin Rosario because he is very good and I've heard his version of "Inutil" an it's good.

I'm going to end the post here, but I am planning to do a post about Lin-Manuel Miranda fairly soon and a post about Hamilton is also planned. So stay tuned!
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