Before there was a musical movie adaptation, there was a musical for the movie to make that adaptation of, there was just a musical. A musical about a bodega owner, a man who worked at a taxi dispatch, a woman just wanting to move on, some salon owners, a woman who has dropped out of college, her parents, one of them who may or may not be a tad racist, and an elderly grandmother who watches over the entire neighborhood and loves to play the lotto. A musical about dreams, friends, family, and what it means to be home. A show packed with lessons sometimes big and obvious, sometimes, simple and small being tucked away within the span of a couple lines or a short song. I listened to this original Broadway cast recording all the way through many times, and sometimes just picked my favorite songs, and even saw a live performance of it in 2019. So before we hit the big screen, I am going to dive into the original that started it all.
The music in this show has incredible range on all fronts, whether it is the big and grand opening, the emotion-packed solo songs, or super energetic group numbers. Some songs are quiet and soft, many of them super energetic whether using one singer, a couple, the whole ensemble, or a little bit of all of the above, starting small and growing to a big energetic spectacle, the variety songs might not always bring a winner but when it does, it really does.
Having seen this show live in 2019, listened to the album countless times, and watched the movie more than once, I am very familiar with the narrative and the music.
My favorite songs are "In The Heights", "Breath", "Benny's Dispatch", "It Won't Be Long Now", "96,000", "Paciencia Y Fe", "When You're Home", "Blackout", "Sunrise", "Hundreds Of Stories", "Carnival de Barrio", "What You Know", "Champagne", "When The Sun Goes Down", and "Finale". There is so much range in the songs, whether it is the tempo or style, ranging from solos to duets, to a mix that begins as a solo and grows to having the whole ensemble making a big and grand group number. I love the music of this show so much, there is so much emotion in the music, whether it's comedic or heartfelt, a love song, or a song about chasing your dreams, the emotional range is also amazing in this show.
This show just captures the feeling of the season of Summer, aside from lyrics that point out the time of year such as "We start July..." (thus why I am spending the end of June and most of July covering this musical and such), there is so much about the heat and weather, being home, seeing family, and even seasonal favorites like frozen treats and fireworks. The show has such a good feeling through its music of being home, it really knocks it out of the park with many of the songs that hit close to home with their relatable emotions and characters, each member of the cast feeling like someone you know or even see yourself in.
Unfortunately as amazing as this show is, there are some low lows to accompany these high highs. One massive problem is the amount of things going on in this show, there are two love stories, family drama, a huge cast each with their own dreams, a motherly figure who watches over them all, wanting to leave, and more. Even as the story pushes into act two, more plot points and storylines are added as the narrative keeps going, never stopping, and leaving some things paper thin or even worse, unresolved. There are a couple stories that take time, and get the audience invested in them, but then just have no ending, and it feels like time wasted. This also spans into some of the music, giving each character a minimum of one song, leading to some songs feeling unearned and just there to fill the space, not giving them much purpose, the world and environment are almost too fleshed out. What I mean is one of the strongest points of this show also ironically leads to one of its weakest. The world feels so alive to the point that the characters, storylines, and environments feel real, and they should since Washington Heights is a real place, putting a fictional story with real themes in a real location, but it sometimes feels bloated and has so much going on that you can only be so invested because ones attention is being pulled in so many directions, sometimes even multiple storylines are addressed in one scene.
These flaws are very glaring, but the amazing music, and the good charecter moments do outshine the bad. There are plenty of strong character-driven moments, especially with Nina, Benny, Usnavi, and Abuela Claudia. Their songs carry emotional weight, whether light-hearted or emotion-packed to great lengths to make this show memorable. One could even say, great heights. Not all of the music shines but the ones that do stand head and shoulders, making great listens in the context of the show or on their own. The show has a set identity and sticks with it, standing strong in many areas narratively, with some amazing music to carry those moments. Soft and quiet, or big and grand, using the whole ensemble in many skilled ways. This show is at least worth a listen, and you will see this a great listen during the summer, or all year round. This show captrures the perfect summer feeling with so many great high energy numbers, and has so many moments that make this a good time still overall. I recommend seeing it live at least once or giving it a listen once, definitely before the movie, starting with the Broadway cast album. Turn the lights up on this tale of Washington Heights, and you just might see why this musical feels right at home, especially during the summer season.
