Paciencia y Fe :A Life Story Within A Song (In The Heights)

 So much can be told over the span of a few minutes, so much can be unpacked in a matter of seconds, and when the song "Paciencia y Fe" begins in "In The Heights" a whole life is about to unfold. The matriarch Abuela Claudia has been supporting and helping characters throughout the show so far, and very little is known about her until now. We know she helped raise most of the block, she never had biological children but she has taken care of so many in the cast and more in so many ways, she has a lot of love to give, and she loves to play the lotto. But at this moment in the stage version, and the version I will be discussing today exclusively, the unthinkable has happened.  A winning lottery ticket to the tune of 96,000, as shown by the number that directly preceded it, and as this great victory has come, she begins to look back at her life, and she tells the audience her story.

The fundamentals in "In The Heights" come from legacy, something Lin Manuel Miranda would carry into "Hamilton", but instead of a grand stage of the nation's founding fathers, this is about legacy and dreams in the small starting space known as home. The stories, desires, and legacies of your friends, neighbors, and family both by blood and found. As the narrative of the stage show unravels we see the cast's wants, dreams, where they have come from, and where they want to go. This is Abulea Clauda's moment.

Starting from humble beginnings to immigrating, to now, to the big reveal of her winning the lottery, but she goes about her day as if it never happened and all that is left are her mother's words that she has lived by and passed on to others "Paciencia y Fe", patience and faith. The song has a sweeping score, uses the ensemble, and shows every moment with perfect pacing and beautiful lyrics, showing a story that is all too true. A story of a struggling Latino family who worked and worked their way, living by words that seem simple from the outside but hold so much power. Patience and faith to overcome the struggles of poverty or in the case of the second half of the song, trying to find a new home and being greeted by standards to change and conform. "You better clean this mess, You better learn English, you better not be late, you better pull your weight.." the ensemble shouts as Abluea keeps singing the words her mother gave to her to combat them. The two of them doing everything they could in their new home, "Polishing with pride, scrubbing the whole of the upper easter side, the days into weeks, the weeks into years and here I stay", a woman on the other side of it all. 

Now she is left with the winning ticket, a golden moment she never expected, giving my favorite lyric "Aye Mama what do you do when your dream comes true? I've spent my life inheriting dreams from you..". In this musical about dreams big and small, finding your place, or finding where home is, the plot moves along and shows what the cast dreams of, for Benny it's to prove himself and win Nina's heart, for Nina she feels like her dream is all but lost, and Usnavi can't find his dream until he goes back home, he and Vanessa feel their current environment can't give them what they want. Abulea is the first in the show to have a dream come true, and how does she greet it by buying a loaf of bread to feed the birds, and continues with her day. She wonders what her mom would say and the song ends on a powerful chord as she sings one last time "Paciencia y Fe", even though the dream has come true she will not let go of what she learned. The very words that have carried her this far still ring in her ears and she intends to still live by them. These words are reflected in the character from the moment she says them in the opening song, to every appearance she makes in the show.

Words that carry weight throughout someone's life, and a song that shows a perfect reading of someone's story. When she walked into the song, the audience is then given her story and worldview in a matter of minute, and then the story continues. The masterful use of the ensemble, the beautiful lyrics, the message behind them all, and the sweeping score make this song unforgettable. The movie version tells the story in its own way, and I will discuss that one someday, but this version whether seen on stage or listened to, is an adventure. It shows of life of patience and faith and how the best things handed down to us are not physical, but the lessons we learned and can pass on to others. 

When Your'e Home: The In The Heights Movie

 The year was 2021, and movies were still getting back on their feet. Some companies decided to skip the wait for theaters and just drop them on streaming services, some decided to charge prices for a limited time for this, and others just released movies on both platforms and for no fee. One such film in this dual-release format was the long awaited musical movie adaptation of "In The Heights" having only one trailer before everything shut down in early 2020. This movie was not controversy-free, a film claiming to represent all aspects of Hispanic culture, but leaving out several ethnicities and Afro-Latinos from the cast. The movie might have performed well on streaming but when it came to the big screens it bombed financially, receiving mixed to positive reviews. 

When this film first dropped on HBO MAX back when it was called that and not just MAX, I loved it. I watched it about four or five times, and it was only available for about a month until it was added much later for a longer stretch. The story had some changes and kept some things the same, so I was left seeing this not so much as a full-on adaptation, but rather keeping some of the music, and doing its own thing. As time passed and a rewatch or two after some time away, I found myself liking some parts of the movie, loving some parts, and being confused by others. Some aspects I found way better from the stage version, and other decisions where I felt like something was attempted to be fixed that was not broken to begin with. 

For example, songs are removed which makes sense to help the movie fit a run time, but even with that this movie runs at over two hours, and some storylines are cut down or removed, but this involves things not making sense or characters being killed off for no reason. Some of the story changes work incredibly well, and some of them are being kept work but some don't. They change the song order as well, sometimes working and sometimes not. For example, the lottery ticket plot from the original flows naturally and becomes an interesting plot point, but isn't even addressed, changing the order and meaning of my favorite song "Paciencia y Fe" into this look back at Abuela's death right before she dies, but then why have the lottery ticket in the movie at all? Killing off Nina's mother leads nowhere, and then there's Benny.

Much like the stage show, so much is going on, there are so many plots, and some of them are never resolved, mainly Benny's, you never know his outcome, and he is a character you spend over half the movie with. The plot can be heartwarming, and touching, as well as have real moments, but then also be baffling at the same time. They add Sonny's father for one scene and all it does is pad out the run time, some of the emotions hit a strong chord, but then some don't like Usnavi's fight with Vanessa during the blackout. For every good change or good performance, there is one in the writing and plot that leaves me beyond confused. Some lyric changes also baffled me and did not fit as they reference songs the characters did not sing, or songs that were cut. 

The instrumentation is also a mixed bag, sometimes it fits perfectly and other times it is way too soft, and tries to be different. But what do I like about this?

The performances and acting are phenomenal, and most of the music is incredible. The songs are well shot, well performed, and have amazing choreography. The way they are filmed, using a solo, duet, or ensemble is incredible, most of the songs hit it right out of the park. Even with my qualms with this version of "Paciencia y Fe" in terms of the changes made and where it is placed into the plot, I love the way it looks, it is shot wonderfully and is gorgeous, made into a visually striking scene. And that goes for so many of the songs, the actors knock them all out of the park, "In The Heights", "Benny's Dispatch", "Breath", "It Won't Be Long Now", "96,000", "When You're Home", "The Club", "Blackout" and "Finale" all stand out. There are a couple numbers I am simply okay with but most of them, are unforgettable. 

The acting is incredible as well, emotion-packed, whether comedic or serious, the acting is amazing. I just wish the material was better, there are more than seven plot lines going on in this movie, two romances, lots of dreams, and multiple emotional conflicts, to the point where as mentioned earlier they are not all resolved. But there is still plenty of good in the movie, great acting, great music, and it is visually a marvel in scenes both big and small, well acted too. The editing is also fantastic, the visuals re amazing, in shots both long and short of all kinds. 

I would say watch the movie at least once and perhaps listen to the soundtrack alongside the Broadway version. Funny enough the Broadway version also has too many plot points, but much like that the music is incredible, and it is fun to see where Lin Manuel Miranda started. This movie has enough good music, some good acting, a couple of the plots are well done, and is charming enough for a watch, at least one, I think I can find myself watching this every once in a while, sometimes all the way through, and sometimes just for the musical performances.