In the Heights

Lauren and I have again bought season tickets to The 5th Avenue Theatre. This is our second year as season ticket holders and one of Lauren's college roommates, Fernanda, decided to join us this year. The more the merrier!

We went to our first play of the season last night, "In the Heights". Per The 5th Ave's website:

"...In the Heights tells a universal story set in Manhattan's Washington Heights – a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open, and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. It's a community on the brink of change, full of hopes, dreams and pressures, where the biggest struggles can be deciding which traditions you take with you, and which ones you leave behind."

I honestly don't know much about Broadway plays and have never heard of this Tony Award winning one. The synopsis made me interested in it and then positive reviews started pouring in, which got me excited!

The set was intricate and amazing. It really held my attention and kept my eyes moving while we were waiting for the play to start. Then Graffitti Pete break-danced onto the scene and I turned to Lauren and said, "I can already tell I am going to love this play."

The play was about Washington Heights, a low income, largely Latino-based community in New York. The main character, Usnavi (pronounced oo-snah-vee), was the name his parents picked when they were immigrating to America and saw a ship pass with the name of "U.S. Navy." Oh how witty! The entire play had fun little moments like that.

The other thing that really pulled me in was the music. I was surprised how urban it all was; Usnavi did very little singing and rapped the majority of the time. The singing itself isn't what Broadway goers are used to either. Instead of the usual sing-acting (as I like to call the traditional Broadway belting), the actors sang songs that are easily radio friendly. Their naturally strong, melodic voices rang through the entire theatre. It was the type of singing that gives me goosebumps!

"In the Heights" was full of characters with large personalities (think Gloria from "Modern Family"), even bigger voices, and a beautiful set to match the terrific music. I don't normally buy soundtracks to musicals, but this is definitely one to own.

This really was a wonderful play to open up the 2010/2011 season and I can't wait for more!

P.S.
I never wear dresses, but I wore one to the play last night. I now remember why I don't wear dresses. I felt like I forgot my pants.