Review: MTW Mounts a Winning IN THE HEIGHTS

In The Heights

/conceived & music & lyrics by/Lin-Manuel Miranda/book by Quiara Alegria Hudes/directed by Benjamin Perez/choreographed by Hector Guerrero/Musical Theatre West (MTW), Long Beach/at the Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts/through November 5

Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tony and Grammy Award-winning show In the Heights had a lot to shout about when it played Broadway in 2008...in fact, it still does. First of all, it's a musical with and about Latinos - way overdue -plus it has a terrific book with a heartwarming storyline about a closely knit community. That's right, a real community, one that boasts a bevy of exceedingly real and likeable characters. Miranda also created a varied score with ballads & traditional pop melodies and salsa meshed together with rap. MTW brings In the Heights to The Carpenter Center with a dynamite cast and slick direction by Benjamin Perez . Perez has directed the show before and knows what it takes to make it the best he can. This time with choregrapher Hector Guerrero, the show rocks and will be a humongous hit for MTW.

Led by Perry Young as Usnavi (the role Miranda wrote for himself) the show moves at a prolific speed and remains consistent throughout. Usnavi is a fast-talking Dominican bodega (grocery-store) owner who is everyone's favorite brother, son, you name it. Each day of living in the heights is made better through contact with him.Young nails his streetwise humanity and brings a freshness that is totally natural. Alyssa Gomez makes a beautiful, intelligent and caring Nina Rosario whose good fortune lies outside the heights, not within, at Stanford University. Her attendance at college is ground-breaking for the Rosario family and for the entire community. Teresa Castillo makes a wild and frenzied Vanessa, who, the opposite of Nina, has less of a chance for self-improvement. She resigns herself to stay yet never loses her zest for living. Candida Celaya is Abuela Claudia, everybody's favorite grandma. Hailing from Cuba, she reminisces about starry Havana nights, so missing from the New York sky and keeps a strong faith, if not always for herself, at least for everybody else's goodwill. Celaya's two solos are sung with a dynamic honesty that leaves an indelible impression. Hers is a superlative performance! Elvira Barjau and Mario Rocha are Camila and Kevin Rosario, Nina's parents, who will do just about anything to guarantee a successful future for their daughter, including compromising their own plans. Others completing the great ensemble are EJ Cardona as Piragua Guy - another great singer, Carleton Bluford as Benny, so in love with Nina yet an outsider, and Briana Bonilla and Marissa Haddad are Daniela and Carla, Vanessa's fun-loving partners at the hair salon, whose 'chismeando' or gossiping keep things raunchy and hot, kind of like in a Latino telenovela. Andrew Joseph Perez is Usnavi's faithful Tonto cousin Sonny and Luis Martinez , Graffiti Pete, a budding artist. It goes without saying that the entire company are triple threat performers.

Guided by Perez's fast pacing and Guerrero's mesmerizing choreography, the entire cast are on a never-ending high. When one of the street kids is asked early on if he can dance, the reply crackles "Like a drunk Chita Rivera!" Salsa and all the nonstop ingrained Latin rhythms are present. Miranda's music starts and ends with rap, but in between runs the gamut of styles with even a couple of beautiful ballads like "Inutil", "Paciencia y Fe", "Alabanza" and "Everything I Know".

Quiara Alegria Hudes' book does lapse into sitcom-like dialogue at times, but the stories have enough relevance and heart to maintain interest, and in the long run, it's the whole picture that matters most. Especially effective is Abuela Claudia's nurturing ways. We feel her fierce integrity to the very end... and beyond. And as far as winning the lottery is concerned, Usnavi's 'surprise' decision as to how to spend the money makes him a champion to the community. In today's troubled world, we need to reach out with love to our extended family... MTW's nurturing production makes us enjoy and think simultaneously.

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(photo credit: Caught in the Moment Photography)