Review: IN THE HEIGHTS Starts the Season Off with a Bang, at Portland Center Stage

A strange thing happened the other evening at Portland Center Stage -- I brought the average age of the audience up. I'm 42, so squarely on the path to middle age, but in most theatre audiences, I'm still one of the younger ones. Not so for IN THE HEIGHTS, the 2008 Tony Award-winning musical from Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes, which kicks off the season at Portland Center Stage. As I looked around at the audience, which I'd put mostly between the ages of 12 and 25, I declared victory for new artistic director Marissa Wolf for bringing this kind of vibrant programming to the stage.

And that was before I saw the show.

I was lucky enough to see the original cast of IN THE HEIGHTS on Broadway. I'm not sure if it's because I've changed in the past 11 years or because our current social and political climate makes shows like this even more important, but I liked the PCS production more than the original. It has all of the spectacle -- the music, the dancing, the talent (which includes a member of the original cast) -- but also a heightened sense of urgency to tell the stories of these mostly Latinx, first- and second-generation American residents of New York's Washington Heights neighborhood.

The musical takes place over the course of 3 days, starting the 3rd of July. The overarching plot involves a winning lottery ticket and a blackout in the middle of a heat wave, with interwoven subplots about a community in transition. Some people want to get out of the neighborhood as quickly as possible, some have been away and want to return, and others want to stay and help the community prosper. Meanwhile, money is tight, rents are rising, and it's a struggle to get by.

It's a story that has played out many times in Washington Heights (the playbill provides a fascinating history of the area throughout many waves of immigration), and one that continues to be repeated today as gentrification displaces people in many major cities, including Portland. It's also a celebration of the amazing things that can happen when a community comes together.

Aside from the plot themes, what makes IN THE HEIGHTS so electric (and draws in the younger crowds) is the music, which fuses hip hop and salsa into a score unlike anything you'll hear in most Broadway musicals (Hamilton being the main exception). The huge cast of this production, most of whom have performed the show many times before, has mastered Miranda's complex rhythms and lyrics as well as the characters' complex emotions as they work to make the best lives for themselves and their families. The show I saw featured quite a few understudies, so your experience will be different from mine, but prepare to be blown away.

IN THE HEIGHTS runs through October 13. It's a must-see. If you're not a Millennial or Gen Zer, find one to go with you. More details and tickets here.

Photo credit: Owen Carey/Courtesy of Portland Center Stage at The Armory

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