Thursday, August 18, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
Act One
In the shadows, a young man sprays graffiti onto the awning of a bodega, but his artistic reverie is interrupted when the store owner, Usnavi, enters and chases him away ("In the Heights"). Usnavi opens his bodega and supplies everyone with their morning coffee and papers. We meet the major characters and neighbors as they pass by his bodega. As the morning rush subsides, Nina Rosario enters, home at last from her freshman year at Stanford. In a moment alone, Nina reveals that she struggled at college ("Breathe").
Meanwhile, Nina's parents seek an emergency loan from the bank to keep their struggling taxi dispatch afloat. They leave Benny, a young employee, in charge of the dispatch for the first time ("Benny's Dispatch"). At the hair salon across the street, Vanessa has financial troubles of her own. Vanessa dreams of escaping to a studio in the West Village, but doesn't have enough money to do so ("It Won't Be Long Now"). When she stops by Usnavi's bodega, Sonny asks Vanessa out for Usnavi, and she accepts.
When her parents return, Nina becomes nervous and reveals to them that she lost her academic scholarship and dropped out of Stanford. Her father, Kevin, is devastated that he cannot provide tuition without the scholarship ("Inútil"). Nina seeks comfort from her friend Vanessa, but the salon owner, Daniela, sits her down for a makeover and gossip session ("No Me Diga"). Daniela decides to tease Vanessa by telling her that Usnavi slept with one of the neighborhood skanks, just to see how Vanessa would react. Vanessa reacts in a way that shows that she likes Usnavi, but does not truly recognize it.
After Usnavi discovers he sold a winning lottery ticket worth $96,000, everyone on the block dreams of how they would each spend the small fortune ("96,000"). Later, Abuela Claudia reflects on her childhood journey from Cuba to New York in 1943, remembering her mother saying "patience and faith" along the journey ("Paciencia y Fe"). She reveals that she holds the winning lottery ticket.
Nina and Benny find themselves alone on the street. Nina admits that she felt like an outsider at Stanford, and Benny says that being the only African-American in a Latino-run business can be intimidating. The two take a tour of the neighborhood landmarks around which they grew up ("When You're Home").
At a dinner party, Kevin announces that he has sold Rosario's Car Service to pay for Nina's tuition. His news is met with anger. Nina follows Benny to a dance club, apologizing, but he is furious at Kevin's decision, which has put him out of a job. Vanessa and Usnavi enter the club and begin to dance ("The Club"). Tensions rise on the dance floor because Vanessa and Usnavi are attempting to make each other jealous.
Suddenly, the power goes out throughout the city ("Blackout"). Chaos ensues, and Usnavi loses Vanessa in the darkness, while Sonny and Graffiti Pete are at the bodega protecting it from vandals and trying to distract them with fireworks. Abuela Claudia reveals to Usnavi that she won the lottery. With fireworks exploding in the sky, Nina and Benny find each other and kiss.
Meanwhile, Nina's parents seek an emergency loan from the bank to keep their struggling taxi dispatch afloat. They leave Benny, a young employee, in charge of the dispatch for the first time ("Benny's Dispatch"). At the hair salon across the street, Vanessa has financial troubles of her own. Vanessa dreams of escaping to a studio in the West Village, but doesn't have enough money to do so ("It Won't Be Long Now"). When she stops by Usnavi's bodega, Sonny asks Vanessa out for Usnavi, and she accepts.
When her parents return, Nina becomes nervous and reveals to them that she lost her academic scholarship and dropped out of Stanford. Her father, Kevin, is devastated that he cannot provide tuition without the scholarship ("Inútil"). Nina seeks comfort from her friend Vanessa, but the salon owner, Daniela, sits her down for a makeover and gossip session ("No Me Diga"). Daniela decides to tease Vanessa by telling her that Usnavi slept with one of the neighborhood skanks, just to see how Vanessa would react. Vanessa reacts in a way that shows that she likes Usnavi, but does not truly recognize it.
After Usnavi discovers he sold a winning lottery ticket worth $96,000, everyone on the block dreams of how they would each spend the small fortune ("96,000"). Later, Abuela Claudia reflects on her childhood journey from Cuba to New York in 1943, remembering her mother saying "patience and faith" along the journey ("Paciencia y Fe"). She reveals that she holds the winning lottery ticket.
Nina and Benny find themselves alone on the street. Nina admits that she felt like an outsider at Stanford, and Benny says that being the only African-American in a Latino-run business can be intimidating. The two take a tour of the neighborhood landmarks around which they grew up ("When You're Home").
At a dinner party, Kevin announces that he has sold Rosario's Car Service to pay for Nina's tuition. His news is met with anger. Nina follows Benny to a dance club, apologizing, but he is furious at Kevin's decision, which has put him out of a job. Vanessa and Usnavi enter the club and begin to dance ("The Club"). Tensions rise on the dance floor because Vanessa and Usnavi are attempting to make each other jealous.
Suddenly, the power goes out throughout the city ("Blackout"). Chaos ensues, and Usnavi loses Vanessa in the darkness, while Sonny and Graffiti Pete are at the bodega protecting it from vandals and trying to distract them with fireworks. Abuela Claudia reveals to Usnavi that she won the lottery. With fireworks exploding in the sky, Nina and Benny find each other and kiss.
Act Two
The next morning, Benny and Nina are on his fire escape after spending the night together. Nina teaches Benny Spanish. ("Sunrise") Down on the street, Usnavi's bodega has been looted. Abuela Claudia convinces Usnavi they should use her lottery winnings to relocate to the Dominican Republic. Usnavi agrees to be rid of his corner store and pursue his dream ("Hundreds of Stories").
Nina's parents have been searching for her all night, and when they learn that she has been with Benny, Kevin is furious. Kevin vows that Benny will never be a part of the Rosario family because he is not Latino. The family is at a breaking point when Camila instructs them to get it together before it is too late ("Enough").
It is high noon and the neighbors are frustrated by the extreme heat and continuing power outage. They muster enough energy for one last celebration before the bodega, the salon, and the dispatch shut their doors forever ("Carnaval Del Barrio"). People, led by Daniela, start to dance and sing. The celebration continues onto another block when a noticeably upset Nina comes out and stops Usnavi from dancing, pulling him into Abuela's house. Kevin makes an announcement over the taxi radios that Abuela Claudia has died ("Atención"). The neighbors reunite on the sidewalk, this time to hold a vigil in honor of the block's matriarch ("Alabanza"). Usnavi and Nina look through boxes of Abuela Claudia's keepsakes—old lottery tickets and photos from the block's history ("Everything I Know"). As Nina discovers photographs from her own high school graduation, she decides to accept her father's sacrifice and return to Stanford.
Across the street, as Daniela closes her salon forever, she reveals one last bit of juicy news ("No Me Diga (Reprise)"). She will co-sign on Vanessa's dream apartment in the West Village, thanks to a little convincing from Usnavi. Vanessa brings Usnavi a bottle of champagne to celebrate and asks him to stay, getting in an argument with him in the process, and she kisses him ("Champagne"). However, Usnavi's mind is still set on the Dominican Republic. Benny worries about his relationship with Nina. They stand together as the sun sets ("When the Sun Goes Down").
The next morning, Usnavi wakes up early to begin closing up shop. He sees the businesses around him: Daniela's salon is closed, and the Rosario's Car Service sign is gone. In just a few weeks, he will be gone, too, and the block will be completely changed. Sonny, however, is not content to leave without a trace. He commissions a graffiti mural of Abuela Claudia on the bodega's grate, and Graffiti Pete has stayed up all night completing the portrait. Sonny rolls down the bodega grate, revealing the memorial. Usnavi is stunned that they completed this all in one night, and he realizes that this block is his true home ("Finale"). He tells Sonny to tell the block that he has decided to stay, and promises himself that he's "stepping to Vanessa, I'm getting a second date."
Nina's parents have been searching for her all night, and when they learn that she has been with Benny, Kevin is furious. Kevin vows that Benny will never be a part of the Rosario family because he is not Latino. The family is at a breaking point when Camila instructs them to get it together before it is too late ("Enough").
It is high noon and the neighbors are frustrated by the extreme heat and continuing power outage. They muster enough energy for one last celebration before the bodega, the salon, and the dispatch shut their doors forever ("Carnaval Del Barrio"). People, led by Daniela, start to dance and sing. The celebration continues onto another block when a noticeably upset Nina comes out and stops Usnavi from dancing, pulling him into Abuela's house. Kevin makes an announcement over the taxi radios that Abuela Claudia has died ("Atención"). The neighbors reunite on the sidewalk, this time to hold a vigil in honor of the block's matriarch ("Alabanza"). Usnavi and Nina look through boxes of Abuela Claudia's keepsakes—old lottery tickets and photos from the block's history ("Everything I Know"). As Nina discovers photographs from her own high school graduation, she decides to accept her father's sacrifice and return to Stanford.
Across the street, as Daniela closes her salon forever, she reveals one last bit of juicy news ("No Me Diga (Reprise)"). She will co-sign on Vanessa's dream apartment in the West Village, thanks to a little convincing from Usnavi. Vanessa brings Usnavi a bottle of champagne to celebrate and asks him to stay, getting in an argument with him in the process, and she kisses him ("Champagne"). However, Usnavi's mind is still set on the Dominican Republic. Benny worries about his relationship with Nina. They stand together as the sun sets ("When the Sun Goes Down").
The next morning, Usnavi wakes up early to begin closing up shop. He sees the businesses around him: Daniela's salon is closed, and the Rosario's Car Service sign is gone. In just a few weeks, he will be gone, too, and the block will be completely changed. Sonny, however, is not content to leave without a trace. He commissions a graffiti mural of Abuela Claudia on the bodega's grate, and Graffiti Pete has stayed up all night completing the portrait. Sonny rolls down the bodega grate, revealing the memorial. Usnavi is stunned that they completed this all in one night, and he realizes that this block is his true home ("Finale"). He tells Sonny to tell the block that he has decided to stay, and promises himself that he's "stepping to Vanessa, I'm getting a second date."
Characters
•Usnavi, the owner of a bodega in Washington Heights. He was named after one of the first sights his parents saw when they arrived in America, a US Navy ship. He dreams of going to the Dominican Republic, his parents' homeland. Abuela Claudia, the neighborhood matriarch, practically raised him. He is in love with Vanessa.
•Nina Rosario is the daughter of Kevin and Camila. She is the first to go to college (Stanford University), and everyone in the barrio admires her. However, she returns home from school for the summer with difficult news to tell her parents.
•"Abuela" Claudia is the elder and matriarch of the barrio who knows everybody and is like a grandmother to all (“abuela” means “grandmother” in Spanish). She is the one who looked after Usnavi when his parents died.
•Vanessa is Usnavi's love interest who works at Daniela's salon. She dreams of getting out of the barrio and getting an apartment downtown.
•Benny works at Kevin's dispatch. The only non-Spanish-speaking member of the community, he falls in love with Nina. He dreams of opening his own business, "Benny's Car Service."
•Sonny is Usnavi's sassy, lazy, yet ambitious younger cousin who works in the bodega.
•Daniela is the outrageous owner of the salon where the neighborhood girls gossip.
•Carla works at Daniela's salon along with Vanessa.
•Kevin Rosario is Nina's father, wants to make sure his family has everything they want. He is overprotective of Nina and owns Rosario's Car Service.
•Camila Rosario is Nina's mother, who wants what is best for Nina.
•The Piragua Guy ("Piragüero") is the owner of a small piragua stand that competes with Mister Softee.
•Graffiti Pete is a graffiti artist and friend of Sonny. Usnavi believes he is a trouble-making vandal, but Pete is really a good-hearted artist.
•Nina Rosario is the daughter of Kevin and Camila. She is the first to go to college (Stanford University), and everyone in the barrio admires her. However, she returns home from school for the summer with difficult news to tell her parents.
•"Abuela" Claudia is the elder and matriarch of the barrio who knows everybody and is like a grandmother to all (“abuela” means “grandmother” in Spanish). She is the one who looked after Usnavi when his parents died.
•Vanessa is Usnavi's love interest who works at Daniela's salon. She dreams of getting out of the barrio and getting an apartment downtown.
•Benny works at Kevin's dispatch. The only non-Spanish-speaking member of the community, he falls in love with Nina. He dreams of opening his own business, "Benny's Car Service."
•Sonny is Usnavi's sassy, lazy, yet ambitious younger cousin who works in the bodega.
•Daniela is the outrageous owner of the salon where the neighborhood girls gossip.
•Carla works at Daniela's salon along with Vanessa.
•Kevin Rosario is Nina's father, wants to make sure his family has everything they want. He is overprotective of Nina and owns Rosario's Car Service.
•Camila Rosario is Nina's mother, who wants what is best for Nina.
•The Piragua Guy ("Piragüero") is the owner of a small piragua stand that competes with Mister Softee.
•Graffiti Pete is a graffiti artist and friend of Sonny. Usnavi believes he is a trouble-making vandal, but Pete is really a good-hearted artist.
In The Heights
WELCOME to the show that won Broadway’s highest honors by first winning its heart. WELCOME to the next chapter in the classic American story on stage. WELCOME to the kind of musical that comes around once in a generation. A musical that builds on the best traditions of theater while forging into fresh new territory. A musical about the importance of home, family and finding where you belong.
In the Heights tells the universal story of a vibrant community 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.
In the Heights tells the universal story of a vibrant community 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.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
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