That's right: For the first time in 16 months, I went to a movie theater. My parents went with me, making a point to pick the local theater most in need of support. They had already seen the play; I haven't.
The title refers to Washington Heights, a Manhattan neighborhood that's home to many from Puerto Rico, Cuba, and especially the Dominican Republic. The narrating protagonist is Usnavi de la Vega (Anthony Ramos), a struggling late-20s shopkeeper who, despite encouragement from teen cousin Sonny (Gregory Diaz IV) and friend Benny (Corey Hawkins), can hardly work up the nerve to ask out frequent customer Vanessa (Melissa Barrera). Others have their own considerable troubles: Benny's employer, Kevin (Jimmy Smits), will do anything to pay Stanford tuition for his daughter Nina (Leslie Grace), but Nina would rather drop out; and Daniela (Daphne Rubin-Vega) has to move her salon for lower rent. Indeed, a recurring theme is that the block's culture is fading away as businesses close and people move out. And we viewers get plenty of advance warning of a multiday Heights-wide power outage, which sure won't alleviate anyone's stress during a heat wave.
Does it get political? Now and then. Issues of illegal immigration come up, and characters occasionally report being mistreated based on apparent prejudice regarding their ethnicity. (I'm avoiding the term "racism," as well as the "racial" tag for this post, because last I heard, Hispanic/Latino wasn't a race.) But these factors aren't shoved down our throats. They give us minor drama, not melodrama. They don't spell out a case for a course of action; at most, they encourage us to be mindful of what members of the demographic may face.
Not that the film ever lets you forget their culture. There's plenty of interspersed Spanish, subtitled only when it's extra important for us to understand. And the music style is unmistakable, even when it veers into rap -- much less often than in Hamilton, to my personal relief.
On that subject, there are 14 songs, not counting reprises. Lin-Manuel Miranda (who cameos as a piragua vendor) has once again churned out hard-to-sing numbers, yet even the lesser singers were up to the challenge. As is common for modern live-action screen musicals, the songs take up more than half the runtime (143 minutes, tho it hardly feels that long). They are also, of course, when things are most likely to get surreal, beyond people suddenly singing and dancing. It is in this capacity that the filmmakers truly take advantage of the medium: A play could hardly hope to accommodate hundreds of dancers, let alone visual tidbits such as wall walking. I did sense a few times how a moment might look on stage, but as a rule, it wouldn't be for the better.
Jon M. Chu has directed dance-heavy musicals before, but none with this much clout. Nice to know that Crazy Rich Asians is no longer his biggest hit. I wish him luck with the upcoming Wicked adaptation.
ItH makes a fine choice for a return to theaters, being both flashy and well-made in multiple respects. It rivals The Greatest Showman for my favorite new or newish musical.
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