With patience and faith we remain unafraid; Paciencia y fe! A more profound message could not be more true in our current climate where joy is in short supply, the future is questionable, and every day we wonder what terrifying headline will cross our news feeds. Lighting up the night sky with their emotionally illuminating production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights, Signature Theatre is sending this love-letter from the Washington Heights Barrio out to the world of Northern Virgina, Washington DC, and surrounding areas for all to see, hear, embrace, and enjoy. Directed by James Vásquez with Musical Direction by Angie Benson, and Choreography by Shani Talmor, this quintessential story of family, community, and home is the message of hope and love that we all desperately need to cling to in these dark and difficult times. A true theatrical masterpiece, Signature Theatre is embracing their pride, their power, and their potential to be the resistance, the guiding force, the fireworks of our night sky and it’s a beautiful experience on their main-stage.
It takes a village to transform the intimate-yet-vastly versatile staging space of Signature’s Max Theatre into the barrio of Washington Heights. Scenic Designer Andrew R. Cohen leads the charge. It’s seating in the 7/8-round, or caddy-corner-catwalk-staging with audiences demi-mooning the play space and its something that Cohen lays out masterfully. Theatergoers are submerged right into the Washington Heights neighborhood, with the signs of the businesses all around the balcony railings the grates of the small shops facing you with their graffiti, the fire-escape metals bars encroaching upon the upper levels; you can practically smell the heat rising off the street (painted right onto the stage floor.) It’s a fully aesthetic immersion, aided by Lighting Designer Rui Rita. When the candles appear flickering on all of the fire escapes for “Alabanza” it’s a breath-taking moment because in all likelihood, they’ve been there the whole time, tucked out of vision but still in plain-sight. Rita’s overall illumination work is remarkable, particularly with the pop-flashes used to create fireworks during “The Club/Blackout” and with her eerie golden-wash to setup the memory portion of “Paciencia Y Fe.” There’s also an excellent use of the disco ball and flashy jewel-tone colors leading int “The Club/Blackout” scene and a great many other impressive feats from Rita’s design work all throughout the performance.
If there’s a misstep in the show’s design, it’s a subtle one coming from Sound Designer Eric Norris. Balanced mics, balanced pit, both are middling and at least there’s no microphone feedback (crackles, squeal-pitches, foghorns, or otherwise) but where Norris’ design work seems to falter is in the way the sound circulates in the space. It seems so centralized that at times, when the various performers are facing the center of their play space, you get an almost muffled quality. It’s unclear if the monitors are positioned in such a way that they’re feeding into the center of the ‘theatre-in-the-round’ and then the sound is dissolving up into the ceiling or being absorbed by the choreographic formations, but it’s mostly just an issue when the full ensemble is singing. Otherwise, the pit (led by Musical Director Angie Benson, featuring Benson on keys1, Refiye Tappan on keys2, Bill Mulligan on reed, Chris Walker on trumpet1, Joe Jackson on trombone, Jonny Marques on guitar, Jason Wilson on bass, Jaime Rodriguez on drums, Manuel Arciniega on percussion) doesn’t overplay the performers, and the solo moments are gloriously clear.
Costume Designer Ivania Stack and Wig Designer Anne Nesmith certainly augment the show’s overall aesthetic with their vivacious color choices, particularly when it comes to the scene in the night club at the close of Act I. Carla’s bouncy-bunchy-ruby-red-spring-curl wig is particularly noteworthy as it gives you that ‘fresh out of the salon’ feel and adds to the overall spunkiness of the character, while Vanessa’s blinding neon-pink-sequin-mini-dress for the club scene is one of the most eye-catching pieces of fabric featured in the performance. And the shoe selection, particularly those heels seen on Daniella and Vanessa, are just breathtaking! Shout out to the shiny shirts on the fellas in the club scene as well!
Shani Talmor, the show’s choreographer, certainly does get the barrio bouncing, the whole show moving, and with great, vigorous enthusiasm. The first couple of numbers almost leave you worried that Talmor’s choreographic style is going to be extremely repetitive; many of the gestures and dance-steps in “In The Heights” and “96,000” are very similar. But worry not, Talmor, with the aid of Dance Captain Matt Rivera, engages the dancing-corps ensemble— Nichole Forde, Steven Nicolás Franco, José J. Muñoz, Pepin, Matt Rivera, Alanna Sibrián, Kristen Tarragó— into some extraordinary routines, particularly for “The Club/Blackout” and “Carnaval Del Barrio.” The seamless fusion of aerobic-acrobatic-breakdance style really amps up the energy of the experience and matches the beat. Additional praises are owed to Nichole Forde, who is featured during the recollective flashback dance-routine of “Paciencia Y Fe”, the full-body expressionism, particularly with the heightened-leaps delivered in this song, are exquisite. And the level of pride expressed in every member of the company who dances and celebrates at the end of “Carnaval Del Barrio” is not only invigorating and encouraging but heartfelt and spreads ubiquitously out into the audience with great glee.
Having seen multiple iterations of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights as it’s trickled down over the years, I can readily say this is the first time that I’ve ever seen the essence of the community be pushed to the forefront of the experience. Director James Vásquez has meticulously restructured (without actually changing anything other than subtle focuses) the narrative of this production, making the storylines of everyone in the community hold equal weight. More traditionally the show is approached and produced with Usnavi as the front-runner, expressing his story above all else, with everyone else’s experience tying into his narrative. Vásquez commandeers the ship that is In The Heights and reroutes the experience to be more wholistically inclusive of all the characters. Usnavi is still present but he takes a backseat to the rest of the stories— becoming what he says in the “Finale” “…I illuminate the stories of the people in the street…” and it’s profound, it’s striking, and it’s a revitalizing take on a story whose heart was always meant to be ‘the community.’ Benny and Nina almost become front-runners, as much as Vanessa and her struggles or the other supporting characters who are all now main-stage players. Vásquez also has a beautifully representational moment during “Carnaval Del Barrio” with every flag— PR, DR, Spain, you name it— from Latin-X countries flying proudly in the hands of the company, with Benny holding up the Black American Heritage Flag; the unabashed feelings of pride, glow fiercely across every member featured on stage in this number and the intensity is palpable.
Graffiti Pete (Michael Marrero), Sonny (Nicolas Garza) and Piragua Guy (Berto Fernández) become feature players in this production of In The Heights at Signature Theatre; they’re more than just supporting moments in Usnavi’s narrative. Garza may still be the little cousin and Marrero may be ‘that lil punk I gotta chase away’, which becomes really humorous as Marrero is quite tall, and Fernández is a street vendor, but you feel like their stories are as centralized as Usnavi, Benny, Nina, or anyone else in the barrio. Marrero has some slick dance moves— he’s the first character you see once the lights come up on the show, twirling, vertical leap-spinning, and spraying with his cans— that are seen prominently throughout the various ensemble routines. Garza has that chip-on-the-shoulder attitude that never really mellows but rather matures as the show glides through from beginning to end. His patter rap during both “96,000” and “Carnaval Del Barrio” are delivered with exacting precision and crisp articulation so that the nuance of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s lyrics are heard with great clarity. And Fernández has fabulous facial expressions, particularly when he’s calling out Mr. Softee. With glorious vocals that soar through his eponymous feature number, Fernández is a welcome and heartily robust vocal addition to the company.
While Carla (Carianmax Benitez) is the narrative support-block for Daniella (Karmine Alers), Benitez is her own zippy splash of personality, particularly when she has her coquettish and innocent moments in her sung lines of “No Me Diga” and “Carnaval Del Barrio.” Alers, as the sassy and brassy salon owner carries a perpetual attitude with her, particularly when trying to strike up the spirits of the downtrodden community after the blackout. She’s saucy and unapologetic about it, which makes her an audience favorite. Her vocal prowess is primed, perfectly suited to blast through “Carnaval Del Barrio” and the enthusiasm she shimmies into both her sound and her physicality move through that number sublimely.
Abuela Claudia (Rayanne Gonzales) is nobody’s actual grandma yet she’s everybody’s grandma. Kind, compassionate, considerate, and just a little cheeky, you get that maternal instinct even when she’s quickly dispensing advice on the street to Usnavi about the milk for the coffee. Where Gonzales shines brighter than the radiant sun is during “Paciencia Y Fe”, the number which serves as a vehicle not only for the Abuela Claudia character’s origin story but as a reminder of how we survive, pull through, and become triumphant even when the darkest of nights seems most daunting. Gonzales bursts through this emotional dam of nostalgia as this gorgeous, tormented memory dances (again Talmor’s sleek choreography at work) all around her) haunting her as she pours her heart, mind, and soul into the vocality and pathos of the song.
One of the focal points in the barrio is Rosario’s— the cab company that Kevin (Rudy Martinez) and Camila (Crissy Guerrero) run, which employs Benny and which they started to give their daughter Nina a better life. Guerrero is a little underwhelming as a performer; it’s not to say that she’s not vocally sound— she is— it’s just that when Martinez brings so much to the table, vocally, emotionally and physically, it makes the side-by-side comparison of the married couple feel uneven. Her solo “Enough” feels like it should strike harder and punch deeper from an emotionally expressive standpoint though perhaps this is because of the raw and unruly gravitas that Martinez unleashes during his solo, “Inutil.” Martinez showcases the struggle of his emotional turmoil right from the top of that number, desperately trying to restrain his feelings of uselessness but they burst through in a resounding emotional crescendo that shakes the stage. There’s also a stronger dynamic written between the Kevin and Benny characters and even the relationship between the Kevin and Nina characters, which makes it even harder for Guerrero’s Camilla character to really land at the level of the others in the performance.
Vanessa (Adriana Scalice) is a spicy character all her own. Not quite saucy and seasoned like Daniella but not wildfire innocent like Nina either. Scalice toes the fine line of playing an edgy character aware of her own physical, sexual, and emotional prowess whilst still having that believably palpable level of self-doubt and insecurity. When Scalice eases her way into “It Won’t Be Long Now” there is a gentle ferocity that carries this number while simultaneously laying out the imagery for the audience. Scalice uses her voice as palette, paint, and brush to fabricate imagery of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s lyrics and its beautiful. She’s got dynamic dance moves, which are showcased heavily in “The Club/Blackout” and her chemistry with Usnavi is edgier, more mature, making it the perfect foil for the chemistry that we see develop between Benny and Nina.
As the docent of the show, Ángel Lozada exists inside Usnavi’s skin with ease. He blends into the background, popping out to redirect or refocus elements of the story as needed. There’s something adorably awkward in Lozada’s portrayal of Usnavi, particularly when he’s trying to interact with Vanessa, the inner-dorkiness of the character really radiates through. With crisp, clear vocals that lend themselves nicely to the titular number as well as numbers like “96,000” and “Champagne” you get a lot of vivid facial responses, particularly to the Vanessa character, in those moments. And his patter-rap-delivery during “In The Heights” as he rattles off everything he’s selling is exceptionally well-paced and delivered. The “Finale” isn’t some grand epiphany for Lozada’s Usnavi but more of a ‘Dorothy was home all along’ moment, which is a refreshing take on the overall experience.
Benny (Chibueze Ihuoma) and Nina (Victoria Gómez) have the gravitational narrative pull in this production. It’s still a community story, but it becomes slightly more laser-focused on their experiences inside the community, which is another distinctively curious but equally refreshing take on the production as a whole. Ihuoma has all the zesty eagerness of a track-star at the starting line right before the pistol goes, but goodness gracious if his vocals aren’t ever as smooth as an ice luge that could cool down even the hottest of fourth of July heats. Gómez is this brilliant enigma; a chipper, polished upbeat personality that quickly crumbles as the emotional fortitude of her plight breaks through the veneer of her façade. There’s an entire galaxy of emotional nuance layered into Gómez’ rendition of “Breathe.” Her composure is impeccable as she belts out her feelings like an untamed wildfire that can blaze brighter than the sun but only for a moment before she has to become that ‘perfect girl’ everyone expects her to be. The chemistry between Ihuoma and Gómez is earnest and so natural; it just feels indescribably right. It’s an ever-burning torch that blazes through all of their interactions, even when they’re less than cordial with one another at the club, but especially when they’re embracing for “Sunrise” and vocally twining together sublimely during “When the Sun Goes Down.” Ihuoma is his own brand of fire when he lights up “Benny’s Dispatch.” Both Ihuoma and Gómez are vocal harbingers of emotional expression and pride; unifying the company as whole into one community.
Lights up on Signature Theatre because they’re doing it right— standing proud, walking tall— ¡no pare sigue, sigue! In The Heights is a dazzling production that is as much story as it is musical theatrical genius incarnate, celebrating everything that can and should be beautiful in a community, and what should be beautiful in the world.
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes with one intermission
In The Heights plays through May 4th 2025 in the Max Theatre at Signature Theatre— 4200 Campbell Avenue in Shirlington, VA. For tickets call the box office at (703) 820-9771 or purchase them online.
