By Mindy Pedlar
Estrella Esparza-Johnson joins Cabrillo Stage to direct In The Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s music-filled love letter to the community of his youth.
Like his Pulitzer-Prize winning Hamilton, Miranda effortlessly combines traditional musical numbers with a hint of rap and pulsating Latin rhythms that will threaten to lift you out of your seat.
Winner of four Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Original Score, In The Heights gives us a panoramic portrait of New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood, a vibrant, tightknit community filled with Spanish-speaking dreamers of American dreams.
It’s a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is hot, light and sweet, the apartment windows are always open, and the cool breeze carries the percussive rhythm of the bustling city and its three generations of music.
For this community on the brink of change, it speaks of hope, heritage and healing love; a universal story about chasing your dreams and finding your true home.
Estrella Esparza-Johnson
Of the nearly 90 talented singer/dancer/actors who auditioned, 40 have been called back for another round, and soon the final cast will be chosen.
Choreographer Chris Marcos takes the stage to review his dance combination, which includes some high energy hip hop as well as a variety of Latin movements including salsa and bachata. To Chris, “The choreography is not just visual eye candy; it’s a tool to express feelings and emotion. The movement serves as a bridge between music and story with the cast as vessels to push the narrative forward in all directions.”
Esparza-Johnson joins Marcos to set the scene for the dancers. Her powerful vision requires truth and authenticity.
She advises them to “Create a real person. Imagine you’re coming home from a hard day at work. You’re exhausted. There is so much you want to do, to have, to be, but things get in the way. The song must arch from exhaustion and frustration to the possibilities that await you and to the joy of what the future holds!”
What happens next is magical. Everyone rises to the occasion and gives it their all. They run the number a few more times and it gets better and better.
I feel honored to be observing this process and so proud of the talent, energy and enthusiasm each auditioner has shown.
In The Heights will win you over with its sweet story and tuneful score enlivened by the dancing rhythms of salsa and Latin pop. I have no doubt that the audience will have an entertaining, joyous and uplifting experience at the theatre.
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Online ticket sales begin April 1 at cabrillostage.com.
Box office opens June 20 for phone and walk-up sales Thursdays – Saturdays 12pm – 6pm and 1 hour prior to each performance or call 831-479-6154.
Performances: July 11 – Aug. 4, Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 2 pm with a special matinee on Saturday, Aug. 3.
Post-show discussion with the creative team on Sunday, July 14, immediately following the performance.
Cabrillo Stage performs in the Crocker Theater on the Cabrillo College campus, 6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos.