It’s a Friday morning rehearsal, and a muscular instructor in a shirt with “Fight Guys” printed on the back is teaching fight choreography to the cast of Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s In the Heights. He runs through the basics: the meatiest parts of the body to land a blow; the secrets of making maximum visual impact with minimum physical impact; and the dangers of hitting with elbows or grabbing with thumbs. After a few dry runs, some apologies as castmates awkwardly bump into each other and a close call involving a fake punch thrown at the speed of a real one, the actors pick up remarkably fast. Within minutes, their scene, a drunken brawl at a Latin dance club, begins to come together.
Directed by the Rep’s associate artistic director, May Adrales, the company’s production of In the Heights aims to capture the spirit of the musical’s namesake neighborhood—New York City’s multicultural Washington Heights—with the help of performers who know the area firsthand. The production, which will go on to Seattle and Cincinnati after it finishes its Milwaukee run, held auditions in Milwaukee, Seattle, Chicago and New York, and that last city is particularly well represented among the cast. “We have a lot of cast members from New York and the Bronx and a lot of people who have lived in the Heights,” Adrales says.
Ryan Alvarado, who stars as idealistic bodega owner, Usnavi, performed on Hamilton’s first national tour, and Tony Chiroldes, who plays protective father, Kevin, was part of In the Heights’ original Broadway run. Karmine Alers (Camila) and Henry Gainza (Piragua Guy) both appeared in Broadway’s On Your Feet. “When I look at the cast, I see the uniqueness and the vibrance of the Heights itself,” Adrales says. “Everybody is coming in with their own story and a deep connection to the show. You can already see in rehearsals that they’re very much a family.”
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s follow-up, Hamilton, may have been the crossover phenomenon, but In the Heights was the debut that introduced Miranda’s distinctive style of hip-hop-infused musical theater and announced the arrival of a major Broadway talent. The show, which involves a plot about a fateful lottery ticket but mostly just enjoys the loose rhythms of daily life in a tightknit neighborhood, was nominated for 13 Tonys in 2008 and won four.
‘A Celebration of the Latino Community’
“In the Heights is one of the most transformative musicals of my generation because it broke so many different norms for musical theater and introduced a fusion of musical styles,” Adrales says. “It’s truly revolutionary in what it does in terms of its message because it gives voice to a community that’s underrepresented on our stages. It’s a celebration of the Latino community and a reclamation of American identity that includes Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and Cubans—all those who inhabit the Heights—and gives them a stake in New York City and America.”
For all its New York-specific color, there’s a universality in the show’s depictions of immigrants working to better their lives despite considerable disadvantages. When In the Heights premiered on Broadway, it wasn’t seen as especially political, but it’s taken on new resonance over the last decade as the conversation around immigration has grown decidedly uglier. “Politicians be hatin’/Racism in this nation’s gone from latent to blatant,” the character Sonny raps prophetically in the song “$96,000.” The script rebukes those politicians simply by humanizing the very people they dismiss and vilify.
“We’re in a time when ‘the other’ is demonized, and, when we talk about immigrants, it’s conflated with some of the most inflammatory, derogatory speech in public discourse,” says Adrales. “That is exactly the opposite of what I understand immigrants to be, being a first-generation American myself. I understand that immigrants are the most hard-working, make-something-out-of-nothing people, and I think that’s an important reminder for our national discourse right now. Our country—it always has been a place for immigrants; it always has been a place where people come from somewhere else.
“The issues of how immigrants are treated in this country hit very close to home right now, so we’re peeling back a lot of layers,” Adrales continues. “We want audiences to empathize with that political plight.”
The Milwaukee Rep’s In the Heights runs Sept. 18 through Oct. 28 in the Quadracci Powerhouse, 108 E. Wells St. For tickets, call 414-224-9490, e-mail tickets@milwaukeerep.com or visit milwaukeerep.com.
