According to ATC, In The Heights Matinee was cancelled today- Page 2

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 4/2/08 at 7:14pm

Ouch. Hopefully it's fixed now, so they don't have to cancel the evening show.

[blaxx]

Posted: 4/2/08 at 7:18pm

Oh, I'm sure this won't last too long.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/2/08 at 7:31pm

"Paciencia y Fe" alone makes the score better and more fascinating than 80% of the musicals playing on Broadway right now.
I've only listened to "It Won't Be Long Now," "Paciencia y Fe," "No Me Diga," and the title song all from the demo, and honestly I am in awe at the brilliance of those four songs. I don't think it's made of complex melodies like a Sondheim show would, but it completely succeeds in what it sets out to do which is truly capture the Latino experience while fusing it with standard musical theater sound. I disagree it has the same issues that most shows dealing about race do, in fact, I think it's one of the few musicals about race that truly capture what being an immigrant (at least a Latin immigrant) in the United States is about.
Hope they fixed the issues.

[winston89]

Posted: 4/2/08 at 7:51pm

I feel that if you talk to different people there would be at least one musical that you love (even if its gotten to the status of a classic Broadway musical) that other people might find flaws in and thus not like.

That being said, I love this show very very much. And, I love the score. I personally like the book. I will admit that it's not much but what is there is great in my opinion.

I do hope that they fix the problem soon. Hopefully we can get a report later on as to if there was an evening performance tonight or not.

[Testing1232]

Posted: 4/2/08 at 8:22pm

::: prays it get fixed :::...

I am supposed to go tomorrow nite ! !!

[SpellingBeeFan4Ever]

Posted: 4/2/08 at 8:28pm

I am curious if Bobby has seen ITH as well.

[FIERCEY516]

Posted: 4/2/08 at 8:30pm

I wouldn't say it's "brilliance" ... brilliance??? c'mon.

but it's a decent show. if it was a better book, I'd enjoy it. I'm just excited to get the cast recording.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/2/08 at 8:34pm

Risking sounding like an idiot: What is ATC please?

[Liverpool]

Posted: 4/2/08 at 8:36pm

AllThatChat, the message board at Talkinbroadway.com

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/2/08 at 8:40pm

ITH is not a life-changing show. It's certainly the feel-good musical of the year and a great deal of fun, with some of the best choreography in recent memory.

If they had a solid script, it could be the musical of the year.

[Testing1232]

Posted: 4/2/08 at 8:45pm

<< ITH is not a life-changing show >>

Who gets to decide that? I mean, its not gonna change my life (I love it to death, but I am too old, and the birth of my daughter changed my life) - No show could... but who gets to decide if its a life-changing show or not? For some, it might be.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 4/2/08 at 8:51pm

IN THE HEIGHTS will win the TONYS for BEST (NEW) MUSICAL according to my crystal ball!!

J*

[Trish2]

Posted: 4/2/08 at 9:13pm

We got it Jay- we got it.....

[withoutlovewithoutU]

Posted: 4/2/08 at 10:01pm

I think this musical IS a life changing one for some just because of what it represents. It has a voice that belongs to people who don't get to get heard very often.

[FIERCEY516]

Posted: 4/2/08 at 10:09pm

I thought Tony's were given out based on MATERIAL, not POLITICS. unless it's a "Watershed" type musical...

and while I respect the opinion that this could be groundbreaking for some hispanics, it ain't going to leave a huge impact on the theatre for generations. sorry. it's not like this is the contemporary version of "Showboat" or "Cabaret" (honorable Watershed type musicals)

[CapnHook]

Posted: 4/2/08 at 10:55pm

FIERCEY - then you are completely mistaken.

[withoutlovewithoutU]

Posted: 4/2/08 at 11:28pm

FIERCEY - Well, I think we are thinking of sucess and being groundbreaking on a very different level. It's really as simple as that.

[popular_elphie]

Posted: 4/2/08 at 11:42pm

That must've been why a bunch of ITH cast members were hanging around the GYPSY stage door today around 5.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 2:33am

"Tonys" not "Tony's"

As I said before, Lin-Manuel Miranda manages to incorporate such an eclectic mix of music (especially since he pays close attention to the nationality and ethnicity of the characters instead of deciding that ALL Latinos have the same music) while staying true to Broadway tradition and paying homage to the Broadway musical, and I do find that brilliant. I am EXTREMELY biased, but I get teary-eyed every time I listen to "Paciencia y Fe," it rings so true to anyone who has experienced the life of an immigrant.

[BroadwayChica]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 4:49am

Well put, ray. And, as I've said here before, as an immigrant myself, I am very moved by this show. Its seeming simplicity is actually layered with nuances, literary and cultural references, characters that have been plucked from my personal experiences. It's far from perfect, but it's not fluff, either. Puerto Rican and other Latino identities have long been stamped by negative and/or condescending portrayals set forth by shows like West Side Story, which is so offensively inauthentic in its depiction of Puerto Ricans, that to this day, I can't sit through it.

Just as a comparitive note, in WSS, the Puerto Ricans characters praise the wonders of the immigrant experience in "America":

I like to be in America!
O.K. by me in America!
Ev'rything free in America
For a small fee in America!

...Automobile in America,
Chromium steel in America,
Wire-spoke wheel in America,
Very big deal in America!

...Immigrant goes to America,
Many hellos in America...

The song stings of irony (particularly in the revised lyrics for the film), particularly in the assumption that either these immigrants really are better off in the US, or are too stupid to realize that, as outsiders, they're not actually partaking in the "American Dream".

In ITH, by contrast, you see Abuela Claudia's own retelling of the way she was greeted when she arrived in NYC:

Learning the ropes in America
En español I remember
Dancing with mayor LaGuardia
All of society welcoming mami and me:
"You better clean this mess"
Paciencia y fe
"You better learn inglés"
Paciencia y fe
"You better not be late
You better pull your weight
You're better off than you were with the birds of La Víbora"

While in WSS, the immigrants merrily sing and dance about how "great" they have it, or how much they disdain Puerto Rico , because of its poverty, and tropical climate (both of which are ludicrously exaggerated), Abuela Claudia sings with painful yearning, and recounts the very real struggles many immigrants face. She's not idealizing Cuba, either. This lyric is powerful for its painful yearning: "Ain't no Casiopia in Washington Heights. But ain't no food en La Víbora" She acknowledges Cuba's poverty, yet, unlike Anita in WSS, does not do so in a derogatory light.

The same venue that once showed characters praising the wonders of the immigrant experience or proclaiming disdain for Puerto Rico ("let it sink back in the ocean" ), now brings us a song that so accurately depicts the immigrant experience for many of us (her story could well be my own grandmother's), and "Carnaval del Barrio", in which the characters proudly celebrate their culture in light of adversity:

Arriba esa bandera [Raise that flag]
Álzala dondequiera [Raise it anywhere]
Recuerdo de mi tierra [A memory of my land, or nation]
Recuerdo de mi tierra
Esa bonita bandera [That beautiful flag]
Contiene mi alma entera [contains my entire soul]
Y cuando yo me muera [and when I die]
Entiérrame en mi tierra [bury me in my land, nation]

...Maybe we're powerless, a corner full of foreigners.
Maybe this neighborhood's changing forever.
Maybe tonight is our last night together.
However, How do you want to face it?
Do you wanna waste it when the end is so close you can taste it?
You can cry with your head in the sand.
I'm gonna fly this flag that I got in my hand

It's this side of our culture, the way we so desperately and lovingly cling to our heritage, what Lin-Manuel so beautifully pays homage to in this piece.

It's refreshing to see another side of our identity on an American stage. Our music, language, cultural intricacies, no longer homogenized, and proudly displayed. It means a GREAT deal to me to hear a Puerto Rican plena sung by Puerto Rican characters, or a merengue sung by Dominican characters, a Cuban bachata by a Cuban, and to understand that, while these intricacies are likely to go over most viewers' heads, so much careful attention has been given to authenticity.

That, to me, is Lin-Manuel's greatest achievement. And you can't just tell me that this show won't have a lasting impact on my life, and my appreciation for theatre as a whole. It already has.

Sorry for the long post. I don't meant to come off so preachy. Since I clearly can't help myself, I'm just gonna stay away from ITH threads on this board. I can't take the pressure of continually needing to justify my love for this piece. Updated On: 4/3/08 at 04:49 AM

[Greekmusicalfan]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 5:37am

Chica, that was beautifully expressed ! And please don't stay away from ITH threads ! It was mainly your passionate and articulate posts that have made me REALLY want to see the show !!!

[singingbackup]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 7:58am

Bravo Chica!

Don't hold back your love for this special show and don't let the nay sayers win. So many on this board love to beat a show they don't like down mostly so they can see themselves in print. Keep sharing your touching insights, they add new layers of enjoyment for us who have found IN THE HEIGHTS so special.

[withoutlovewithoutU]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 9:06am

Chica,
Please do not stop posting in these threads. What you have to say is incredibly poignant and is needed here. I am always moved by your posts.
As I have said before I have not yet seen the show, but from what I have seen and heard it seems like something truthful and real. I am not an immigrant but I do consider myself part a minority and so I always love shows that give other people a voice. So, yeah, that's where I'm coming from.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 9:07am

BroadwayChica, that was so gorgeously expressed. And I am learning so much more by reading your insights about this show that I already am in love with.

Please keep posting in the IN THE HEIGHTS threads. You have a ton of us here who have such a deep appreciation for this show, and we support, welcome, and take pride in learning more about the experiences expressed in this piece.

Don't ever feel like you're alone in sharing why this show means so much to you. Those of us who love the show have open ears and are eager to learn more about real personal experiences that the characters have been drawn on in IN THE HEIGHTS.

Thank you, again, and don't let the naysayers get in your way.

Here's an interview with Lin-Manuel Miranda from when the show was playing Off-Broadway last summer in which he expresses why he felt Broadway needed a new representation of the Latino experience because of the inaccurate portrayals displayed in WEST SIDE STORY.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEIgnYeigbQ

[Rentheadut]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 9:11am

This is ridiculous and has nothing to do with the subject anymore.