BREAKING NEWS: "American Idol" Jordin Sparks to join In the Heights Aug. 19 — Page 2

"It's too bad her second album has not performed very well."

Exactly why she is scrambling into a Broadway show. She needs the work.

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Anyone else think the slow de-Latinification of "Heights" is odd?

And on a side note, I always cringe thinking of an "evangelical Christian who wears a purity ring" taking a Broadway role away from a sane person.

Perhaps... Wikipedia just says "Caucasian" mother and "Africa-American" father. (checked before making my catty comment) :)

Aboy...: agreed, appearance wise. And I'm usually not too sensitive to stuff like this, but listening to the OBCR just reminded me how much the characters' ethnicities and countries of birth play a part in the story.

Yeah & you're an "evangelical Christian who wears a purity ring."

"Kiddo": I'm a gay atheist living in the buckle of the Bible Belt. Someone going beyond "Christian" and self-identifying as an "evangelical Christian" scares the hell out of me.

I really like Jordin. I think she has a very nice voice. I look forward to seeing her in the show.

I forgot when Corbin leaves, but will they be in the show at the same time?

No. Unless Corbin extends again, they will not be in the show together. Corbin's last show is July 25, 2010. Jordin starts August 19, 2010.

Updated On: 5/3/10 at 08:33 PM

Anyone else think the slow de-Latinification of "Heights" is odd?

Yes. I said as much when Corbin Bleu was cast. Now Usnavi, Vanessa and Nina will all be half-black, half-white, no Hispanic and singing in Spanish about their hardships as first-generation Americans in the barrio. Great.


Countdown till they start getting rid of the curse words in the show and make the show revolve around a young latina girl with big dreams and a crush on a hunky guy and get rid of that boring Usnavi character.

No, it will revolve around a young girl with big dreams and a crush on a hunky guy. Latina is already cut.

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Jordin Sparks - Breathe on the Battlefield Tour

Although that may be true, I think if she's still singing after belting out those very, very high pop/R&B songs like Battlefield and No Air on tour for months, singing Es and popping the occasional F as Nina won't be too bad. Having vocal issues for screaming really high songs over the screeching of thousands of teenagers, I think, is a little different than singing a challenging, but highly singable score. (which I think is one of ITH's score's biggest strengths - everything is very challenging, but not evil to its actors' voices.)

Sure, she's not perfect, but who is? I think she sounds fine and is great casting. In theory, she may be my favorite Nina thus far, as she has the harshness to her voice that Mandy Gonzales has, but actually looks 16, like Arielle Jacobs on tour (who, while incredible, I think is a just a tad mix-heavy for the score)

it's true that she's a giant, but at least she looks like a kid giant! : )

Me either. It doesn't sound strong enough to me.

Is Chris Jackson sticking around still? I find it incredibly awkward to see Jordan who looks like a 16 yr old hook up with a dude who is around 40 years old.