Has Anyone Seen The Understudy for Lin Manuel Miranda in In The Heights?

[musicalmaster703]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 5:29pm

If So, how was he?

Updated On: 6/8/08 at 05:29 PM

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 5:39pm

You mean "gotten" like in the Biblical sense?

[adamgreer]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 5:45pm

He has three of them. Which one are you referring to (I believe they have all gone on at some point).

[blaxx]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 5:45pm

His performance was too strange, I didn't get him.

[SirNotAppearing]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 5:47pm

I heard they were awkward.
It's a hard role to pull off if your name isn't Lin-Manuel. It's kinda like Stew in PS...I'm afraid the show would die without him.

[suicidalmickeymouse]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 5:54pm

I'm terrified that I'll get an understudy when I take my father in August...it could ruin the whole show.

[blaxx]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 6:00pm

Especially if you don't get him.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 6:28pm

I feel both PASSING STRANGE and IN THE HEIGHTS are shows that don't work without the leads as creators, and that is not a good thing.

I see you changed the title of the thread, that's a whole different thing.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 6:32pm

I've never seen him but I've heard really good things about Javier Munoz.

[StephenSondheimWHOO]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 6:38pm

I've seen both Lin-Manuel MIranda and Michael Balderrama, who was good but he was kind of awkward. It just isn't the same without Lin

[WickedOne2]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 6:45pm

When I saw In the Heights a couple of months ago I was initially bummed because Lin Manuel was out but Javier Munoz was fantastic. He looks alot like Lin too.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 7:03pm

I saw the off-broadway production of ITH towards the end of the run when they announced they were moving to Broadway and saw his understudy. I hadn't seen the show before then and had no problem with his understudy. It was cool to see Miranda behind me taking notes throughout the show.

[Steve2]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 8:06pm

Back in March when I saw ITH, Javier Munoz was on for Lin- Manuel Miranda and he was excellent! Of course, I was a little disappointed at first but Javier won me over. Trust me, an understudy will not ruin the whole show.

Seeing it again in August.

[TooDarnHot]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 10:19pm

I've seen both Lin and Javier.

Javier surprisingly impressed me... reminds me A LOT of Lin-Manuel. you won't be too dissapointed if you get Javier

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 11:27pm

I was talking with the conductor before the show and he asked if I was related to Javier. It made me pay extra attention to him during the show and it seems as if he could pull off the part well. As wonderful as he is, I don't think Lin-Manuel is irreplaceable.

[bythesword84]

Posted: 6/9/08 at 12:07am

I saw Javier as well, and I thought he was very good...and like people said, a lot like Lin-Manuel.

[Liverpool]

Posted: 6/9/08 at 12:18am

yeah, not to add to the ad naseum, but Javier was great.

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 6/9/08 at 12:19am

I saw Javier too and thought he was fantastic! I really enjoyed him in the role, but of course wish I would have seen Lin. Lin was feeling ill that day and didn't do the 2:00 matinee, but did come out the stage door to sign which I thought was so incredibly sweet of him!

[Mealz1042]

Posted: 6/9/08 at 9:17am

I mean originally when lin wrote the show, he wasn't in it. It was Tommy kail (the director) who told him he thinks he should play Usnavi. I mean I haven't seen any understudies but you can tell how invested Lin is in the show. I don't think it's the same as stew though in the fact that stew plays himself. Sort of like [title of show] "stuck in a show where i am playing me." Usnavi may be a character loosely based off of Lin, himself, but it isn't actually Lin, you know?

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 6/9/08 at 12:46pm

I've seen Javier Munoz, and he was just fine. More than great.

[lsinger2]

Posted: 6/27/08 at 11:50pm

I was NOT happy when Lin was out the other day, but I must say Javier Munoz was AWESOME!!! He was easier to understand and he was adorable. Also, Very nice and gracious at the stage door. I would still like to see Lin but the show was great without him.

[SirNotAppearing]

Posted: 6/27/08 at 11:51pm

I've heard that the understudies play Usnavi like Usnavi and less like Lin-Manuel Miranda. I mean, he IS Usnavi, but apparently the show is a lot different with such a different interpretation.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 6/27/08 at 11:55pm

I have such a crush on Javier Munoz. I'd love to see him as Usnavi.

[lovepuppy]

Posted: 6/28/08 at 1:55am

I saw ITH last Wed (6/1 at night and was disappointed that Lin was not in, and only found out this week that he has been ill the past couple of weeks. Javier was in for him and was fantastic. I've only seen Lin on a couple of TV appearances when they did the opening number, and considering that's all I had to give me an idea of what Lin is like, Javier didn't seem to miss a beat on the lyrics, rhythms or mannerisms. Being an understudy is hard enough; with all that rapping, and given the fact that it couldn't possibly come as easy to an u/s as a person who wrote it, it had to be quite a challenge and Javier was great.

Btw--I've always wondered...how do shows rehearse the understudies? So many of them u/s for more than one character...do they rehearse the understudies along with the various leads of a show, and rehearse them periodically in their u/s assignments throughout the run so they don't forget the blocking and stuff if they need to go on in a pinch? I mean, that's a lot to do...more than the leads in some cases.

[SweetSoprano]

Posted: 6/28/08 at 8:06am

I saw Javier Munoz on Tuesday and thought that he was fantastic!