In the Heights Tour Review--Chicago 12/28

[jigblob]

Posted: 12/29/09 at 4:30pm

I have been listening to the cast recording since the show opened on Broadway, and always loved it, so I was very excited to finally see the show in Chicago. We got student tickets (6 together in row Ugreat seats). I feel like I read a lot of reviews about people seeing understudies, but the full cast was on last night.

Kyle Beltran- I thought his Usnavi was just ok. Nothing really impressed me, but I didnt think there was anything bad either. I felt a little distracted in the sense that I thought he sounded like Ray Romano, but overall I had no problems. Its hard to say with the Lin Manuel bias though.

Rogelio Douglas Jr.- INCREDIBLE Benny. Everytime this guy sang I got goosebumps. I liked his voice better than Christopher Jackson. Really glad I got to see him. Probably the best singer in the show, IMO

Shaun Taylor-Corbett- I thought he was a pretty good Benny. Nothing really stood out for me, but he got a lot of laughs from the audience.

Yvette Gonzalez Nacer- All I heard were bad things about her Vanessa, but I thought she was fine. She had a good belt (however I did miss the high belt at the end of It Wont Be Long Now). She didnt come across as all that likeable, but Im not sure if that was bc of her acting or just how the part is written.

Arielle Jacobs- WOW. I always loved Mandy Gonzalez from the cast recording, but I was shocked to discover that I liked Arielle Jacobss voice even better than Mandys. She had a sweet tone, and I didnt think she would be able to belt (the end of Breathe wasnt quite as explosive as Mandys), but by the time Alabanza came, I was totally sold. Her high harmony in that song really got my heart going. Her chemistry with the parents was very good, and I just couldnt help but really empathize with her character. Her songs with Benny (When Youre Home, When the Sun Goes Down, Sunrise) I liked even better than Christopher/Mandys versions.

Daniel Bolero- I wasnt all that impressed with his Kevin. I thought his voice sounded too high kind of like he should have been playing Piragua guy. He did a good job of coming across as the over-protective and unaccepting father though, so I guess his acting was alright.

Elise Santora- The abuela character always kind of annoyed me, and I dont feel that sorry for her when she dies, so its hard for me to rate her. She was a good actress and her paciencia y fe was pretty fierce. Otherwise I dont have too much to say.

Isabel Santiago- Her Daniela was GREAT. I thought she was the funniest one in the show, and she certainly potrayed that gossipy, confident Latina woman very well. Great voice too.

Genny Lis Padilla- I thought she was really funny. However, even though I know she is the more soft-spoken counterpart to Daniela (making for a great pair, IMO), I thought she was a bit too softspoken. I dont know if her mic was turned down or if she just didnt project, but I could barely hear her. Especially when she sang, she was completely overpowered by everyone else. (like in blackout, I knew what her lines were and I could still barely hear them/make them out)

Natalie Toro- I didnt know that Ninas mom was that big of a character, going into the show, but I thought she was awesome! She really sold the **** out of Enough, a song that I would always skip over on the cd. Great voice too.

Grafitti Pete and Piragua guy were decent, pretty much exactly what I expected. The ensemble was good, dancing was great, and I especially loved the lighting. I didnt have too much of an issue with the acoustics (which I feel like a lot of people were complaining about for this tour), however I did feel like some songs could have been louder. A lot of the songs would end with a big booming sound, and I kind of wish the volume was like that for more of the song rather than just for the final note before the applause. Overall I was very pleased with my experience, and look forward to seeing it again sometime in the future.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/29/09 at 4:57pm

A **SPOILER** warning should be included on your Subject Line. Remember... there are STILL people who haven't seen the show or are not at all familiar with the plot.

Something to think about sometimes.

[BroadwayBound115]

Posted: 12/29/09 at 5:01pm

Thanks for your review. I am seeing it tonight. You should really check out The Addams Family less than a block over!!

[ggersten]

Posted: 12/29/09 at 5:25pm

We saw it on Saturday, December 27. No understudies. We were in left orchestra, Row J on the aisle. There were times when we could not hear vocals over the music. The speakers are piled high on the stage sides like at a rock concert.

It was an amazing show!

The highlight was Arielle Jacbos as Nina. The woman is gorgeous and sings gorgeous and acts gorgeous and just lights the stage. She is a STAR.

It took a bit to get used to Kyle Beltran because I was so used to LMM off the CD and videos. But, after the opening, he really took over. I thought he brought a great characterization to Usnavi - the hesistance, the insecurities, the dreamer. It's quite a role to step into at such at a young age and career status, but he acquits himself very well.

Natalie Toro - her CD is for sale in the lobby! - and she just dominated the stage every time she was on. She commands attention and probably has the most developed portrayal.

Elise Santora was a delightful Abuella Claudia. She brought great depth to the character that I barely sense on the CD. She knows the role and inhabits it.

The weakest performer was Yvette Gonzalez Nacer as Vanessa. She riffs at the end of lines instead of holding notes. Maybe it was an off night for her, but she was cheating a lot. And her wig - I pray it's a wig - is really bad. Most of the time, I looked at her and thought "Vanessa is supposed to work in a salon, and they let her wear her hair like that." Really really black and stringy and in the way. Very distracting. I also didn't get the sense of Vanessa as a character and how she fits in. So, between so-so singing and mediocre acting and distracting hair, I mostly wished she were on stage less.

Most everyone else was wonderful. There were some mic issues with mics not turned on at times when characters were speaking.

The dancing was exceptional. Although I think the Cadillac's stage must not be as wide as the Rodgers in NY because the dancers seemed scrunched together and slowed down to make sure they didn't hit each other. There is one really really tall dancer and he moves a lot slower than others.

The club sequence and 96,000 got the loudest sustained cheers.

We paid full price and were not disappointed.

[dshnookie]

Posted: 12/29/09 at 6:15pm

I had hoped Yvette would have gotten better as Vanessa. The reviews here dont seem to be getting any better for her as the show goes on. Here's hoping she doesnt drag the show down completely when I see it here in Boston (after seeing it 8x on Broadway) on 1/23.

[Fanb]

Posted: 12/29/09 at 6:17pm

Thanks for the review. It is good to hear that the tour seems to be going well. Sorry you don't think the Usnavi is as good as Lin Manuel Miranda, but I have to say it would be pretty challenging to find anyone as good at that role as him. He was fantastic on Broadway. Does anyone know whether he will be in the movie version that Universal Studios is supposedly producing?

[singalongsong2]

Posted: 12/29/09 at 6:27pm

Fanb, Lin-Manuel Miranda will star in the movie.




Kenny Ortega will direct In The Heights film, Lin-Manuel Miranda will star

[Fanb]

Posted: 12/29/09 at 6:44pm

Fantastic. Thanks for letting me know.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 12/29/09 at 7:29pm

I look forward to seeing the tour when it hits Baltimore this winter. I haven't seen the Broadway production since Lin Manuel's final performance in February.

[singalongsong2]

Posted: 12/29/09 at 7:38pm

^^ Me too. I can't wait to see the show in Baltimore. Lin-Man's final performance was my last time seeing the show. It seems like forever ago, even though it hasn't even been a year. :)

I'm happy to hear such positive things about Rogelio Douglas Jr. I really like him and I'm looking forward to seeing him as Benny.

[Marlothom]

Posted: 12/30/09 at 12:25am

I saw it opening night in Chicago - I loved this show! But I guess I am in the minority re: Ariel Jacobs - mainly because she is very Disney in comparison with the others in the show, and I am not convinced she is fluent in Spanish (could be wrong), I could swear I caught a few "Ah-Boo-Ey-La" and other slips of the American accent. Very talented girl though.

[BroadwayBound115]

Posted: 12/30/09 at 12:27am

Saw the show tonight. It definitely is in good shape. Lin Manuel Miranda sat behind me and Tommy Kail sat a few seats down from me. Lin put up his hood and I think it was a signal saying, I'm here to see the show just like you, which I completely understood, so I just smiled at him. Best cast member has to be Rogelio Douglas Jr. man his voice is beautiful and smooth, everything Benny should be. Isabella Santiago was ON FIRE as Daniela, amazing voice, amazing presence. I love the innocence of Arielle Jacobs, also a beautiful voice. Natalie Toro wins a prize too!! Just like you said, her "Enough" was amazing. She gave me chills. She put her heart on that stage and she sure as hell commands it. Bravo to Shaun Taylor-Corbett who was very funny as Sonny. Genny Lis Padilla was perfect as Carla. Great voice as well. Kyle Beltran...very nice job. He had some big big shoes to fill and let's just say his feet are growing. He is lovable as Usnavi and he really does do a great job. Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer was pretty darn good. Her vocals aren't bad, she opts out of some of the fierce belting laid down by Karen Olivo, but she really does a great job with the character, dances well and she really grew on me as the show progressed. Elise Santora was charming as Abuela. But like you said, the part doesn't have much to do. Hundreds of Stories was wonderful and so was Paciencia y Fe. I have no complaints except for the sound. The audio for the singing could be pumped up!! Go see this if it comes anywhere near you!!

[purtynpynk]

Posted: 12/30/09 at 1:20am

Now I feel like the outsider. I've heard a few songs from In the Heights and seen some videos, and a friend of mine told me if I see any show that came through Broadway in Chicago this year, it had to be this one. So, I did the rush with a friend today to see what it was like. Really, I didn't enjoy it that much. I was actually kind of bored at parts! There was some good music, but half the time, I couldn't understand what they were saying. I understood the story though, so it didn't matter as much. I guess i'll do a breakdown of the actors for my thoughts.

Kyle Beltran: I thought he was just ok too. I've seen videos of Lin and I liked him better. Kyle's voice is just lower, and maybe it was because I was at the back of the house and the speakers might be off a little, but I couldn't understand him most of the time.

Rogelio Douglas Jr: I liked his Benny a lot! I really liked Benny's Dispatch. Pretty cool idea!

Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Yeah, really didn't like her singing voice. I also agree about losing some of the fierceness that Karen Olivo put in the role. I understand that yes, it's a different actress and they interpret the part the way they want to, but I just didn't feel her performance.

Arielle Jacobs: On the opposite side of the spectrum, I loved her! She sang well, and I think her and Rogelio Douglas Jr. have great chemistry. Definitely good on my end!

Shaun Taylor-Corbett: I like Sonny too. Thought he was really funny.

Elise Santora: I thought her Abuela was cute.

Isabel Santiago:I agree with the comment that she was on fire! Loved her in "Carnaval del Barrio!"

Genny Lis Padilla:I liked her attitude in the part, if that makes sense. Very cute as Daniela's sidekick.

Daniel Bolero: I thought his Kevin was ok. I think his acting was ok with the overprotective father, but wasn't impressed with his vocals.

Natalie Torro: Her "Enough" was awesome! She was definitely the boss in that one and it worked well.

David Baida: Yeah, the part of the Piragua Guy isn't that big, but I liked his little songs. Made me laugh many times.

Jose-Luis Lopez: Again, small part, and it didn't make that much of an impact on me.

I wasn't crazy about some of the songs. I think the best one was "96,000." They just didn't impress me. I felt like there were some big numbers, but felt like the ballads brought down the energy of the show a little bit. I thought the set was pretty cool though. My friend and I were both like "wow, that's cool!" The dancing was cool too.

I don't know, I just wasn't all that impressed. If I had to rate it out of ten, I'd give it a five at best. I found myself wondering if the show was almost over at certain points. Maybe it's just not my kind of show.

[chiuptown]

Posted: 12/30/09 at 6:57am

I saw this show this past monday, and having seen addams family with a friend a few weeks ago, was encouraged by said friend to see this if i wanted to see a show really well written. I was really excited and bought tickets for me and 2 friends. eh. well we liked it overall, but to be concise, thought the sound was horrible. i missed so much in the first act, and only began to appreciate the show in the second act, when I could start understanding what was being said. to me, it had a weird muted sound throughout, while contrastingly seeming overly miked.my one friend agreed and left at intermission. i'd recommend it for the cast and design and story, tho, and it was really heartening to see so many young people in attendance. btw, i wish that i had been more familiar w/ the score, as this would have helped me get more out of the first act.

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 12/30/09 at 9:34am

Was Elise an understudy for Abuela on Broadway? I think I might have seen her.

[purtynpynk]

Posted: 12/30/09 at 1:16pm

it says in my playbill that "she is thrilled to join the tour directly from the Broadway cast where she performed the roles of Abuela and Daniela." So yeah, I would say she did.

[CrazierThanYou]

Posted: 12/30/09 at 1:58pm

Did anyone get the student rush tickets? If so how were they?

[catalana2]

Posted: 12/30/09 at 5:52pm

If they have full view seats left, they are selling them for rush. I got there at 10am and got center orchestra. A really great show. Go down to the theatre if you have time.
They are pretty much using it to fill in space. If you are someone who wants to buy them in advance, hottix.org has been selling Orchestra and Loge tickets for about $40.
Updated On: 12/30/09 at 05:52 PM

[jigblob]

Posted: 12/30/09 at 9:30pm

For the show on the 28th, and since there were 3 of us there, we got 6 student rush tickets total all next to each other in row U of center orchestra, which were actually phenominal seats (didn't pick up any of the sound problems everyone is complaining about).

This was at about 10:20 (20 min after the box office opened). However there were still plenty of seats in the rows behind us so I'd say your chances of getting rush tickets are very good, at least on a weekday.

[raggballad2]

Posted: 12/30/09 at 9:34pm

My friends and I rushed Thursday night, December 17 and got 4 tickets together at the far end of row S, right orchestra. They were great, but we did miss a bunch of the singing to the music, and wished that some songs were stronger instead of just ending with the Bang mentioned above.

We got there at around 1pm and there were a couple of rows behind us empty. (What was strange was that the rest of the row was entirely empty and not held by a group or anything, but we still got put at the end of the row.)

[46er]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 10:24am

Just saw the tour in Hartford, and I've been waiting for months. I loved the show overall, but have to admit that while he did a good job I didn't feel Kyle Beltran carried Usnavi as well as I would have liked. That's perhaps due to extensive listening to the cast album, but he felt a little too flat. Maybe it was just the night.

My biggest complaint though echoes comments above, and I hope the tour is listening. The sound was awful - very difficult to make out the lyrics (I would describe the quality of the sound as muddy), particularly in Act 1, and the orchestra overrode the performers too often. This was a big disappointment. I wondered if it was the theater in Hartford, but my issues seem to be the same as others. Fix it!

[hicaesar]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 11:33am

To be honest, I have never been fully satisfied with the sound quality on Broadway either. When I saw the tour in Atlanta I thought the sound was decent, but def. not great. However most touring shows seem to have big problems with sound in my experiences.

I mentioned it before but I really like Kyle's Usanvi, I thought the character was very believable, unlike the current Broadway Usnavi (I'm looking forward to seeing Corbin).

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 1:14pm

This might be off topick, but I saw the show in NYC and me and my friend were so dissappointed, we didn't enjoy this show a bit. It was all over the place and the score was awful.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 1/11/10 at 8:43am

I saw this around the same time (either the 28th or 29th of December...or was it the 30th?) and felt that the female leads were extremely disappointing. Arielle Jacobs (Nina) had a BEAUTIFUL voice, but "Breathe" was soooooo boring. She stood there and sang. Barely any emotion. And then Vanessa (forget her name) was just awful. Her outfits of denim mini and top were too small for her so her body looked awkward (which as a professional performer you know it ISN'T, just bad outfit for her shape), and kept tugging at the skirt. She often walked around with her hand(s) in the back pocket, which wasn't a character choice but a way of keeping the thing from riding all the way up. I will say she fantastic in the act two blue/green dress though, which made me go "ahhh, she is isn't poorly shaped". Her voice was swallowed, and I was never quite sure she was gonna hit a note without cracking-it was strained.

You just didn't care for either of their struggles. I thought Kyle Beltran was quite effective as Usnavi.

P.S. I saw the OBC, and it's true-Nothing will top seeing Lin Manuel Miranda.

[catalana2]

Posted: 1/11/10 at 3:00pm

The issue with the sound on this tour seems to be a real big issue, mostly because there is so much overlap in the singing. I didn't understand why the lead's mics were not up more during songs where their voices should be extra emphasized. I was sitting a few rows in front of the orchestra level controls and wanted to walk back there and smack them.