Theater Review: 'In the Heights' at Downtown Cabaret

By Nancy Sasso Janis

As a fan of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights,” my expectations were high when I headed to Bridgeport to experience the production that is running at Downtown Cabaret Theatre.

Miranda wrote the earliest draft of this show in 1999, during his sophomore year at Wesleyan University in Middletown. After premiering at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford in 2005 and opening off-Broadway in 2007, the musical went to Broadway in 2008.

Miranda wrote the music and lyrics for the final product, and Quiara Alegria Hudes provided the book. The high energy Downtown Cabaret Theatre version was directed by Ben Tostado, with authentic choreography by cast member Olivia Rivera. Mark Ceppetelli was in charge of music direction, with the show performed to musical tracks.

The cast of 18, all performers of color, authentically bring this story to life, so it is easy to enjoy every minute of the singing, rapping and dancing.

Manny Gonzalez, a Puerto Rican actor born in New Haven, possesses “mad” rapping skills and shows them off in his role as Usnavi. Olivia Rivera is the lovely Nina Rosario that is the first in her family to go to college. The actress has the opportunity to share the stage with her sister Juliana, who does well with the role of Vanessa. Everton George has plenty of charm on display as he revisits the role of Nina’s love interest Benny.

Martin Garcia, whose father came to the US mainland from Puerto Rico, plays Nina’s proud father Kevin, who sings "Inútil (Useless,)" and Cintia Maio makes her musical theater debut with DCT to play his wife Camila ("Enough.")

Jane Prieto just about steals the show in her role at Abuela Claudia. She nails the character of everyone’s beloved grandma and wow, can she sing. I also loved Heather Abrado’s portrayal of Daniela, the owner of the neighborhood hair salon, who leads "No Me Diga (You Don't Say.)"

Karina Brea makes the most of the role of Carla in her Downtown Cabaret debut and Jose Albino is the stealthy Graffiti Pete.

Nick Nuñez, who recently was part of “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” in Shelton, is great in the role of Sonny in his Downtown Cabaret debut. Jesus De La Rosa Reyes, a Dominican-born artist, has fun with his role as the Piragua Guy.

The talented dancers in the ensemble include Ness Baracui, Monique Castillo, Brenden Maverick Martinez, Zully Ramos, Kelsey Senteio, Sandy Quinonez and Ana Rosa Sforza.

My favorite choreography was in “$96,000” and the title song, and my favorite numbers are always "Carnaval del Barrio" and the memorial for Abuela, “Alabanza.” Costumes designed by Thomas Gordon and Krista Rocco look great and move well with the dancers. David Kievit has designed a compact set that fits the stage and presents as a Washington Heights street, and lighting by Christian Hall brings out its detail. Special thanks are given to graffiti artist Brett Masterson. Sound design by Holly Rybrick was a bit uneven, especially difficult to hear during some group numbers. Michael Barra served as fight choreographer.

At the matinee that I attended, there were far too many patrons that arrived late and proceeded to stand in the aisles for far too long, blocking the view of the stage for everyone seated behind. The person that seemed to lead this large group of audience members also left her seat to have extended conversations with folks at other tables. Because the performers often enter through the main aisles between the tables on the lower level, this poor theater etiquette could have led to some collisions.

“No pare, sigue” (“Don’t stop, keep going”) to see this excellent production of a great early work of the composer of “Hamilton.” “In the Heights” runs through Nov 24 Tickets at dtcab.com.

Theater Reviewer Nancy Sasso Janis hold a BA in Spanish from Sacred Heart University.

Downtown Cabaret photos