If you’ve been awake for the past couple years, you’ve probably heard of the Broadway play Hamilton. Maybe you love show music, maybe you’ve been lucky enough to see a performance or two. For my fellow Hamilton lovers, if you haven’t heard of or listened to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s other Broadway hit, now is the perfect time! In The Heights will be at the Seattle Repertory Theater November 23, 2018 through December 30, 2018. Tickets are $16 with a valid student ID, not including a $2 service fee if purchased online.
In the Heights tells the story of the immigrant experience and first-generation families living in Washington Heights, New York as the neighborhood undergoes gentrification. The Rosario’s want to get their daughter through college, Abuela Claudia dreams of returning to Cuba, Usnavi wants to go to the Dominican Republic to see where his parents lived. Every character in the play is severely harmed by the oncoming gentrification. A recurring theme in the play is “we are powerless, we are powerless,” referring to their inability to pay their increasing rents and all their bills (including the electric bill), and their feelings of hopelessness and frustration of being underrepresented in politics. The themes addressed in the play are still incredibly relevant in today’s politics, and the music is amazing. Songs are primarily sung in English but have Spanish incorporated throughout. The music itself is a combination of hip-hop, salsa, and a number of other Hispanic genres. It’s a wonderful story of belonging, acceptance, and community. While some of the characters emigrated from Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States, these emigrants must still undergo the immigrant experience, which unfortunately is one of oppression.
The play discusses the difficulties of having to leave your hometown to move to the continental United States. In “Inutíl,” Kevin Rosario sings about how his father expected him to be a farmer and was so disappointed to hear that Kevin “is going farther, [he’s] getting on a plane, and [he’s] going to change the world someday” that their relationship was ruined. Kevin’s relationship with his father juxtaposes his relationship with his daughter Nina, as in the following verse he sings about how he’s “proud to be [her] father,” and “[he] always knew that she would fly away, that she [would] change the world someday.” Kevin’s ongoing internal battle is whether or not he is a better father than his own. In Nina’s introductory song “Breathe,” she tells the audience that she lost her scholarship to Stanford and has dropped out of school, but has not yet told her family what happened. Being out of this loop, Kevin is under constant stress, wondering how he’ll be able to continue paying for Nina’s college education as well as support himself and his wife at home. The one thing he’s certain of is that Nina will have a better life than he had in Puerto Rico.
Also struggling with memories from home, Abuela Claudia has created a new life for herself in New York. In “Paciencia y Fe,” Abuela Claudia talks to her dead mother, remembering the struggles they saw or faced in La Vibora, Cuba. She remembers praying her mother would find a job, the hunger she saw in the streets, the difficult decision to leave home for the American dream, helping her mother clean houses, and the struggles of learning English and assimilating. While she’s very obviously homesick, she takes some comfort in being a symbol of home to everyone in the Heights. When Usnavi sings her introduction, the line is, “That was Abuela, she’s not really my Abuela, but she practically raised me, this corner is her esquela.” It becomes clear throughout the play that everyone feels a familial connection to Abuela Claudia, which helps her deal with some of her homesickness, realizing that she has a home with her people in Washington Heights.
One of the reasons I love this play so much is it touches on some of the difficulties first generation children can face. Nina Rosario, the only person from the Heights to go to college, struggles with trying to keep her Puerto Rican culture alive in her while also trying to embrace American culture. As a child, she worked harder than everyone around her, doing her best to get a scholarship for college to ease some of her parent’s financial worries. When she loses her scholarship, she’s too ashamed to tell them the truth. And not just her parents. Being the only person in the neighborhood to have gone to college, she’s dreading coming home and inevitably having to tell everyone she lost her scholarship and dropped out of Stanford. All first-generation college students know that entering university can be confusing and terrifying. There’s no one at home you can ask for advice, and sometimes it feels like you’re completely alone. People at home offer you support and the absolute last thing you want to do is disappoint them. When Nina comes home, well aware of how proud of her the neighborhood is, she imagines herself announcing her return as “Hey guys it’s me, the biggest disappointment you know.” I always fixate on this line while listening to the soundtrack, because it’s her half-joking with herself to ease her anxiety, but it’s also how she feels without any sugar coating. The final line of the song is “What will my parents say? Can I go in there and say, ‘I know that I’m letting you down.’ Nina, just breathe.” The community of Washington Heights acts as the chorus in the song, singing their pride and congratulations to Nina, which makes her feel even more trapped in the lie she’s preparing to spin so as to not hurt her parents. While the community believes she’s capable of any and everything, Nina herself is not so sure. This plays a huge role in her dropping out.
On top of being a first-generation college student, Nina is also the first generation of her family to be born in the continental United States. She’s proud of her Puerto Rican background, but she struggles to keep ties with the Puerto Rican culture her parents knew at home while finding her place in American culture. This puts her under a lot of stress and motivates her to be so successful in and after college. She loves her parents, she isn’t ashamed of being a Puerto Rican woman, but she does want to succeed in the United States and feels that in order to do so, she must assimilate. Going away to California for college was what she believed would be the first step in moving forward; losing her scholarship makes her doubt herself more than she ever has before. Coming back home, she sees how much has changed and can’t help but wonder if she belongs anywhere. In “When You’re Home,” Benny expresses how happy he is that Nina has returned for the summer because “the street’s a little kinder when [she’s] home.” Benny reminds Nina that the entire neighborhood is excited to see her succeed, and in response, Nina breaks down:
“Don’t say that! When I was younger I’d imagine what would happen if my parents had stayed in Puerto Rico. Who would I be if I had never seen Manhattan? If I lived in Puerto Rico with my people?… I feel like all my life I’ve tried to find the answer, working harder, learning Spanish, learning all I can. I thought I might find the answer out at Stanford, but I’d stare out at the sea, thinking, ‘Where am I supposed to be?’ So please don’t say you’re proud of me when I’ve lost my way.”
This is the first time Nina has ever outwardly expressed how she feels her identity as a Puerto Rican woman trying to succeed in America and her identity as a first-generation college student conflict. Benny has a great response that allows Nina to start coming to terms with who she is:
“….Listen to me. That may be how you perceive it, but Nina please believe that when you find your way again, you’re going to change the world and then we’re all going to brag and say we knew her when this was your home.”
And then Nina finally sings the words “I’m home.” It’s the first time in the musical she’s really accepted that she has a home, that she has a place she belongs, and that her identities can co-exist without overpowering another. After this song, Nina begins to reconsider her decision to drop out of college, because while being a first-generation college student can sometimes seem like more trouble than it’s worth, Nina knows it’s worth it. She wants to succeed, for herself, for her family, for her community, and she finally begins to see she has what it takes.
There are so many important themes found in In The Heights, including the struggles of the immigrant experience, first-generation children and students, and gentrification. In today’s current political climate and even here in Capitol Hill, Seattle, these themes hit so close to home. I highly encourage everyone to listen to In The Heights, see it if you’re able, and reflect on the themes of the musical. It may have been originally published in 2005, but it’s still as relevant as ever.