"In The Heights"....In The Theater

It was a big day today as we mark our progress in post(?)-pandemic life: we went to the movies.  No, not to the television set to stream something, but an honest-to-God movie theater.  The movie we saw was Lin-Manuel Miranda's "In The Heights", but more on that in a bit.

First off, what was it like being back inside a theater?  First off, I felt rather safe in there.  The seating was spaced, all employees were masked (not so all the patrons; that was a mixed bag).  concession workers wore gloves.  Frankly, I felt safer there than I did last night when I did something else for the first time in a year - I went to Mass inside a Church.   Spacing and masks in there was not so well enforced, but that is another topic for another time.

The last time we were in a theater was in February, 2020, when we saw the Julia Louis-Dreyfus/Will Farrell movie "Downhill."  Not a bad movie, but not one you would necessarily want as the answer to the "what-was-the-last-movie-you-saw-in-a-theater-before-the-shutdown?'" trivia question.    We knew that we would be venturing back to the theater soon, so the question became, what movie  will get the nod as The First One?  That it would be "In The Heights" was a pretty easy decision.  It is a feel good musical with big, splashy, and colorful production numbers.  Yes, we could have streamed it at home via HBO Max, but this was the kind of movie that really should be seen, initially at least, on a big screen in a darkened movie theater.

Anthony Ramos (John Laurens/Phillip Hamilton from "Hamilton") plays Usnavi, who runs a small bodega in the Washington Heights section of New York City and longs to return to his native Dominican Republic, where he lived until he was eight years old.  Story lines revolve around Nina, a young girl who "made it out" and attends Stanford University, Vanessa, who works in a nail salon and upon whom Usnavi has a major crush, Benny, who works for Nina's dad as a cab dispatcher, Sonny, Usnavi's cousin who works in the bodega, and Abuela Claudia, the older lady who is everyone in the neighborhood's surrogate grandmother.

Ramos and Barrera 

as

Usnavi and Vanessa

The big musical numbers are what the movie (and the Broadway show that preceded it) is all about. The opening title number, the great "$96,000" number that takes place largely at a public swimming pool, great dancing sequences in a beauty parlor, a night club, and another in the neighborhood near the end as the residents are in the throes of a three day period with no electricity due to a heat related power outage in the City.  There is also a really cool number near the end of Benny and Nina singing and dancing on their building.  Yes, I said "on" their building.  You need to see it.

Leslie Grace as Nina

Vanessa and Nina in the beauty salon

"Tell Me Something I Don't Know"

Ramos was terrific in the lead, and we were impressed with the two talented and beautiful female leads, Melissa Barrera as Vanessa and Leslie Grace as Nina.  We were not familiar with either actress, and bothe were terrific.  Other notable cast members are Jimmy Smits as Nina's father, Corey Hawkins as Benny, and Gregory Diaz IV as Sonny.

As most people know, "In The Heights" was Lin-Manuel Miranda's first Tony Award winning musical.  He starred as Usnavi on Broadway in this, and he serves as the Producer of the film version.  He also has a small role and a musical number in the movie version.  Oh, and if you watch and listen closely, you will find two additional - that I caught - "Hamilton" easter eggs embedded in the movie.

I found "In the Heights" to be a perfect summer movie and great way to return to the movies:  upbeat, positive, energetic, beautiful to look at, and fun.  Go see it in a movie theater!

Three Stars from The Grandstander.

 

In The Area of Critical Commentary - "The Big Sick" and "In The Heights"

Everywhere you look, "The Big Sick" is getting four star reviews from critics all over the country.  Actor/comedian Kumail Nanjiani, a Pakistani-American, plays Kumail Nanjiani, a Pakistani-American trying to make it as a stand-up comedian in Chicago.  While doing his set one night, he is gently heckled by audience member Emily Gordon.  The meet afterward, have a one night hook-up, but soon become romantically involved and fall in love.  Meanwhile, Kumail's traditional Pakistani family disapproves of his choice of profession (they want him to go to law school), and are constantly trying to get him into an arranged marriage with a Pakistani woman.

Kumail and Emily have a fight and break up, then Emily comes down with a mysterious illness that forces doctors to put her into an induced coma as they struggle to find a cure for her illness.  This brings Emily's parents into the picture and another set of complications for Kumail.

Doesn't sound like the stuff of your typical romantic comedy, but this movie is truly funny while it raises important questions about cultural values, prejudices, and just what this crazy thing called love is all about.

The movie was written by Nanjiani and his real life wife, Emily Gordon.  Yep, that is the name of the character in the movie, so this is somewhat autobiographical, although I do not believe that the real-life Emily experienced a "big sick" in her own life.  Nanjiani is quite good in the movie as is Zoe Kazan as Emily (Fun Fact: Ms. Kazan is the granddaughter of Oscar winning director Elia Kazan), and then there are Ray Romano and Holly Hunter, who play Emily's parents.  I won't say that they steal the show here, they don't, but they are terrific in their roles.  I was especially surprised by Romano, who I still see as a TV sitcom star.  He was wonderful in this.  

Lots of professional critics are calling "The Big Sick" the best movie of the year, and they may well be correct. You will laugh and you will cry, and if someone you love has ever been seriously ill, this will especially touch you.   Do not miss it.

Four Stars all the way from The Grandstander.

(CORRECTION: A few days after I wrote this entry, I learned that the real life Emily Gordon did, indeed, have a mysterious illness that caused her to be in a medically induced coma, very much like Emily in the movie.  Truth is stranger than fiction.)

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Last night we made what will probably be, sadly, our only visit to the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera this year to see Lin-Manuel Miranda's "In The Heights".  This was the first Broadway musical production for Miranda, and it was the winner of four Tony Awards, and it certainly presaged Miranda's epic that was to come, "Hamilton".

It was a wonderful show with high energy singing and dancing, music that included rap, hip-hop, and salsa, as well as traditional Broadway-type ballads and production numbers.  As always, the CLO's production was top notch.

This is the kind of show that will no doubt be touring forever, and it is already being performed by high schools across the land.  It is one that you should try to see at some point in your theater going life.

Four stars.