Lin-Manuel Miranda is a name that many would recognise. His musical Hamilton has just celebrated ten years on Broadway this week. However, long before this musical took the world by storm, another musical hit the stage that would put Lin-Manuel Miranda on the map.
Originally conceptualised during his college years in 1999, In The Heights debuted on Broadway in 2008 and would go on to win three Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The musical’s album also went on to win a Grammy in the same year. Since then, In The Heights has seen debuts and revivals around the world, and has even seen a motion picture hit the big screens in 2021.
I first saw the musical in Melbourne ten years ago at Melbourne’s Chapel off Chapel by and was blown away by the incredible music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Now, in 2025, In The Heights is back with a brand-new production opening at Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre on Thursday the 7th of August 2025.
Directed by Luke Joslin, with original Music, Lyrics and Concept by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and book by Quiara Alegria Hudes, In The Heights is an open love letter to a cultural community and romance set in the neighbourhood of Washington Heights in Upper Manhattan, New York City. Comprised of mostly Dominican Americans, Washington Heights is in the grips of a heat wave. We meet Usnavi (Ryan González), the owner of the local Bodega as he chases away a graffiti artist, Graffiti Pete (Dayton Tavares), and Usnavi introduces us to some of the local community, with the opening number and titular track ‘In The Heights’.
Here we meet Abuela Claudia (Lena Cruz), the matriarch of the community. Deniela (Vanessa Menjivar) the owner of the local hair salon and her business partner Carla (Tamara Foglia Castañeda). Usnavi’s cousin and Bodega employee, Sonny (Steve Costi), plus Kevin (Alexander Palacio) and Camila Rosario (Angela Rosero), married couple and owners of Rosario’s Car Service.
Now, with Lin-Manuel Miranda being known for his hip-hop rap style lyrics, this opening number was a real test to the capability of the lead, Ryan González, and I must say, González absolutely killed it. The first track is packed full of energy and more lyrics than you can imagine, and González set the tone of the whole show with ease. The Melbourne opening night audience erupted with cheers and applause, and I was excited to experience the rest of the musical. However, as the performance continued, it was clear, that from a technical viewpoint, this new production isn’t perfect.
One of the hardest things with a show like In The Heights with the fast vocals, high word count and lyrically diverse styles is the ability to perform the work clearly. Thankfully, this Australian cast smashes the difficult lyrics with ease. Their diction was clear, and their performances were stellar. However, as the music from the live orchestra swelled as the lyrics intensified, the audio balance was off. It became difficult to hear the vocals over the loud music, and unfortunately this detracted from the incredible performances of the show’s cast.
It is no surprise that the Latino community love to party, and boy do they love to dance! In The Heights is packed full of incredible dance performances. Choreographer Amy Campbell has done an incredible job putting together some of these numbers. They are high energy and had the crowd wooing, whistling and cheering. None more so than during the number ‘The Club’. It showcases the amazing talent of the ensemble, and the audience was in awe. However, there is such a thing as too much dance, and it felt at times, whilst it was fun, that it detracted from the song and the heart of this story.
There is one number, however, that stood out as the highlight of the evening: ’96,000’ complete with Sonny’s mid number rap and dance break. Not only does Steve Costi kill it with the lyrics, but he does so whilst breakdancing at the same time! I was blown away with how incredible it was to witness.
Maria Gonzalez is wonderful as Nina Rosario, a struggling student that returns home to tell her parents she’s dropped out of Stanford University. Gonzalez has this sweet innocence about her performance, and you can’t help but be drawn into her struggles. Her opening number ‘Breathe’ and second act performance of ‘Everything I Know’ are definite highlights.
Ngali Shaw was such a lovely surprise in his role as Benny. The soulful lyrics and natural swagger that Shaw brings to the character really highlights who Benny is. Benny is also pining for Nina, and Shaw’s chemistry with Gonzalez is believable, natural and sweet. Shaw’s performance of ‘Benny’s Dispatch’ is fun and the duet with Gonzalez during ‘Sunrise’ is the perfect start to Act 2.
Alexander Palacio and Angela Rosero are good in their respective roles as Kevin and Camila Rosario. Whilst their musical numbers are not as strong as others in the show, they are still filled with heart and passion. Their acting skills are just as good together as they are independently.
Lena Cruz is perfect as Abuela Claudia. The love she exudes not only for Usnavi, but the whole community solidifies the character as the matriarch. Not to mention the performance of ‘Paciencia y Fe (Patience and Faith)’ is amazing.
We also have the comic relief of the show, everyone’s favourite vendor, the Piragua Guy portrayed by Richard Valdez. Whilst his presence on stage is fleeting, it is certainly memorable, and I still find myself humming the ‘Piragua’ song randomly during the day.
Vanessa Menjivar and Tamara Foglia Castañeda as Salon owners Daniela and Carla respectively are excellently cast. Daniela is the powerful and sassy gossip queen of Washington Heights and Menjivar brings this character to life effortlessly. And the comic relief and fun sidekick character Carla is flawlessly delivered by Castañeda. It was always fun whenever either of these two were on stage.
Usnavi’s love interest Vanessa is portrayed be Olivia Vásquez and she executes the performance wonderfully. She’s sassy and vocally exquisite, putting on an incredible dance performance at the club. Vásquez’s chemistry with lead Gonzalez is cheeky and nervous like a new love. An enjoyable performance.
But of course, In The Heights wouldn’t be complete without our main character Usnavi De La Vega. Portrayed by Ryan González, Usnavi is the highlight of the entire show. González flawlessly executes the high-word per-minute lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda with ease, bringing a natural swagger to the performance that draws you in and making you fall in love with Usnavi.
And whilst all the individual and collective performances of the cast bring In The Heights to life, the biggest frustration during the show was a flashing light at the rear of the stage. During Act 1, a bright flash lit up the entire back of the stage. It was distracting and it flashed several times. However, returning for Act 2, the issue was not resolved, and it would continue to flash sporadically for the rest of the show.
Sadly, the technical issues didn’t end there. The aforementioned mixing issues were prevalent during the entire performance. I get it, they wanted to bring a high energy party atmosphere into the theatre, but this shouldn’t be at the expense of the performers singing on stage. There was even a costume blunder that had Nina’s earrings knocking against the mic. All of these issues can easily be rectified with some tweaking to the technical production.
It wasn’t all bad on the technical front, the set design was great and the lighting design, especially during the iconic number ‘Blackout’ was incredible. Blacking out the stage and highlighting it with flashes of colour to mimic fireworks was really clever.
The one thing that was made evidently clear to me as I sat listening to the lyrics is how talented Lin-Manuel Miranda is. His unique writing style has a way of packing as much heart and substance into a show in as little time as humanly possible, and yet he still manages to have it all make complete sense. To think that Lin-Manuel first penned this as a concept, whilst he was still in school, blows my mind. With the success of In The Heights and also Hamilton, I cannot wait for whatever next stage musical he creates next.
In The Heights is proudly presented by Marriner Group, HOTA Home of the Arts and Joshua Robson Productions. If you are a fan of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s work, a fan of Hamilton, or if you have seen In The Heights previously, this production is well worth a visit to the theatre. Hopefully by the time you see it, the little technical issues have been ironed out, because this fresh production has the potential to be epic.
Performing now at Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre until Saturday the 6th of September.
For more information and ticketing, visit:
https://intheheightsmusical.com
https://www.instagram.com/intheheightsaus
Photography supplied.
