[NEohioPAL] Review of "In the Heights" at Beck Center for the Arts

[Bob Abelman via NEohioPAL]

‘In the Heights’ es caliente, luz y dulce, pero no auténtico Bob Abelman

Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning Journal

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics



The Upper Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights has gone through many changes since the early 1900s, when it was largely populated by Jewish and Irish immigrants from Europe.   By mid-century, Soviet refugees were the dominant demographic, who were then replaced by families from the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Puerto Rico.  By the 1980s, gang activity infiltrated Washington Heights, resulting in a crime rate that rivaled nearby Harlem.  In the 1990s, the neighborhood became the largest drug distribution center in the five boroughs and beyond.   This is not quite the welcoming world that’s been created by Lin-Manuel Miranda (music/lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) for their 2008 Tony Award-winning musical “In the Heights.”  Their Washington Heights is a highly romanticized and thoroughly sanitized celebration of three generations of Hispanic families who are just trying to carve out a living and make this piece of the island their home. And it is on display at the Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood. For more of this article, go to www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/.  
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