The opening night of the musical “In the Heights” is this Friday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m. in the Bob and Barbara Ellis Auditorium, located in the J building on the LAC campus.
For the first time in 18 years, LBCC’s departments of theatre, music, and dance have come together to produce and perform this musical.
This production has been in the works since the summer 2024, when the director of this upcoming musical, Mark Anthony Vallejo received an email from the chair of the Performing Arts Department, Peter Knapp asking him to direct a musical titled “In the Heights,” which the department had selected for Vallejo to produce.
Although the director had been conceptualizing the musical since he accepted the offer, the musical didn’t come to life until late Dec. 2024, when he had finally received the rights for the musical.
With this came the script of the musical which allowed Vallejo to finally start mapping out the positions of the characters in each scene, in technical terms, he was in charge of “blocking” out the entire play.
“That is the director’s job, it’s to visualize the blocking, the visual storytelling, and they do that by understanding what the scene is about and showing that on stage,” Director Vallejo said.
Vallejo worked alongside a talented production team of set designers, lighting designers, costume designers, sound designers and an orchestra to really bring the world of “In the Heights” to life.
“This is a show about folks that immigrated from the Dominican Republic, from Cuba, from Mexico, from Puerto Rico, so you’re going to see a lot of salsa, a lot of Latin Music. Great dancing, and there’s also a lot of rap in there, which Lin-Manuel Miranda is known for and hip-hop. Then it kind of also has those pop flavors too from the early 2000’s. Salsa, meringue, there’s rumba in there, it’s great music,” said Skye Angulo, the vocal music director.
A large factor in selecting the musical “In the Heights” was because it represents the diverse Latinx population that is an important aspect of the musical, and a important part of the community present at LBCC.
For his production of “In the Heights,” Vallejo took inspiration from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s 2008 Broadway show, but aimed to make his rendition of the musical more modern, as he set out to tell the story in his own unique way.
“When you see a show of Mark Anthony, people are going to know my style, slow motion, poetic, visual imageries, magic realism. That’s the thing you would see when it comes to a Mark Anthony show, it’s going to be bold, it’s going to be passionate,” Vallejo said when asked what to expect from the play.
“In the Heights” is a story that takes place in Washington Heights, a neighborhood in New York whose population is made up of first-generation and second-generation Latinx immigrants.
Dimly lit stage for the play “In the Heights” on Tuesday, March, 4 at LBCC Bob and Barbara Ellis Auditorium. The play will open for the public on Friday, March, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15 and 16. (Jose Calix)
The main character, Usnavi De La Vega, who is played by Joel Rodriguez, is a young adult who immigrated from the Dominican Republic with his parents when he was just a baby, but his parents died shortly after, leaving him to be raised by Abuela Claudia, an elder in the Washington Heights community.
Although De La Vega is the protagonist, the musical also follows the lives of other young community members like Nina, played by Daisy Johnson, a freshman at Stanford who drops out and returns to the neighborhood.
Alongside is Vanessa, played by Natalia Carrera, a young adult who works at a hair shop, but is eager to leave Washington Heights in hopes for a better life.
Closely related to the Latinx and immigration representation that the musical showcases, topics like gentrification, the American dream, and having a community are also explored in this musical.
“What we see in the heights is a community supporting each other through the toughest of times, a community celebrating together, and a community who no matter what location they’re in, they’re always going to be at home. I think that’s just really telling to our Latinx blood and identities that we stick together, no matter what happens,” Vallejo said.
The actors have been rehearsing for five hours each weekday over the span of two months in preparation for this musical.
“I’m so excited because this is a beautiful story that I know anyone could relate to. Everyone has a grandmother and there’s Abuela in the story. Everyone has a dream and it speaks about a couple of the characters have dreams, big dreams, and everyone will relate to this and they’ll love the singing because the songs are beautiful. They’ll love the dancing, it’s really artsy,” said David Chhom, who plays Graffiti Pete.
Along with its opening night on March 7 at 7:30 p.m., the musical will also be performed the following day on March 8 at 7:30 p.m. and on March 9 at 2 p.m.
The show will continue into the following week on March 14 and 15 at 7:30 p.m. and it plans to close out on March 16 at 2 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.lbcc.edu/performingarts under the section ‘Purchase Tickets.’
Students with ASB stickers are free, and current students without stickers cost $10.
General Admissions is $20, while staff, veteran, and senior tickets are $15.