In The Heights (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
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Category: Music CD
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CD Details
Composer: Lin-Manuel MirandaEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: Cast Recording
CD Release Date: 2008-06-03
Music Label: Ghostlight
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- In The Heights
- Breathe
- Benny's Dispatch
- It Won't Be Long Now
- Inútil
- No Me Diga
- 96,000
- Pacienca Y Fe (patience and faith)
- When You're Home
- Piragua
- The Club
- Blackout
- Sunrise
- Hundreds of Stories
- Enough
- Carnaval Del Barrio
- Atención
- Alabanza
- Everything I Know
- Piragua (Reprise)
- Champagne
- When The Sun Goes Down
- Finale
Music reviews of In The Heights (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
Music Review: Stands High
Rating: 4 Stars
"In the Heights," the new musical with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, comes across vibrantly on this deluxe 2-disc cast recording. It's the best Latin-themed musical score since Paul Simon's "The Capeman." (Actually it might be the ONLY one since then, but nice that the field is growing!)
The show is set in the New York neighborhood of Washington Heights over a couple of days, where Latinos of various backgrounds converge and mingle with each other-- particularly with Usnavi, a young shopkeeper played with unyielding charisma by Miranda himself. There are a couple of romances, despair over debts and futures, neighborhood gossip, some business about the lottery, a blackout, and to be honest, more than a few clichés that had the cynic in me squirming a bit. The emphasis is on depicting a specific N.Y. community (echoes of "Rent"), and the plot elements are pretty formulaic, to be sure. But if I do wish the characters had more original things to sing about, that's okay-- the music is much too enjoyable not to be lenient.
Mixing a variety of styles, the score is thoroughly modern and Latin-flavored. There are salsas, pop ballads, and-- most surprisingly-- a significant amount of rap (assigned mostly to Miranda's Usnavi). Of course, various composers have successfully incorporated other genres-- classical, opera, pop, rock, country, jazz, etc. -- into past shows. But with "In the Heights," Miranda has really broken new ground for the use of rap in musicals. True, rap has been used before in musicals from time to time, but not this skillfully-- this is the first time I didn't find myself cringing. Lots of credit to Miranda for that--for his performance and for his nimble lyrics, which make it all work seamlessly.
But there's a lot more than rap, and it's not a one-man show. The rest of the talented cast shines on these discs, too-- especially Mandy Gonzalez and Christopher Jackson who, as the central romantic couple, get to use their attractive pop voices on the highest number of tracks. The score offers plenty of playful, Latin-tinged melodies, but the discs really excite with the ensemble numbers,--the opening "In the Heights," the hip-hop-styled "96,000," the first act's final numbers "The Club" and "Blackout," and the second act showstopper "Carnaval Del Barrio." Miranda has a genuine sense of theatricality and it's on full display when the cast is working together (along with the fantastic band). There's hardly a dull moment to be found on these discs-- among the decade's new cast recordings, "In the Heights" stands high indeed.
Description of In The Heights (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
Broadway hasn't been very good at incorporating various strands of pop and rock over the past 40 years. Most of the shows attempting that draw from contemporary chart sounds have felt awkward, rather than "young." It's all the more rewarding, then, that 2008 saw not one but two successful efforts - Passing Strange and In the Heights. The latter, set in New York's predominantly Dominican neighborhood of Washington Heights, is propelled by first-timer Lin-Manuel Miranda's high-energy, horn-and-percussion-driven score. Miranda managed to modernize classic elements found in most Broadway shows by mixing them up with Latin and hip-hop arrangements. "In the Heights" and "The Club" are joyous ensemble numbers, for instance, while "Carnaval del Barrio" is an uplifting eleven o'clock belt, "Sunrise" a romantic duet and "Everything I Know" a sentimental soliloquy. While Miranda himself convincingly plays the lead, this is a true ensemble piece. The CD snaps, crackles and pops with stellar performances (special props to Mandy Gonzalez, Karen Olivo and the funny, brassy Andréa Burns). -- Elisabeth VincentelliBroadway & Vocalists CDs
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