In mid January, I took my Mexican friend to see In the Heights when they stopped in Chicago for obvious reasons, as in, with so much Spanish included in the book I wanted to bring someone that would understand and appreciate the Spanish… turns out I was right.
This production sparkled, there was chemistry in places that I didn’t believe there would be at first glance, the singing was spot on and emotional. The comedic moments shone through and the dancing was more than just amazing, the choreography was absolutely perfect, if not exceeded the first U.S. Tour when it went through Chicago a few years ago. The central character: Usnavi seemed a bit breath-y in a few of his bits… not the same silky smooth rhythm of Lin-Manuel Miranda, but he did a respectable job overall.
Nina was a bit younger looking than I expected her to be in comparison to the other “young” characters in the cast. Although this was at first was a distraction, eventually her singing won out as well as her chemistry with her romantic opposite.