This review actually starts on June 15th 2008, the day the Tony’s aired on CBS. Im a fan of musicals but not a huge fan. My sister and brother in law are what I would consider huge fans. So of course earlier on that day my sister reminded me to watch the Tony’s that night. And so I did but nothing had really caught my attention early on so I turned my back on the Tony’s (literally) on got on my computer. Not 5 minutes after doing that I heard “Light up on Washington Heights up at the break of day”. I turned around and saw this little hispanic dude rapping on stage. Then all these other latinos foloowed suit. I was hooked. I got on my cell phone and text my best friend Nicole: “Are you watching this?” She responded “Yes!”.

Fast Forward to Nov. 11 2008, me and two of by closest friends (Nicole was one of them) were boarding a 5 hour  JetBlue flight out of Long Beach and headed to New York for 5 days. The highlight of the trip was 3 tickets I had already purchased to see In The Heights the night after we landed. You could say we were looking forward to it.

In short the musical was awesome. In long the first thing that hits you is the music. With a mixture of hip hop, latin, and broadway stylings the music is unlike any other musical I have seen. It literally will have you moving in your seat, or at least I was. The characters are also very engaging. I felt myself connecting with a few of them especially because of of hispanic background. My parents went through some of the things the characters went through when they came to the states. And to that effect the characters are very believable. Not to mention the individual performances of the actors were amazing. Can they sing. Great stuff. Finally the story is where it’s all at. A moving tale of people trying to figure out what and where home is. Trying to get out of the barrio, trying to go back thier roots, trying to move up in the world, trying to change to world. A great story that will make you laugh, cry, and feel happy.

If your headed to New York or live in New York and haven’t seen this musical I suggest you do. In fact you might do what we did and see it twice. I wish I had seen it again. As my friend Nicole told me as the musical started “Feel my arm, I have goosebumps”, I’m sure you will enjoy it too.