The Wanda Bass School of Music will be presenting their Mainstage season closer “In The Heights” from April 22 to 24 at the Kirkpatrick Auditorium. Luis Salgado directed the show with music director Matthew Mailman. The April 22 and 23 shows begin at 8 p.m., and the April 24 show begins at 3 p.m. Tickets range from $14 to $28 and can be purchased by calling the Box Office at 405-208-5227 or at okcu.edu/tickets. Masks are required. Each performance will be preceded by a free-to-attend 45-minute director’s talk, with Salgado speaking Friday and Saturday, and Associate Director Claudia Mulet at the Sunday matinee.
“In The Heights” features a book written by Quiara Alegria Hudes and music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The show opened on Broadway in 2008 and received thirteen Tony nominations for the 2008 Tonys, the most of any show that year. The musical won four Tonys, including Best Musical and Best Original Score, and was a finalist for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The cast album also received the Grammy award for Best Musical Show Album.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, best known for the legendary show “Hamilton,” composed and starred as the main character, Usnavi de la Vega, in the Off-Broadway and Broadway productions. Miranda has won countless awards for his work, especially “Hamilton,” including the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, three Tony Awards, two Emmys, and two Grammys. He composed music for the Disney film “Moana” and two “Star Wars” films. He wrote the story and the music for the recent film “Encanto,” including the famous “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”. He also directed and produced the Netflix film “Tick Tick… Boom!.”
OCU welcomed Luis Salgado, a member of the original Off-Broadway and Broadway casts, as the guest director and choreographer for “In The Heights.” Salgado said of the show: “This show creates a space to celebrate the idea of representation, giving a voice to those unheard voices in our world. For me, it is a great honor to have been trusted by [OCU Music and Theatre] Dean Mark Parker to explore the potential of the artists inside this fantastic university.”
The musical is set in the Upper Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights during the summer’s hottest days. Bodega owner Usnavi, Stanford student Nina, and Abuela Claudia, among many others, tell their stories and experiences through rousing hip-hop numbers. The show is often praised for the Latino representation and diverse cast of characters. Salgado expressed the importance of this representation, “Revisiting this musical at OCU is re-visiting a perspective of validation, self-worth and cultural pride. We get to go deep into the concepts of belonging, of being, of accepting, of searching for what home really is.”
The cast list is as follows:
Iván Moreno (César Carreño, understudy) as Usnavi de la Vega
Annette Barrios-Torres (Angelí Peña understudy) as Vanessa
Adamaris Lopez (Audrey Logan and Alexandria Magaña, understudies) as Nina Rosario
Abigail Stephenson (Elizabeth Delgado-Savage, understudy) as Abuela Claudia
Angelí Peña (Brianna Sadofsky and Delgado-Savage, understudies) as Daniela
Cara Orlich (Cecelia Touzan and Grace McLean, understudies) as Carla
Elizabeth Ramirez (Magaña and Kyra Gomes, understudies) as Camila Rosario
Riordan Banks (Chris Ritchie, understudy) as Benny
Eli Nash (Owen Kelly, understudy) as Sonny
Julian Ibarra (Chance Ingalls, understudy) as Kevin Rosario
Rodney Thompson (Emma Noël, understudy) as Graffiti Pete
Gabriel Lemus (Ibarra, understudy) as Piragua Guy
In the Ensemble: Morgan Andrews, Emma Noël, Ellie Guzzano, Sophia Rodrigues Patterson, Audrey Logan, Elizabeth Delgado-Savage, Preston Bussell, Peyton Davis, Owen Kelly, Chance Ingalls, Catherine Garcia, Kyra Gomes, Alexandria Magaña, Grace McLean, Zibby Nolting, Hannah Souza, Brianna Sadofsky, Jordan Smith, Martina Theríault, Cecelia Touzan, Brandon Barskdale, César Carreño, Wesley Hodges, Chris Ritchie and Vangeli Tsompanidis
