'In the Heights' celebrates 'vibrant' community

Chicago can take pride in hosting New York-bound world premieres like "The Addams Family" and Cirque du Soleil's "Banana Shpeel," but those shows are essentially untested properties.

If local audiences want a certified winner, they might want to check out the national tour of "In the Heights," which plays until Jan. 3 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre.

As the winner of four 2008 Tony Awards (Best Musical, Best Score, Best Choreography, Best Orchestrations) and the Grammy Award for its best-selling original cast album, "In the Heights" is a true rarity. Unlike most new musicals based on Hollywood films or the pre-existing song catalogs of pop stars, "In the Heights" is a wholly original musical.

The musical first started life back in 2000 when actor/composer/lyricist Lin Manuel-Miranda wrote the show while still a sophomore at Wesleyan University. After many workshops and developmental productions, "In the Heights" opened off-Broadway in 2007 to rave reviews, transferring to Broadway in 2008.

"In the Heights" follows the conflicts and enormous changes faced by a handful of diverse neighbors in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Incorporating the music of today, "In the Heights" features copious amounts of salsa, Latin Pop and rap.

New Yorker Kyle Beltran is currently starring in the tour as Usnavi, a corner bodega store owner who also doubles as a rap-singing narrator. It's the same role that Manuel-Miranda played as an actor on Broadway.

"I take such great pride in being able to share a bit of the Big Apple with the rest of the country," Beltran said. "Especially providing a voice for a neighborhood that hasn't had one like this before."

After graduating from Carnegie Mellon School of Drama this past spring, Beltran moved into "the Heights" and got to experience life there firsthand.

"It's a wonderfully vibrant community, just like the audiences see on stage in our show, with people working hard, celebrating their heritage and blasting music at all times of day and night."

In interviews, Manuel-Miranda has stated how proud he was to have created a hit musical depicting Latinos who are not knife-wielding gang members like in "West Side Story." Beltran is also keen to present another picture.

"The media too often exploits and exaggerates negative images of Latino New Yorkers," Beltran said.

"In the Heights," he adds, "shows Latino people as they are: just like everyone else, working hard to support their families, striving to better their communities, cooking great food, and loving each other boundlessly."