P L A Y W R I G H T : Q U I A R A A L E G R Í A H U D E SF I R S T P E R F O R M A N C E : F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 7

IN THE HEIGHTS

SYNOPSIS

• In the Heights is based on a variety of characters living in the neighborhood of Washington Heights, Manhattan. It shows Usnavi, a bodega owner who looks after the old Cuban lady next door, he longs for the owner the local Salon and dreams of winning the lottery and escaping to the Dominican Republic. Meanwhile, Nina, a childhood friend of Usnavi’s, has returned to the neighborhood from her first year at college with surprising news for her parents, who have spent their life savings on building a better life for their daughter. Ultimately, Usnavi and the residents of the close-knit neighborhood get a dose of what it means to be home.

HISTORICAL

• People were struggling for money• Rough Area• Majority of the people in the area are Spanish

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

• The Battle of Fort Washington, which occurred on November 16, 1776, saw Fort Washington fall to the British at great cost to the American forces; 130 soldiers were killed or wounded, and an additional 2,700 captured and held as prisoners, many of whom died on prison ships anchored in New York Harbor.

• In the early 1900s, Irish immigrants moved to Washington Heights. European Jews went to Washington Heights to escape Nazism during the 1930s and the 1940s. During the 1950s and 1960s, many Greeks moved to Washington Heights; the community was referred to as the "Astoria of Manhattan." By the 1980/90s, the neighborhood became mostly Dominican.

• By the 2000s, after years when gangsters ruled a thriving illegal drug trade, urban renewal began.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

• January 3, 1999 – 32-year old Kendra Webdale is killed after being pushed in front of an oncoming subway train at the 23rd Street station by Andrew Goldstein, a 29-year old schizophrenic. The case ultimately led to the passage of Kendra's Law.

• February 4, 1999 – Unarmed African immigrant Amadou Bailo Diallo is shot and killed by 4 New York City police officers, sparking massive protests against police brutality and racial profiling.

• March 8, 1999 – Amy Watkins a 26-year old social worker from Kansas who worked with battered women in the Bronx, is stabbed to death in a botched robbery near her home in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. Her two assailants were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

• October 31, 1999 – EgyptAir Flight 990 departs Kennedy airport and crashes off the coast of Nantucket.

GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT

• Washington Heights is on the high ridge in Upper Manhattan that rises steeply north of the narrow valley that carries 133rd Street to the former ferry landing on the Hudson River that served the village of Manhattanville.• Washington Heights spans 35 blocks at the

northern end of Manhattan.• The dominant population in the neighborhood is

Hispanic and also includes Puerto Rican and Cuban.

SOCIAL CONTEXT

• Immigrants brought different styles of music, food, arts beliefs and pride and is responsible for vibrant and varied neighbourhoods around the city.• Hip Hop was the main style brought by

immigrants which can be described as art as well as music.• Hip Hop was born in the 1970’s which is the main

genre of music in the musical.

MAIN CHARACTERS

• Usnavi is the narrator of the play's exposition and a major character throughout; he is the owner of a small bodega in Washington Heights. His parents passed away and Abuela looked after him. He dreams of returning to the Dominican Republic, the place he was born but too young to remember. He is in love with Vanessa.

• "Abuela" Claudia is the loving matriarch of the barrio who knows everybody and is like a grandmother to all. She is the one who looked after Usnavi when his parents died.

• Vanessa is Usnavi's love interest who works at Daniela's salon. She is stunningly beautiful and catches the eye of every guy in the Heights, however she takes interest in Usnavi. She lives with an alcoholic mother and dreams of getting out of the barrio and getting an apartment downtown, but cannot yet afford it

• Nina Rosario is the first in her family to go to college she attends Stanford University and everyone in the barrio admires her as the "one who made it out." However, she returns home from school for the summer to reluctantly tell her parents that she has become overburdened and dropped out. She is the typical "good girl" and always got along with her parents. Benny works at the dispatch of Nina's father, Kevin. Perhaps the only character in the play who does not speak Spanish and is not Hispanic, he falls in love with Nina. He dreams of opening his own business.

• Sonny is Usnavi's sassy, superficially lazy, yet ambitious younger cousin who works with Usnavi in the bodega. He is typically the jokester of the barrio.

• Daniela is the outrageously dramatic owner of the salon where the neighborhood girls come to gossip. She is very bold and loud and loves to banter.