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writemarcus · 3 years

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HITTING NEW HEIGHTS

BY MARCUS SCOTT

ORIGINAL RENT STAR DAPHNE RUBIN-VEGA TAKES YOU INSIDE THE IN THE HEIGHTS FILM

Qué quiere decir sueñito?” The disembodied voice of a girlchild ponders. “It means ‘little dream,’” responds an unseen authoritative figure, his feathery tenor with a soft rasp and tender lilt implying there’s more to the story.

Teal waves crash against the white sand coastal lines of the Dominican Republic and a quartet of children plead with the voice to illuminate and tell a story. Usnavi de la Vega (played by Anthony Ramos), sporting his signature newsboy flat cap and full goatee, begins to narrate and weave a tall-tale from the comforts of his beachside food cart: “This is the story of a block that was disappearing. Once upon a time in a faraway land called Nueva York, en barrio called Washington Heights. Say it, so it doesn’t disappear,” he decrees.

And we’re off, this distant magic kingdom ensnared within the winding urban sprawl of farthest-uptown Manhattan, the music of the neighborhood chiming with infinite possibilities: a door-latch fastening on tempo, a ring of keys sprinkling a sweet embellishment, the splish-splash of a garden hose licking the city streets like a drumstick to a snare fill, a manhole cover rotating like vinyl on a get-down turntable, the hiss of paint cans spraying graffiti like venoms from cobras and roll-up steel doors rumbling, not unlike the ultra-fast subway cars zigzagging underground. So begins the opening moments of In the Heights, the Warner Bros. stage-to-screen adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical by composer-lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton) and librettist Quiara Alegría Hudes (Water by the Spoonful) that is set to premiere in movie theatres and on HBO Max on June 11, 2021.

This stunning patchwork of visuals and reverberations combine to create a defiant and instantly memorable collage of inner-city living not seen since Walter Hill’s 1979 cult classic The Warriors or West Side Story, the iconic romantic musical tragedy directed on film by Robert Wise and original Broadway director Jerome Robbins. With Jon M. Chu at the helm, the musical feature has all the trademarks of the director’s opulent signature style: Striking spectacles full of stark colors, va-va-voom visuals, ooh-la-la hyperkinetic showstopping sequences and out-of-this-world destination locations.

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A Kind of Priestess

Joining the fray of proscenium stage vets in the film is Broadway star Daphne Rubin-Vega, who originated the role of Mimi in the Off-Broadway and Broadway original productions of Rent. She returns to major motion pictures after a decade since her last outing in Nancy Savoca’s Union Square, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2011. When we caught up with Rubin-Vega, she was hard at work, in-between rehearsals with her In the Heights co-star Jimmy Smits on Two Sisters and a Piano, the 1999 play by Miami-based playwright Nilo Cruz, a frequent collaborator. Rubin-Vega netted a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role as the enraptured Conchita in Cruz’s Anna in the Tropics; that same year Cruz was awarded the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, making him the first Latino playwright to receive the honor. Despite significant global, social and economic disruption, especially within the arts community, Rubin-Vega has been working throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

“People around me have [contracted] COVID… My father-in-law just had it. I’m very fortunate,” Rubin-Vega said. “This collective experience, it’s funny because it’s a year now and things seem better. Last year it was, like, ‘Damn, how inconvenient!’ The one comfort was that, you know, it’s happening to every one of us. That clarity that this is a collective experience is much more humbling and tolerable to me.”

The last time Rubin-Vega graced Washington Heights on screen or stage, she acted in the interest of survival and hunger as a probationer released after a 13-year stint in prison and given a new lease on life as an unlicensed amateur masseuse in the basement of an empanada shop in Empanada Loca, The Spalding Gray-style Grand Guignol horror play by Aaron Mark at the LAByrinth Theater Company in 2015. In In the Heights she plays Daniela, an outrageously vivacious belting beautician with a flair for the dramatics, forced to battle a price-gouging real estate bubble in the wake of gentrification.

“She’s like the deputy or the priestess,” Rubin-Vega said. “Owning a salon means that you have a lot of information; you’re in a hub of community, of information, of sharing… it’s also where you go for physical grooming. It’s a place where women were empowered to create their own work and it is a place of closeness, spiritual advice, not-so-spiritual advice. Physical attention.”

She said, “Daniela also being an elder; I think she’s not so much a person that imposes order on other people. She’s there to bring out the best—she leads with love. She tells it like it is. I don’t think she sugar-coats things. What you see is what you get with Daniela. It’s refreshing; she has a candor and sure-footedness that I admire.”

With the film adaptation, Chu and Hudes promised to expand the universe of the Upper Manhattan-based musical, crafting new dimensions and nuances to two characters in particular: Daniela and hairdresser Carla, originally portrayed as business associates and gossip buddies in the stage musical. On the big screen they are reimagined as romantic life partners. Stephanie Beatriz, known to audiences for her hilarious turn as the mysterious and aloof Detective Rosa Diaz in the police procedural sitcom romp “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” co-stars as the fast-talking firecracker, Carla.

It’s been a year waiting, you know. It’s like the lid’s been on it and so we’re just so ready to explode.

Where Is Home?

“Well, Quiara and Jon really expanded on what Lin and Quiara originally created and now they’re partners—and not just work partners, right? But they’re life partners,” Beatriz said at a March press event celebrating the release of the film’s two promo trailers. “What was so gratifying to me as a person who is queer is to see this relationship in the film be part of the fabric of the community, and to be normal, and be happy and functioning, and part of the quilt they’ve all created.”

She continued, “So much of this film is about where home is and who home is to you. And for Carla, Daniela is home. Wherever Daniela is, that’s where Carla feels at home. I thought that they did such a beautiful job of guiding us to this, really, you know, it’s just a happy functioning relationship that happens to be gay and in the movie. And I love that they did that, because it is such a part of our world.”

Rubin-Vega said she had no interest in playing any trope of what one might think a lesbian Latina might look or act like, noting that the queer experience isn’t monolithic, while expressing that the role offered her a newfound freedom, especially with regard to being present in the role and in her everyday life.

“Spoiler alert! I felt like not wearing a bra was going to free me. Did I get it right? Am I saying that gay women don’t wear bras? No, it was just a way for me to be in my body and feel my breasts. To feel my femaleness and celebrate it in a more unapologetic way,” she said, laughing. “To be honest, I was really looking forward to playing a lesbian Latina. It’s something that I hadn’t really explored before. Latinos [can be] very homophobic as a culture, and I wanted to play someone who didn’t care about homophobia; I was gonna live my best life. That’s a bigger thing. It’s also like, maybe I’m bisexual. Who knows? Who cares? If you see that in the film, that’s cool too, you know?”

Stand-out performances abound, especially with regard to the supporting cast; newcomers Melissa Barrera (in a role originated by Tony Award winner Karen Olivo) and Gregory Diaz IV (replacing three-time Tony Award nominee Robin de Jesús) are noteworthy as the aspiring fashion designer Vanessa and budding activist Sonny. Olga Merediz, who earned a Tony Award nomination for originating her role as Abuela Claudia, returns to the silver screen in a captivating performance that will be a contender come award season. However, Rubin-Vega may just be the one to watch. Her performance is incandescent and full of moxie, designed to raise endorphin levels. She leads an ensemble in the rousing “Carnaval del Barrio,” a highlight in the film.

Musical Bootcamp

“We shot in June [2019]. In April, we started musical bootcamp. In May, we started to do the choreography. My big joke was that I would have to get a knee replacement in December; that was in direct relation to all that choreography. I mean, there were hundreds of A-1 dancers in the posse,” Rubin-Vega said. “The family consisted of hundreds of superlative dancers led by Chris[topher] Scott, with an amazing team of dancers like Ebony Williams, Emilio Dosal, Dana Wilson, Eddie Torres Jr. and Princess Serrano. We rehearsed a fair bit. Monday through Friday for maybe five weeks. The first day of rehearsal I met Melissa [Barrera] and Corey [Hawkins], I pretty much hadn’t known everyone yet. I hadn’t met Leslie [Grace] yet. Chris Scott, the choreographer, just went straight into ‘let’s see what you can do.’ It was the first [dance] routine of ‘In The Heights,’ the opening number. He was like, ‘OK, let’s go. Five, six, seven, eight!’”

Rubin-Vega said that she tried to bring her best game, though it had “been a minute” since she had to execute such intricate choreography, noting that they shot the opening number within a day while praising Chu’s work ethic and leadership.

“There was a balance between focus and fun and that’s rare. Everyone was there because they wanted to be there,” she said. “I think back to the day we shot ‘96,000.’ That day it wouldn’t stop raining; [it was] grey and then the sky would clear and we’d get into places and then it would be grey again and so we’d have to wait and just have to endure. But even the bad parts were kind of good, too. Even the hottest days. There were gunshots, there was a fire while we were shooting and we had to shut down, there was traffic and noise and yet every time I looked around me or went into video village and saw the faces in there, I mean…it felt like the only place to be. You want to feel like that in every place you are: The recognition. I could recognize people who look like me. For now on, you cannot say I’ve never seen a Panamanian on film before or a Columbian or a Mexican, you know?”

Another Notion of Beauty

Rubin-Vega’s professional relationship with the playwright Hudes extends to 2015, when she was tapped to [participate in the] workshop [production of] Daphne’s Dive. Under the direction of Thomas Kail (Hamilton) and starring alongside Samira Wiley (“The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Orange Is the New Black”), the play premiered Off-Broadway at the Pershing Square Signature Center the following year. Rubin-Vega also starred in Miss You Like Hell, the cross-country road musical by Hudes and Erin McKeown, which premiered at La Jolla Playhouse in 2016 before it transferred to The Public Theater in 2018. With her participation in the production of In the Heights, she is among the few to have collaborated with all of the living Latinx playwrights to have won the Pulitzer Prize; Hudes won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play Water by the Spoonful, while Miranda took home the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Hamilton. Speaking on her multiple collaborations over the years, Rubin-Vega also acknowledged having known Miranda years before they would join voices.

“Lin to me is like a little bro or legacy; he’s a direct descent to me from [Rent author] Jonathan Larson, which is a bigger sort of all-encompassing arch,” she said, though she stressed that she auditioned like everyone else, landing the role after two or three callbacks. “Quiara and I have a wonderful working and personal relationship, I think. Which isn’t to say I had dibs by any means because…it’s a business that wants the best for itself, I suppose. […] So, when I walked in, I was determined to really give it my best.”

Life During and After Rent

Rubin-Vega has built an impressive resume over the course of her career, singing along with the likes of rock stars like David Bowie and starring in a multitude of divergent roles on Broadway and off. From a harrowing Fantine in Les Misérables and a co-dependent Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire to a sinister Magenta in The Rocky Horror Show, her evolution into the atypical character actor and leading lady can be traced back 25 years to January 25, 1996, when Larson’s groundbreaking musical Rent, a retelling of Giacomo Puccini’s 19th-century opera La Bohème, premiered at the New York Theatre Workshop. On the morning of the first preview, Larson suffered an aortic dissection, likely from undiagnosed Marfan’s syndrome and died at the age of 35, just ten days shy of what would have been his 36th birthday.

On April 29, 1996, due to overwhelming popularity, Rent transferred to Nederlander Theatre on Broadway, tackling contemporary topics the Great White Way had rarely seen, such as poverty and class warfare during the AIDS epidemic in New York City’s gritty East Village at the turn of the millennium. Rubin-Vega would go on to be nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for her role as sex kitten Mimi Márquez, an HIV-positive heroin addict and erotic dancer.

The show became a cultural phenomenon, receiving several awards including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and four Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Rubin-Vega and members of the original Broadway cast were suddenly overnight sensations, recording “Seasons of Love” alongside music icon Stevie Wonder, receiving a photo shoot with Vanity Fair and landing the May 13, 1996 cover of Newsweek. Throughout its 12-year Broadway run, many of the show’s original cast members and subsequent replacements would go on to be stars, including Renée Elise Goldsberry, who followed in Rubin-Vega’s footsteps to play the popular character before originating the role of Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton, for which she won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

When the screen adaptation of Rent hit cinemas in 2005 under the direction of Chris Columbus, Rubin-Vega’s conspicuous absence came as a blow to longtime fans. The confluence of pregnancy with the casting and filming process of Rent hindered her from participating at the time. The role was subsequently given to movie star Rosario Dawson.

“First of all, if you’re meant to be in a film, you’re meant to be in it,” Rubin-Vega said. “That’s just the way it goes. It took a quarter of a century but this [In the Heights] is a film that I wanted to make, that I felt the elements sat right. I always felt that Rent was a little bit darker than all that. Rent to me is Rated R. In The Heights is not. It’s also a testament. Unless it’s sucking your soul and killing you softly or hardly, just stick with it. This is a business and I keep forgetting it’s a business because actors just want to show art. So, it’s really wonderful when you get a chance to say what you mean and mean what you say with your work. It’s a really wonderful gift.”

Rarely-Explored Themes

Like Larson’s award-winning show and the film adapted from it, In The Heights is jam-packed with hard-hitting subject matter, addressing themes of urban blight, immigration, gentrification, cultural identity, assimilation and U.S. political history. When Rubin-Vega’s character Daniela and her partner were priced out of the rent for her salon, most of her clientele moved to the Grand Concourse Historic District in the Bronx. Her salon, a bastion of the community, is met with a polar response when she announces she’s joining the mass exodus with the other victims of gentrification who were pushed out by rising rents. The news is met with negative response from long-time patrons who refuse to take the short commute to the new location. Daniela counters, “Our people survived slave ships, we survived Taino [indigenous Caribbean people] genocide, we survived conquistadores and dictators…you’re telling me we can’t survive the D train to Grand Concourse?”

The question is humorous, but also insinuates a more nuanced understanding of the AfroLatinidad experience in the Western world. The film also looks at the American Dream with a naturalistic approach. Leslie Grace, who plays Nina Rosario, a first-generation college student returning from her freshman year at Stanford University and grappling with finances and the expectations of her community, noted that while her character “finds [herself] at some point at a fork in the road,” she may not have the luxury to be indecisive because of the pressures put on by family, community and country.

“The struggle of the first-generation Americans in the Latino community is not talked about a lot because it’s almost like a privilege,” Grace asserted. “You feel like it’s a privilege to talk about it. But there is a lot of identity crisis that comes with it and I think we explore that.” Speaking on the character, she elaborated: “Home for her is where her heart is, but also where her purpose is. So, she finds her purpose in doing something outside of herself, greater than herself and going back to Stanford for the people she loves in her community. I really relate to where she’s at, trying to find herself. And I think a lot of other people will, too.”

Worth Singing About

For Miranda, a first-generation Puerto Rican New Yorker that grew up in Inwood at the northernmost tip of Manhattan before attending Wesleyan University where he would develop the musical, this speaks to a larger issue of what defines a home.

“What does ‘home’ even mean? Every character is sort of answering it in a different way,” he said. “For some people, home is somewhere else. For some people, home is like ‘the block’ they’re on. So, that’s worth singing about. It’s worth celebrating in a movie of this size.”

Given the current zeitgeist, it’s no wonder why Chu, Hudes and Miranda decided to pivot with adapting the stage musical for the big screen, leaning in to tackle the plights and predicaments of DREAMers [children of undocumented immigrants seeking citizenship] stateside. In one scene, glimpses of posters at a protest rally read “Immigrant Rights are Human Rights” and “Refugees Are People Too.” Growing up in a multicultural household as a Latina with a Black Latina mother, a white father and a Jewish American stepfather, Rubin-Vega said she was used to being in spaces that were truly multiracial. Nevertheless, there were times when she often felt alien, especially as a du jour rock musical ingenue who looked as she did in the mid-1990s through the 2000s.

“Undocumented people come in different shapes and colors,” she noted. “To be born in a land that doesn’t recognize you, it’s a thing that holds so much horror… so much disgrace happens on the planet because human beings aren’t recognized as such sometimes.”

The film “definitely sheds light on that, but it also talks about having your dream taken away and its human violation—it’s a physical, spiritual, social, cultural violation,” Rubin-Vega said. “There’s a difference between pursuing dreams and being aware of reality. They’re not mutually exclusive. What this film does, it presents a story that is fairly grounded in reality. It’s a musical, it’s over the top… but it reflects a bigger reality, which is like an emotional reality…that people that are challenged on the daily, have incredible resolve, incredible resoluteness and lifeforce.”

She said: “Growing up, looking like me, I got to ingest the same information as everyone else except when it came time to implement my contributions, they weren’t as welcomed or as seen. The dream is to be seen and to be recognized. Maybe I could be an astronaut or an ingenue on Broadway? You can’t achieve stuff that you haven’t imagined. When it talks about DREAMers, it talks about that and it talks about how to not be passive in a culture that would have you think you are passive but to be that change and to dare to be that change.”

Dreams Come True

Dreams are coming true. Alongside the nationwide release of the much-anticipated film, Random House announced it will publish In the Heights: Finding Home, which will give a behind-the-scenes look at the beginnings of Miranda’s 2008 breakout Broadway debut and journey to the soon-to-be-released film adaptation. The table book will chronicle the show’s 20-year voyage from page to stage—from Miranda’s first drawings at the age of 19 to lyric annotations by Miranda and essays written by Hudes to never-before-seen photos from productions around the world and the 2021 movie set. It will be released to the public on June 22, eleven days after the release of the film; an audiobook will be simultaneously released by Penguin Random House Audio.

Hinting at the year-long delay due to the pandemic, Rubin-Vega said, “It’s been a year waiting, you know. It’s like the lid’s been on it and so we’re just so ready to explode.”

Bigger Dreams

“Jon [Chu], I think, dreams bigger than any of us dare to dream in terms of the size and scope of this,” Miranda said. “We spent our summer [in 2018] on 175th Street. You know, he was committed to the authenticity of being in that neighborhood we [all] grew up in, that we love, but then also when it comes to production numbers, dreaming so big. I mean, this is a big movie musical!”

Miranda continued, “We’re so used to asking for less, just to ask to occupy space, you know? As Latinos, we’re, like, ‘Please just let us make our little movie.’ And Jon, every step of the way, said, like, ‘No, these guys have big dreams. We’re allowed to go that big!’ So, I’m just thrilled with what he did ’cause I think it’s bigger than any of us ever dreamed.”

Speaking at the online press conference, Miranda said, “I’m talking to you from Washington Heights right now! I love it here. The whole [movie] is a love letter to this neighborhood. I think it’s such an incredible neighborhood. It’s the first chapter in so many stories. It’s a Latinx neighborhood [today]. It was a Dominican neighborhood when I was growing up there in the ’80s. But before that it was an Irish neighborhood and Italian. It’s always the first chapter in so many American stories.”

#Marcus Scott #MarcusScott #Write Marcus #writemarcus #Encore Monthly #theatre #Theater #Musical Theatre #musical theater #daphne rubin vega #rent #rent musical #Jon M Chu #lin manuel miranda #in the heights #Anthony Ramos

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storiesforallfandoms · 3 years

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i thought it’d be happy ~ aaron tveit

word count: 1220

request?: yes!

“aaron tveit pls !! either fluff or angst but preferably end w fluff if angst”

description: in which he decides to take her to a musical for their first date, and it doesn’t have the ending he was expecting

pairing: aaron tveit x female!reader

warnings: swearing, spoilers for hamilton

masterlist

Aaron bounced on the balls of his feet as he waited for her to show up. He hoped she wouldn’t stand him up. She couldn’t if she knew he had already bought the tickets, right?

He knew he shouldn’t worry. She wasn’t even running late, he was just worried. Aaron was rarely one for blind dates, but after his Moulin Rouge co-star, Karen Olivo, boasted about her best friend to him, he decided to give things a shoot with (Y/N).

Maybe taking her to a Broadway show as their first date was a little too ambitious, but Broadway was where he felt most comfortable, and he wanted to give a good first impression.

He tried not to let his relief show when he saw (Y/N) approaching. She was wearing a beautiful knee length baby blue dress with a jean jacket over it, and her hair pulled back into a braid. If she was wearing makeup, Aaron couldn’t tell. She was naturally stunning.

“Hi!” she said, hugging Aaron. “It’s nice to actually meet you!”

“Yeah, you too!”

She smiled and a silence fell over the two of them. Aaron wasn’t sure what to say, and (Y/N) wasn’t sure how to continue the conversation.

“Oh!” Aaron said, rummaging through his pockets. “I know it’s probably a bit much for a first date, but I got us tickets to see Hamilton. I’ve been dying to see it, but I haven’t had time.”

“I’m such a huge history nerd, so this is really up my alley,” (Y/N) said. “I haven’t seen it either, or listened to the soundtrack, so this will be a first for both of us.”

Aaron smiled and offered her his arm. “Shall we, my lady?”

(Y/N) giggled and took his arm. “We shall.”

He handed her her ticket and they entered the theater. Their seats were close to the stage, which excited (Y/N). She had never been to a Broadway show before, and to be so close on her first one was exciting.

“I’ve never been to a Broadway show before,” she admitted.

“What?! Really?” Aaron questioned in disbelief.

(Y/N) laughed and nodded. “I never really had the money growing up to be able to afford a ticket, and then I just didn’t have the time to go. I have a feeling I’m going to regret that after tonight.”

“You definitely will. I may be bias, of course, but I always feel in my element with Broadway shows.”

Before (Y/N) could respond, the lights went down and the voice of “King George” spoke through the speakers, explaining the rules of the theater before the show started. Aaron and (Y/N) settled back into their seats, preparing to be sat there for nearly three hours.

Almost instinctively, (Y/N)’s hand found Aaron’s, which was resting on the arm rest, and laced her fingers with hers. Aaron glanced down at their hands and smiled to himself, figuring that this was a good sign towards the first date.

~~~~~~

Nearly three hours later, Aaron came to find the answer to whether or not (Y/N) was wearing makeup - the answer was no. How did he know this? Because there was nothing smudging or turning the tears running down her cheeks a different color.

As they exited the theater, both (Y/N) and Aaron were wiping their wet eyes. The final act of the musical was much more emotional than either of them were prepared for. (Y/N) had been crying for at least half an hour, while Aaron managed to hold it in until the last song.

“Well,” he said as they began walking away from the theater, “maybe Hamilton was the wrong musical to take a first date to.”

(Y/N) chuckled through the tears that were still falling down her face. “It might’ve been.”

“I thought it’d be a happier musical. I had such high hopes after the first act.”

“Did you not know that Alexander Hamilton was shot dead by Aaron Burr? Or that his oldest son was killed in the same way just three years earlier?”

“I knew he was shot dead, I guess I just thought...I don’t know, I didn’t think the ending would be that sad.”

“I don’t think the ending was sad, I think it was inspiring. Even after what he did to her, Eliza still went on to make sure that her husband would be remembered. She worked so hard for him, did so many good things, and yet we rarely ever talk about her, because she was just his wife that he cheated on. I think that’s inspiring. The song itself is pretty sad when you think about it, I feel like most of act two was just sad, but it’s a good ending.”

(Y/N) was leaning into Aaron. She was so close to him that they were almost touching. Aaron couldn’t help but smile down at her. Even with puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks, he thought she still looked effortlessly beautiful.

“I like that way of thinking,” Aaron said. “I still have to apologize for taking you to such a sad musical for your first Broadway show. I promise, not all of them are this sad...a good few are but not all of them.”

(Y/N) smiled. “It’s fine. I think it was a good choice for a first date. I got to see you emotionally vulnerable. Most guys don’t let girls see that, especially not on a first date. It’s very attractive to me.”

“For our next date I’ll have to bring you to my place to watch The Notebook. I am definitely at my most emotionally vulnerable then.”

Aaron stopped, realizing what he had said. It sounded incredibly ambitious, and that worried Aaron. He didn’t want to come off as too strong, especially with his slight disaster of a first date. (Y/N) might not have wanted to go on a second date with him, and to invite her over to his own house for it? Idiot!

To Aaron’s relief, (Y/N) just smiled. “You’d like to do a second date?”

“Well, I mean...if you want to. I would definitely like to see you again, but not if you’d rather end things with the one date.”

(Y/N) shook her head. “No, I’d love to go on another date. But first, I’d like to get to know you more. From your own mouth, and not just from Karen’s. Want to go grab a coffee and we can talk for a while? Then you can decide if I’m the deal breaker for a second date or not.”

Aaron couldn’t help but laugh at this. “I don’t think there’s anything you could say that would be the deal breaker over taking someone to see such a sad musical on the first date.”

“It wasn’t sad!” (Y/N) protested. “It just had sad parts. I would gladly go see another musical again, I’m just not emotionally ready for that one again any time soon.”

Aaron laughed and took her comfort as an opportunity to lace his fingers through hers, the same way she had when the musical started. “You have a point. But, let’s not argue about which one of us will be the deal breaker. Let’s go get some coffee.”

I didn’t mean for this to be so short, but I hope you like it either way!

#aaron tveit #aaron tveit imagine #aaron tveit x reader #imagine #one shot #request #hamilton #musicals #broadway #fanfiction #fanfic #fandom

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lonelylittledot · 3 years

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Unpopular opinion

I really, REALLY didn’t like the In the Heights movie. [Warning: huge rant ahead] Disclaimer: As a white European girl, I am aware that my understanding of the social issues present in the musical is close to nonexistent and that I may not have as much right to talk about the movie as the members of the Latino community. However, I feel like I am allowed to share my opinion – especially that I am a huge fan of the musical and I have worked on its community production of almost two years now. I do not wish to upset anyone; if I do – I’m really sorry. If you disagree with my opinions, that’s okay! I’m glad you liked the movie and I’ll be happy to have a polite conversation about it. But please, remember the word “polite”.

MY GENERAL ISSUES WITH THE MOVIE

Since I really love pretty much everything about the stage version of ITH, I am very upset that so much of it was changed or cut completely.

The vocals sounded way too “pop” for my taste and the music has lost some of its magic because of that.

The vibe of the movie changed completely; I felt like it was way heavier and more serious, but I didn’t get the same wonderful bittersweet feeling that the musical evokes in me.

Most of the characters (I don’t know if it’s because of the writing/direction or the acting) were not nearly as memorable as they were in the musical; many of them were plain boring.

I disliked many of the visual choices in the movie (the graphics in “96,000”, the fabrics rolling out the windows in “It won’t be long now”, the weird dream ballet in “When the sun goes down”).

MORE DETAILED COMPLAINTS

USNAVI

I do love Anthony Ramos and I will say that his Usnavi was pretty decent; I liked his vocals and rapping, and his awkward vibe was quite endearing (although I didn’t like him nearly as much as Lin). The one thing I absolutely hated about him though was that one part in Blackout, you know which one. Not only was his and Vanessa’s argument pointless and ridiculous; the real Usnavi would never slutshame Vanessa like that. Also, I felt like he was way too confident in dealing with her in general – I didn’t see much of that cute awkward shyness I liked so much about the original Usnavi.

NINA

Ohh boy do I have a lot of complaints about this. The musical version of Nina is probably the most relatable fictional character ever for me. I may not relate to her being Latino, but I’ve always felt a connection with her – a talented girl who bears the weight of other people’s expectations, who is constantly under pressure to perform, who suffers from educational burnout but is terrified of failing and disappointing those around her. I did not see any of that in the movie. Movie!Nina’s reasons for leaving Stanford were (contrary to what she expresses in Breathe) not really related to that external pressure to be “the barrio’s best”. She didn’t want to come back to Stanford because she was discriminated against. I understand that some people may find this change positive and relate to the movie Nina more. I don’t. She felt bland and characterless, and even though she’s supposed to be one of the 2 main characters, I felt like she was barely in the movie.

Also, I just really disliked her vocals. I love Nina’s songs so much, and I’m so used to them being sung by the amazing powerful voice of the goddess that is Mandy Gonzales. With her squeaky childish voice, I just couldn’t take Movie!Nina seriously.

VANESSA

Okay, so here’s the thing: I play Vanessa in that community production of ITH, so I feel especially strongly about her. And although I think she wasn’t screwed over nearly as badly as Nina, I’m still very disappointed with the movie version of her.

I will say this: the actress playing her is beautiful and she definitely resembles a 19-year-old way more than Karen Olivo (I’m sorry Karen, you’re a queen and I adore you, but you have a very mature look!). Her vocals were not nearly as bad as Nina’s, but they just felt emotionless to me; and so did her facial expressions (or lack thereof). The musical Vanessa is loud, fierce and confident; she truly is the queen of el barrio. I didn’t feel that way about the movie Vanessa at all; she was way more timid and lacked the anger and fierceness that I associate with her character.

I know many people are going to disagree with me on this, but I don’t like that they made Vanessa want to be a fashion designer. First of all, it really doesn’t fit her character (or my understanding of her). But more importantly: I loved that the musical Vanessa was not running to, she was running from (‘I’m running to make it home and home’s what Vanessa’s running away from’, anyone?) – from her upbringing, her abusive home, the limits of the neighborhood. In the movie, I don’t remember Vanessa’s mother even being mentioned.

Musical!Vanessa at the club? Absolute bomb, adored by all the guys, loving her party life, annoyed at Usnavi and trying her best to make him super jealous. Movie!Vanessa? Barely even there.

I’ve already complained about Blackout, but I need to complain some more. Like I said – Vanessa and Usnavi’s conflict in the movie was so stupid and pointless. In the musical, I could understand Vanessa’s feelings perfectly well. She was a very attractive girl left completely alone during a blackout in a club full of drunk, angry men, and had to find her way home all alone in the dark. I can imagine how scary that would be and I totally understand why she was so pissed at Usnavi. In the movie, her problem was apparently that he didn’t dance with her enough.

I also didn’t like how the movie told us that Vanessa and Usnavi had a daughter. Don’t get me wrong: I really love their relationship and I’d hope they stayed happily together and that Vanessa had the chance to be the mom that she herself never got to have. But it felt cheesy and kind of unearned to have the movie blatantly confirm them having a child together.

BENNY

I almost forgot about him. Because he was barely in the movie. He went from being one of the main characters and a very important person in Nina’s life to being completely pointless. I loved their relationship in the musical. I loved the adorable mutual pining, how Benny tried his best to put Nina at ease, how she relaxed when she was with him, and how unconditionally he supported her. The movie basically decided to throw their relationship in the garbage. I didn’t like the backstory of him and Nina having dated and broken up prior to her leaving for Stanford. I’m furious that “Sunrise” was cut and “When the sun goes down” turned into a weird dream ballet, instead of a sweet yet realistic song about love. And I hate how the two of them basically… were broken up, and then all of a sudden super in love? Their relationship in the movie was completely unconvincing and, frankly, unnecessary.

KEVIN

Or actually Camila. Why did they cut her? I don’t know, but it’s upsetting. Not just because “Enough” is a great song, but because without her, the dramatic arc of the Rosario’s, their family dynamic, the development of the relationships between Nina, Benny and Kevin… all of that would make no sense. I hate that they completely changed that storyline.

THE SALON LADIES

They were so much less memorable than in the musical! Stephanie Beatriz’s Carla was passable, but Daphne Rubin-Vega as Daniela is honestly kind of scary does not convince me at all. Also, why was Cuca even a character in this movie? I honestly don’t see any point of her being there.

Since I’m already complaining about the salon ladies, I’m going to rant about No Me Diga real quick. I liked how private that scene was in the musical: just four friends gossiping and catching up. In the movie, there were like 50 people at the salon and it felt super chaotic. Also: the wigs. Why.

SONNY

I don’t have much to say about Sonny. I didn’t really like the changes they made to his character. I liked how in the musical he didn’t have any actual “reason” to be an activist; he was just young, bright and passionate. But his arc was one of the more interesting parts of the movie, so I won’t complain about that too much. I am sad, though, that he lost so much of his comedic aspect, and that his relationship with Vanessa got almost completely cut (she didn’t even get to say ‘You are so cute’!).

ABUELA

I don’t have too many complaints about Abuela Claudia, since she was played by the original Broadway actress. The one thing I really didn’t like was how the chronology of her story was changed in relation to the rest of the plot. I think one of the most genius parts of the musical is having a vibrant, joyful, high-energy number (“Carnaval del Barrio”) followed by the heart-wrenching sequence of Atencion-Alabanza-Everything I Know. It’s always such an emotional punch in the gut and I think it’s brilliant. Having Carnaval after Alabanza seems almost inappropriate to me, and not nearly as effective.

For me, this movie was not really an adaptation of the musical. It was more like… a movie inspired by “In the Heights”. While the musical is set in a very specific culture, it’s very universal and tells a story that pretty much anyone can relate to. The movie is something entirely different. While I was watching, I couldn’t help feeling that this story is not meant for me; I feel like it’s meant solely for the members of the Latino community. And that’s not objectively bad – I know that not everything has to be meant for me; I realize that representation is important and I hope many people found joy and comfort in this movie. But that was simply not the In the Heights I know and love.

#in the heights #in the heights broadway #in the heights movie #lin manuel miranda #musical theatre #please don't yell at me for this post or I will literally cry

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hermionegranger56 · 6 years

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Y’ALL i saw Moulin Rouge in Boston with @eyesclosed-blinktwice, in its pre-broadway run and OH BABY! I’ve waited this long to write about it cause i tried to get tickets to see it again (it was THAT good) but i waited too long/lost the ticket lottery a bunch OH WELL. here’s a semi-coherent recap of this spectacular spectacular!

first things first, AARON FUCKING TVEIT. GOD. WHAT A GODDAMN MAN. *deep breath* so I’ve casually loved Aaron Tveit since…2012?? like its been a while?? this, combined with the fact that he’s Broadway royalty made watching him perform live SO SURREAL. like a "wow there’s Aaron Tveit, i can see his face and he’s singing is this real life” kinda vibe. and man did he SLAY this role. I REALLY loved his interpretation of Christian. In act 1 he so effortlessly captures the idealistic dreamer, moving through every number with boundless charm. In act 2 he really delves into Christian’s insecurities and jealousy and truly unravels, which was more interesting than the movie where he kinda just turns into a sad loverboy after Satine goes to the Duke? his chemistry with Karen Olivo is palpable, they played off each other so well, every interaction they had was downright swoon worthy. and speaking of swoon worthy…his VOCALS. I mean I think he’s my favorite male voice on broadway. you couldn’t help but be captivated when he started singing. i MELTED when he sang Your Song, it was so smooth and sweet. he slid through every song in the extended Elephant Love Medley with ease, rocked the Green Fairy/Chandelier number and ACTIVELY MURDERED ME with Roxanne (but more on this later)

and if it wasn’t enough to have one Broadway legend up on stage, we also were graced with queen of everything KAREN OLIVO BABY!! HOOOO BOY IS SHE AMAZING Y’ALL. i mean the SECOND she enters on that trapeze/swing, your eyes were glued to her for the rest of the show, and not just cause she’s always in a dazzling costume. I was 1000% starstruck, like she really is the sparkling diamond. she commands the stage, belting like nobody’s business, her voice is JAWDROPPING. she gave me goosebumps singing goddamn Firework by Katy Perry and if anyone can make me like that song…now THAT is talent hahaha. Karen also really shined in the Shut Up and Dance Medley, in the What’s Love Got to Do With It addition to Elephant Love, and….you know what no, she shined in every number. end of story. I also ADORED Karen’s adaptation of Satine. She is way more strong willed and autonomous, less like the movie-version-delicate-flower. She knows what she wants and is not afraid to get it. I think the fact that they made her know that she was dying really helped add to this. She’s fierce and powerful and tender and loving and DOWNRIGHT AMAZING.

the supporting cast was also INCREDIBLE. Sahr Ngaujah played Toulouse-Lautrec SO WELL, i loved that he was less comedic plot device and more nuanced bohemian artist. He was funny and charming but also heartbreaking, like when he told Christian he once loved Satine. His Nature Boy was haunting. He had one line standing up to the Duke along the lines of “I am an artist sir. You should tremble at that” and it was delivered with such unequivocal POWER that the whole theater cheered. Tam Mutu was great as the Duke, scary and honestly downright hot hahaha I’m glad they made him less of an insufferable fool, more of an actual threat. Danny Burr as Zidler kept the crowd’s energy up (as if we needed it, this show is so high energy its practically a concert!) and was super entertaining. Robyn Hurder is an ASTOUNDING dancer and kills it as Nini and Jeigh Madjus really stands out as the heartbreaking Baby Doll.

the musical was faithful to the original songs, with the omission of One Day I’ll Fly Away (which i missed tbh), Like a Virgin, The Show Must Go On (also missed). The standouts were: Lady Marmalade, which was had the audience singing and dancing right from the start, Elephant Love Medley, which had some amazing additions, was grandiose, and ended with that iconic eiffel tower/umbrella dance. the whole stage was transformed into a starry night, stars even projected onto the theatre ceiling! and of COURSE Come What May, which Aaron and Karen sang with such skill, tenderness and love. IT. WAS. BEAUTIFUL. AND ROXANNE HOOOOO BABY. at first i was apprehensive about just Aaron singing it cause i LOVE the movie version and how everyone’s voices overlap at the end and its NUTS but i was DEAD WRONG. he starts out growling “Roxanne” and it is amazinggg. he really shows Christian lose it while absolutely killing the vocals. my jaw LITERALLY hit the floor when he sang “why does my heart cry, feelings I can’t fight” find audio of it y’all, its insane.

the new songs were also incredible! I was prepared to dislike some, since some were like…hits of 2013. BUT I WAS WRONG. they were so good!! most of them were in a mashup style and the audience cheered when they recognized each song which added to the energy of the show. BY FAR the best was the Act 2 opener, a medley of Bad Romance/Tainted Love/Seven Nation Army/Toxic/Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). it was high energy, intense, technically perfect and downright SEXY. the dancing was incredible, the lifts were cool (at one point they literally throw Aaron). At the end, the audience clapped for legit a full minute (poor Aaron had to hold a half backbend for it hahah). other faves? Chandelier/Green Fairy, Crazy/Rolling in the Deep and the Duke’s Rolling Stones mashup!

THE SET WAS INDESCRIBABLY BEAUTIFUL. SO SO INTRICATE. The red light up sign, the elephant and windmill in the balconies, the elaborate interiors of the elephant and Christian’s home, it was nearly too much to take in. AND THE COSTUMES specifically every single one of Satine’s glittering numbers. perfect, elegant, STUNNING. Ensemble costumes were also amazing, at one point the lights came up on a group of aristocrats in elaborate pastel outfits and the whole crowd gasped a little!

little things i loved: dancers posing in the balconies before the show even started, the sword eaters, Aaron walking on stage, lifting his hand and the Moulin Rouge sign flying out so that Lady Marmalade can begin, the fact that I’ve now been rick rolled by Aaron Tveit, Karen’s entrances on the swing, Satine telling Zidler “let mama go to work” then strutting offstage, Christian dancing in his seat when Satine is signing Diamonds, the fact that they changed the spectacular from the cultural appropriated mess that it was, Zidler: “let me see your ass!” Christian: *turns around and shows his butt in super tight pants to the crowd*, the confetti, the harmonies in Chandelier (specifically Ricky Rojas’ entrance), the fact that after Satine dies they end the show/do bows to a fun song so you’re not too sad.

safe to say I can’t WAIT till this hits Broadway!!

#moulin rouge #moulin rouge!#moulin rouge boston #moulin rouge broadway #broadway #aaron tveit #karen olivo #sahr ngaujah #danny burr #tam mutu #robyn hurder #jeigh madjus #theatre #musicals #ewan mcgregor #nicole kidman

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