In the Heights [Original Broadway Cast Recording] [B&N Exclusive] [3 LP Red/White/Blue Vinyl]

by Original Broadway Cast, Lin-Manuel Miranda

Overview

The heights referred to in the title of the Broadway musical In the Heights is Washington Heights, a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan adjacent to the George Washington Bridge largely occupied by working-class Hispanics, many of them from the Dominican Republic and other islands in the Caribbean. Lin-Manuel Miranda, who stars in the show and is also given a credit for conceiving it as well as writing the songs, clearly knows the neighborhood intimately. When, at one point, a character reminisces about the subway trains, the IRT 1 and 9, that serviced the area, his character, Usnavi, quickly points out that the 9 has been discontinued. Usnavi, the owner of a bodega (a small grocery) who dreams of returning to the Dominican Republic, is not only knowledgeable about local transportation. In the introductory song "In the Heights," as he introduces the many other characters in this ensemble piece, rapping over salsa music, he uses words such as "exacerbated" and at one point, speaking of the high temperature, notes, "It's gotten too darn hot like my man Cole Porter said." Usnavi is, in other words, a bit too well educated to be what he claims, and the mixture of closely observed street life with erudition is typical of the show's writing, just as Miranda's music, while infused with Latin and hip-hop elements, is also informed by contemporary show music writing. There's no doubt he's familiar with Stephen Sondheim as well as Jonathan Larson, whose Rent is a major influence, even if it's about an entirely different neighborhood of Manhattan. Like Rent, In the Heights follows the lives of a group of characters whose aspirations and experiences have something of a soap opera quality, though the intention is to provide a panoramic view of a bustling community. There is the sense of that neighborhood's falling apart: several of the characters want to leave, others are being forced out. (At one point, Usnavi predicts that in five years the whole city will consist of nothing but rich people and hipsters, a forecast people have been making for a century or so.) But while they're still on the hot streets, they sing and dance and interact with each other, and Miranda has captured their stories well. The large cast, also including Mandy Gonzalez, Karen Olivo, and Olga Merediz in principal roles, does well by the score on this double-CD cast album, which runs 89 minutes. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	09/04/2020
Label:	Bmg Special Products
UPC:	0791558460261

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Lin-Manuel Miranda   Primary Artist,Vocals
Karen Olivo   Primary Artist,Vocals
Carlos Gomez   Primary Artist,Vocals,Vocals
Olga Merediz   Primary Artist,Vocals
Andrea Burns   Primary Artist,Vocals
Janet Dacal   Primary Artist,Vocals
Priscilla Lopez   Primary Artist,Vocals
Original Broadway Cast   Primary Artist
Eliseo Roman   Primary Artist,Vocals
Doreen Montalvo   Primary Artist
Robin De Jesus   Primary Artist,Vocals
Christopher Jackson   Primary Artist,Vocals
Seth Stewart   Primary Artist,Vocals
Mandy Gonzalez   Primary Artist,Vocals
Thomas Kail   Director
In The Heights Pit Orchestra   Orchestra
Alex Lacamoire   Music Direction
In The Heights Cast Ensemble   Choir/Chorus

Technical Credits

Johnna Jackson   Production Assistant
Derik Lee   Assistant Engineer
Heather Sciacca   Production Assistant
J. Philip Bassett   Production Stage Manager
Ruth Hendel   Associate Producer
Sarah Marcus   Production Assistant
Anna Louizos   Set Design,Photography
Jessica Disbrow   Package Design
Scott A. Moore   Marketing
Lin-Manuel Miranda   Concept,Composer,Lyricist,Producer
Quiara Alegria Hudes   Book
Brig Berney   Company Manager
Harold Newman   Associate Producer,Associate Producer
Andy Blankenbuehler   Choreographer
Joan Marcus   Production Photography
Brian Lynch   Technical Supervisor,Technical Supervisor
Andres Levin   Producer
Kurt Deutsch   Producer
Joel Moss   Editing,Engineer,Producer,Recording
Jason Stasium   Mixing Assistant
Angie Teo   Assistant Engineer
Tim Latham   Mixing
Chris Jennings   Assistant Engineer
Alex Lacamoire   Arranger,Producer,Orchestration
Noah Cornman   Associate Producer
Tom Coyne   Mastering
Howell Binkley   Lighting Design
Emily Grishman   Copyist
Bill Sherman   Arranger,Producer,Orchestration
Katharine Edmonds   Copyist
Kate Rousseau   Production Assistant
Michael Keller   Music Coordinator
David Herman   Editing,Post Production,Assistant Engineer
Andrey Levin   Producer
Colleen Darnall   Music Assistant
Katie Riegel   Production Assistant
Tyler Van Dalen   Assistant Engineer
Vincent Dixon   Cover Photo
Paul Tazewell   Costume Design
John Corker   General Manager
Steve Norman   Associate Producer
Lizbeth Cone   General Manager