They’re dancing in the streets
IN THE HEIGHTS I Jon M. Chu’s musical invites us all to one huge party…
After the year that the world has just been through, “more than ever, now is a time when people want to get out, celebrate and be together again,” says Jon M. Chu. Luckily, the director behind runaway hit romance Crazy Rich Asians has the perfect lockdown antidote: In The Heights. His dizzying, delirious adaptation of the Broadway hit by Lin-Manuel Miranda (of Hamilton fame), it’s liable to inspire mass dancing in the streets. “I hope we’re the spark that gives people permission to [do that]!” Chu grins.
Following the lives of a handful of working-class folk, the setting is the largely Dominican borough of Washington Heights in New York, where Miranda lives. “This place inspired his whole career,” says Chu. “To have him and Quiara [Alegíra Hudes, the show’s co-writer] and Luis, his father, continually communicating to me what this place is, only showed me more and more what I needed to show the audience.” With Heights a four-time Tony winner, Chu knew he had to do right by the locals. “It was very important… that they felt proud of this movie.”
Leading the cast is Anthony Ramos, who featured on stage in Hamilton and here plays Usnavi, the owner of a small bodega – or grocery store. “He is the whole reason this movie is what it’s become,” says Chu. “He raised everybody’s game.” But Chu put his entire cast – including Straight Outta Compton’s Corey Hawkins – through an epic prep process. “They worked their butts off. Two months of straight-up dance rehearsal and bleeding ankles, some breakdowns at a certain point. It was very, very hard.”
Shot across the summer of 2019, Chu’s film was held over like so many other movies during the pandemic. While finishing a musical in lockdown was “frustrating”, with the all-important sound mix done remotely, the bigger issue has come with how – and when – to release a film designed for big audiences. “We had a whole year to figure out, ‘How long can you hold the movie before it becomes irrelevant?’ What’s been interesting is that it’s only become more relevant.”
He cites the electrical blackout that features prominently, and the way the characters turn to those closest to them in moments of crisis. “I think that this will inspire a lot of people to see the light, to gather again and to have hope that we can make a better world with a reset now.” It’s why he’s come to terms with the fact that In The Heights will now be shown in certain territories on streaming service HBO Max – as he’s desperate to bring it to the masses. “Things happen for a reason. Not Coronavirus, but I mean timing happens for a reason. And I hope that people get to enjoy it, because it’s a joyful movie.” JM
ETA | 25 JUNE / IN THE HEIGHTS OPENS IN TWO MONTHS.