IN THE HEIGHTS
Earwormed on set of the next musical smash.
Taken from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway smash musical, IN THE HEIGHTS was designed as a riotous celebration of Latin culture. Now, post-pandemic, it’s become a vital look at our need for community. Total Film visits the set of the year’s most vibrant movie.
Do it again – more attitude!” Jon M. Chu’s voice echoes across the cavernous Brooklyn warehouse, part of which has been converted into a busy hair salon. Sporting a blue baseball cap, the director moderates his instructions: “More subtle.” His cast nod and everyone readies for another take of ‘No Me Diga’. It’s one of the key songs from In The Heights, Chu’s big-screen adaptation of the most joyous New York musical since the kids from Fame caused a serious traffic jam on 46th Street.
The scene ramps up again, as Nina – played by Leslie Grace – explains that she’s dropped out of Stanford University. “Well, that’s a shitty piece of news,” remarks salon owner Daniela (Broadway star Daphne Rubin-Vega) before another rendition of the song – Spanish for “You don’t say!” – fills the air. Extras twirl their hair and puppeteered mannequin heads start bopping in time to the music. “It’s one of the harder numbers because it’s comedic,” remarks choreographer Christopher Scott, delighted by what he’s watching.
As it concludes amid high-fives and laughter, emotions are running high. “There’s always at least one set cry every day,” says Grace, the Bronx-born singer making her screen debut as Nina, one of the central figures in this tale of everyday folk from Manhattan borough Washington Heights. It’s no surprise there are tears. Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes, In The Heights has been mooted for an adaptation for years, ever since it first bowed on Broadway in 2008.
Shortly after it won a Tony for Best Musical, Universal picked up the film rights, only for it to languish for years in development hell. “I was heartbroken when the movie didn’t go around the first time,” reveals the upbeat Miranda, when Total Film later connects over Zoom. It got worse before it got better. When Miranda’s 2016 musical Hamilton became a Broadway sensation, Heights was revived at The Weinstein Co. – shortly before shocking revelations about producer Harvey Weinstein’s sexual misconduct emerged.
Thankfully, Miranda and his team were able to ring-fence the rights. “We really protected it. Lin, Quiara, myself, our producers,” says Chu, who signed on after 2016’s Now You See Me 2 as he went in search of a more personal project after a series of sequels and franchise movies. “It was too important. Been around for so long. And you could feel when a project is meant to be made. This has to be made, it needs to be done right. Let’s not let it get crushed by this other giant thing.”
After Chu returned from his 2018 rom-com hit Crazy Rich Asians, Heights could finally – finally – get under way. Casting was crucial, especially since the film had stalled at Universal because a cast of unknown Latinx performers with no international profile was felt too risky. “And that becomes a self-defeating loop that keeps Latinos out of the room,” notes Miranda, “because you’re not willing to make Latino stars, you’re not willing to give us the chances to take on those roles that would be big international movies.”
Fast-forward three years, aided by an industry-wide call for greater diversity, Chu has assembled an exciting ensemble of Latinx talent. Hardcore fans will delight in Olga Merediz as Abuela Claudia – the story’s grandmother figure – after playing her on Broadway. But the real star-inwaiting is Anthony Ramos, who played Miranda’s son in Hamilton and Lady Gaga’s pal in A Star Is Born.
“I had breakfast with Jon Chu in LA one morning,” he says. “And we basically just shared stories, the next thing you know, an hour into the breakfast… Jon’s crying, I’m crying.” Didn’t we say there’d be tears?
Ramos plays Usnavi, the story’s beating heart, a bodega owner who wants to save enough money to return to the Dominican Republic. “It’s a dream, to be honest,” says Ramos of landing the role originated by Miranda, one he understudied in a stage production at the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC. “In my mind, he’s the next Will Smith,” says Chu. “He can do action, comedy, romance… he’s the full package. No one has ever seen a talent like this. That’s why I’m excited for people to see this movie.”
The first person cast, Ramos then graciously helped out when the production was casting Vanessa, a wannabe fashion designer from the ’hood whom Usnavi is besotted by. “He slid into my DMs,” grins Mexican actress Melissa Barrera, recalling when he hit her up on Instagram. “Like, ‘Hey, I know you’re coming to do this
‘IN MY MIND, ANTHONY RAMOS IS THE NEXT WILL SMITH. HE CAN DO ACTION, COMEDY, ROMANCE’
reading. Do you want to meet up before we go to the audition?’ I was like, ‘That would be amazing.’” They had lunch. “And then in the read,” smiles Ramos, “the chemistry was crazy.”
Opposite these two, Grace’s Nina takes a more central position than she had in the stage version – a consequence of her popularity on the Broadway show. “I feel like her character is really relatable,” says Grace. “Everyone has those moments where you feel like, ‘Who am I? Where have I been? Where am I going?’” As much as Heights is about everyday struggles like Nina’s – money, identity, love, education – Chu feels it also looks to the skies. “[It’s about] people who have big dreams, dreams that are worth showing on the big screen.”
Joining Barrera, Ramos and Grace is Corey Hawkins, who shot to fame as Dr. Dre in Straight Outta Compton. He plays Benny, the one major non-Latinx character, who romances Nina and works for her father Kevin (Star Wars alum Jimmy Smits) at the local cab company. “It feels full circle for me,”
Hawkins says. The first-ever live show he saw was Heights. “That was my intro into musical theatre. And so that all comes from Lin. From him saying, ‘Yes, we are worthy… our stories are just as valid as everyone else’s.’”
When it comes to representation, as Ramos notes, there are very few musicals that have served the Latinx community, West Side Story being one of the few exceptions. “But you have to be a crazy-ass ballet dancer to be in that shit!” Heights offers something different – a story where Latinos are not depicted as stereotypical gang members or drug dealers. Striving for authenticity, the production even partnered up with several Hispanic and Latino organisations, such as the National Hispanic Media Coalition. “We have needed this for a very long time,” adds Barrera. “It’s long overdue to have a movie like this.”
It’s July 2019 when TF ventures on set, and with Trump still in the White House, Barrera believes seeing this celebration of Latinx culture, dance and history is going to be hugely powerful. “Especially in this country, [where you’re] constantly feeling like you’re not welcome, like you don’t belong in this political climate.” The only Mexican in the cast, and the only one who was not born in the States, she gets choked up, too. “It means a lot. It means a lot to be given a voice, and I’m so grateful to be here.”
Talking of Trump, changes were made – notably to the song ‘96,000’, sung when a winning lottery ticket is sold at Usnavi’s shop. It originally name-checked the (now ex) president. “In 2005, when I wrote that lyric, Donald Trump was like a reality show host and a monopoly man,” says Miranda. “A famous rich guy. And so now he represents different, darker things. And it really would bring us down to hear that name in the middle of this beautiful song about joy and hope. So we cut him out.”
The song was also one of several shot in Washington Heights itself, vividly relocating the number to a public pool at Highbridge Recreation Center. “The set was huge,” says choreographer Scott, who first worked
with Chu on 2008’s urban dance tale Step Up 2: The Streets. “It was a lot to learn.” With 500 extras all in the water (which was freezing, due to an incoming storm), it’s pure Busby Berkeley – an intriguing contrast to the Salsa and Reggaeton-infused numbers found elsewhere in the movie.
With two months’ rehearsals prior to the shoot, Scott deliberately gave the actors a baptism by fire when it came to the electrifying dance routines: “The first day, I didn’t introduce the actors to the dancers, I just threw them in.” Hawkins laughs, recalling how difficult it was not knowing the steps intricately. “They didn’t recognise us, they didn’t know who we were. They thought we were just dancers, too. And
‘IT WAS SO MUCH FUN. JUST DANCING AROUND THE PARK, DOING ALL THESE CRAZY THINGS’
so we started dancing, partnering up, and I just remember that some of the women looked at us like, ‘What are you doing?’”
Hawkins’ first day on set was shooting the romantic ‘When You’re Home’ with Grace, another exterior scene. “It was so much fun. Just dancing through the park, doing all these crazy things that felt grounded. We had to figure out a way to make it work that felt right. So it didn’t feel like a musical number.” Hawkins even recalls the public swarming all over set. “People just came and brought their coolers,” he smiles. “You couldn’t tell who is in the movie [and who isn’t]. It was magical.”
With the story dealing with increasingly hot-button issues like immigration and gentrification, embracing the Heights populace was also vital. The production, for example, didn’t hire caterers to feed the crew but instead sent out for food to support local businesses. It also sponsored a staging of the show at local school, George Washington High, while Chu insisted on soaking up the vibe of the streets. “You see the guys on their motorcycles, doing wheelies, and Jon’s like ‘Shoot it!’” smiles Hawkins. “Let’s let the community in.”
Representing this oft-overlooked area on-screen “means the world” to Miranda, who still lives in Washington Heights. “This neighbourhood that gets cut off in fucking tourist maps,” he fumes, “you would think Manhattan ended at Harlem if you played any
Grand Theft Auto videogame, and even the Spider-Man: Miles Morales game, which I love!” Chu understands the pressure they face. “If we don’t get it right for them, Lin doesn’t have a home to go to!”
It was Chu who convinced Miranda to take a small role in the film, suggesting he play the street vendor who sells delicious fruit-flavoured ice cones – known only as ‘Piragua Guy’. “At every moment, Jon’s like ‘Piragua Guy… you could do Piragua Guy!’” remembers Miranda. “And I’m like, ‘No, no, it’s OK, it’s OK, it’s your movie!’ And then at some point, he finally incepted me, right? And I was like, ‘I’ll kick myself forever, if I don’t get to be a part of this moment.’”
Like everything else, the film was put on hold when the Covid-19
pandemic hit. When they resumed, editor Myron Kerstein had to learn how to work remotely. “It forced us to learn new methods of editing,” says Chu. Mixing the score and sound was even more taxing, with only four people allowed together due to social distancing. But there were silver linings. “It really gave us room and time to finish everything right,” adds Chu. “It helped us, I think, to make a better movie.”
Originally due out in 2020, the film was left in limbo with so many cinemas shuttered. “When every Hollywood deck got reshuffled, I think I was the loudest voice for like, ‘Let’s just stream it, let’s just put it out!’ because I couldn’t imagine sitting on it for a year,” admits the “impatient” Miranda. It was Chu who brought him around. “[He] said to me, ‘We could put it on streaming and people will like it. It’s a good movie. But if we wait a year, we can also open a lane for the stars in this movie.’”
Chu had similar experience with Crazy Rich Asians, propelling Henry Golding and Constance Wu to stardom. “That’s what we hope for on In The Heights,” says Chu. “The world doesn’t know yet. But I can guarantee you that these actors will pop from that and they will create space for themselves and for others along the way.” Even the contentious decision to stream the film on HBO Max in certain territories, simultaneous to its theatrical release, seems not to concern him, especially with a world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival planned for June.
Indeed, despite 12 months’ delay, Heights feels perfectly timed. As it turns out, it’ll be the first out the gate in a year of movie musicals, including Spielberg’s West Side Story and the high-school set Dear Evan Hansen.
“I don’t really think about what else is happening,” says Chu, who is next looking to bring Wicked to the screen. “But I think it’s great. I love musicals. I grew up on musicals.” More importantly, it’s arriving after a year of pandemic living.
Chu points to the scene where a major blackout leaves the city without power and “people are cut off from each other and isolated”. Yet as the song ‘Carnaval Del Barrio’ strikes up, the line “We’re not powerless, we’re powerful” is heard – a battle cry that celebrates unity and community. “We are all experiencing that now,” he says. “And we have a choice coming out of this moment in time: how we’re going to be and how we’re going to find each other again.” Or as Miranda puts it, it’s a chance to find some commonality. “That’s what In The Heights tries to wrap its arms around.”
IN THE HEIGHTS OPENS IN CINEMAS ON 18 JUNE.