Tag: London

A taste of what it’s like in Washington Heights

LisaLifestyle

I took far too long to see In The Heights. When the Tony award-winning first musical from Lin Manuel Miranda came to Kings Cross I was very much in the midst of my Hamilton obsession, and while I knew about Lin’s earlier work, I wasn’t certain if I wanted to make the journey across London to Kings Cross in order to see it. I have no excuse, really. But, feeling motivated by the passionate and addictive Latin infused cast recording and the fact that.i was able to get excellent seats at a very affordable price, I changed my mind. And I didn’t regret it for a second – if anything I’m kicking myself that I didn’t go sooner.

In The Heights tells the stories of a group of immigrants living in their local barrio of Washington Heights, New York, following their aspirations and daily struggles through a combination of Latin rhythm and hip-hop beats. Originally I had wondered how a musical so keenly focused on one particular district in New York would translate to a small theatre in London, but my concerns were unfounded. One of the strongest thing about this musical is that despite it being incredibly specific about the locations it refers to, ultimately it’s a musical about home and belonging, the struggles everyone faces to achieve their dreams when you aren’t born into an affluent background, and the sense that the world is constantly changing around you to the point where things you recognise and take for granted can disappear.

Each character’s narrative feels genuine and compelling, in particular I found Nina’s struggle to leave Washington Heights and pay her way through college, and the sense of displacement she feels at being away from her home and the people she knows, very identifiable. I also love Daniella and the girls who work at her salon, who never failed to provide some fun.

The staging belies how small the theatre is, and given that the actors have only a catwalk of a stage to showcase their very impressive skills I was really impressed. The spirit that filled the room was far greater than the square footage allowed, bringing colour and rhythm to Kings Cross. When the actors sing ‘Look at the fireworks!’ you are compelled to look to the ceiling with the near certainty that there will be fireworks cascading. It’s a musical that lifts and carries you through with heart and leaves you with a sense of belonging that is hard to replicate anywhere else.

I believe the show is running until January, I’m definitely going to see it again and if you have the opportunity, you should too. Alabanza!

Lisa

Harry Potter, after all this time?

LisaLifestyle

Back in 2015, when the first batch of tickets went on sale for the much hyped two-part stage production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, I joined the booking queue largely ambivalent to the whole thing. For starters, I still thought it should be The Cursèd Child, and I was almost certain that splitting a single story play across two performances and expecting people to pay twice just to get the whole storyline was reaching a new level of extortion. But I joined the queue with morbid curiosity, and when I reached the front despite starting as #89422 the sheer surprise compelled me to buy tickets to both parts for my boyfriend and myself.

So now October 2016 has rolled around and I’ve just got back from reaping the fruits of my labour. And I have to concede, it was a very good show. Or shows, depending on how you view it. Still not entirely sure it justified the ticket price, and still think that expecting patrons to troop out for a couple of hours and then come back between acts is a little ridiculous, but for that you get the rare ppportunity to spend nearly a whole day in the heart of the theatre, which is a beautiful thing.

The quality of acting was, as it would have to be given the hype, supremely high. I particularly loved Noma Dumezweni’s Hermione who embodied the best and worst of Hermione’s character in her fierce intelligence and overbearing stubbornness. Anthony Boyle’s Scorpius Malfoy was also a particularly fun character, played empathetically and getting laughs in all the right places.

But really it was the staging that gets the highest praise, with all the wizardry and wonder of a blockbuster film with the additional fascinating element of trying to figure out how the producers created the illusions before our eyes. In particular the scenes on the Hogwarts Express and the darker scenes in Act Two were mesmerizing.

Both Jon and I had read the Cursed Child script beforehand, and agreed that while we both enjoyed it, it did read like fan fiction (not a criticism of fan fiction itself, more here felt the desire to revisit old characters and locations was at the expense of a strong narrative). I also think both in print and on stage there are elements of queer-baiting that I don’t appreciate from Rowling and co. Despite its limitations though, it definitely makes for a great day out as long as you don’t try and over-analyse it too much.

A bit of a side note also that made me a little sad was how extortionately priced everything in the souvenir stand was, including pens sold for £10+. I’m not naive to West End London prices, I heard so many sad young voices being placated by parents who couldn’t justify the cost of buying their child a keychain that might cost more than the bus ride home. It was a real shame.

I do however fully support and encourage the Friday Five scheme that’s allowing some people to get tickets at much lower prices, as anything that allows more people access to the theatre who could otherwise not afford it is a really wonderful thing. I’m hoping that the similar #Ham4Ham scheme will be brought over when tickets for the West End production of Hamilton are announced. But that’s a different post for a different day.

Lisa