Oscar Salvador, Jr. and Cristian Bustillos. Photo by Joseph Edwards Photography.
It has been a decade since the Elden Street Players, an all-volunteer community theatre located in a nondescript office park in Herndon, took a leap of faith and reinvented itself as NextStop Theatre Company, a professional company producing as many as ten shows per year. NextStop was methodical in its ambition, selecting ever more complex shows in an effort to become one of the region’s leading theatres.
…vibrant…a production on a scale with the best of the region…Every member of the cast is magnificent.
With “In the Heights,” directed by Elena Velasco, NextStop has reached that goal. The vibrant production of Lin Manuel Miranda’s 2005 musical, which made it to Broadway in 2008 and won the Best Musical Tony Award that season, could easily be mistaken for a show at one of Washington’s larger established downtown houses. It is a production on a scale with the best of the region.
“In the Heights” is a slice-of-life story of a few hot summer days in Washington Heights in upper Manhattan. The book by Quiara Alegría Hudes is slim on story and characterization, focusing in broad strokes on three businesses and their employees and denizens: the bodega run by Dominican Usnavi; the car service founded by Puerto Rican Kevin and Camila Rosario (Janice Rivera) and the salon run by Daniela, who is from Puerto Rico. Cuban immigrant “Abuela” Claudia (Bruni Herring) is the spiritual grandmother to all of the residents of the Heights, and is subtly mentoring Usnavi to succeed her as the soul of their block.
While there are a lot of characters and little time spent on defining most of them, “In the Heights” pops from the start due to Miranda’s music (performed at NextStop by an off-stage band led by Jake Null) and exceptional choreography by Stefan Sittig. The set by Mariana C. Fernandez is effectively simple, with the three businesses each given a section of the stage, rough indicators of the furnishings of each (a dispatch desk, a soda refrigerator, a salon chair), and movable scaffolding. The last is put to clever use at the end of the first act, sliding from the wings to center stage as young lovers Nina (Ixchel Hernandez) and Benny (Kaylen Morgan) sing atop it, providing a cinematic, swooping-camera visual.
Every member of the cast is magnificent. Oscar Salvador, Jr. has played Usnavi before and his comfort with the character is evident. He is smart and confident in his community leader role, but insecure and frightened when contemplating his love life and his future. Graciela Rey broadens the thinly written character of Vanessa, Usnavi’s love interest who pines for a new life in the West Village. (In a company of excellent dancers, Rey still stands out with a superlative performance.)
Alex Lopez simmers as hotheaded businessman, Kevin Rosario, who loves his daughter Nina but has a hard time respecting her choices. Odette Gutiérrez del Arroyo steals all her scenes as Daniela, the good-humored and quick-witted hairstylist who is trying to put the best face on her move away from the neighborhood she loves, and the impending departure of her friend and employee Vanessa.
“In the Heights” was four years in the making for NextStop, with a year of planning unexpectedly followed by a three-year pandemic delay. It was worth the wait, and worth seeing for the discovery of several future stars of the D.C. stage and the further emergence of an incredible theatre company.
Running Time: Two hours and 30 minutes with one intermission.
“In the Heights” runs through June 11, 2023 at NextStop Theatre Company, 269 Sunset Park Drive, Herndon, VA 21070. For more information and tickets, click here. Masks are required while in the performance space.
