I would like to warn you because this post will be completely insufferable as I love this musical soooo much. The movie adaptation is being released on June 26th this year and you already know I’ll be the first to see it. In The Heights is another musical by Lin Manuel Miranda. He was a freshman in college, which I toured specifically for this reason, when he wrote it. It was performed in 2000 at Wesleyan University and with the help of some seniors and alumni In The Heights became a Broadway production in 2005. In The Heights takes place in three days in Washington Heights, a Hispanic-American neighborhood.

In The Heights – this first song is almost 8 minutes long and yet it’s always over too soon; all of the characters and their backgrounds are explained in this song; the main protagonist, Usnavi, introduces himself as the owner of a bodega; Abuela Claudia is not really anybody’s grandmother but she acts as the neighborhood grandmother and helped raise all the children; the Rosarios have a daughter, Nina, who goes to Stanford which they struggle to afford; Daniela and Carla work at the local salon and love to gossip; Sonny is Usnavi’s younger cousin who doesn’t like to work at the bodega; Benny is Usnavi’s best friend who works at the Rosario’s cab company; Vanessa is a popular girl who wants to move out of their barrio (neighborhood), Usnavi has a crush on her

Breathe – Nina is home from her first year at Stanford; however, she dreads having to tell everyone that she dropped out since she was the one who finally “made it out”; she had to work two jobs because she could not pay tuition which distracted her from going to classes; I see myself in Nina since we are both first generation students

Benny’s Dispatch – on the way to tell her parents about dropping out, Nina runs into Benny; having hidden their feelings for each they other they bond over working at the dispatch station; Nina stays with Benny while they wait for her parents

It Won’t Be Long Now – Vanessa works at Daniela and Carla’s salon but she dreams about living in the West Village; Sonny asks out Vanessa for Usnavi; although Usnavi is excited to go on a date with Vanessa he is worried that she is trying to leave behind their community

Inutil – Nina eventually tells her parents that she has dropped out and lied to them about doing well in school; her father, Kevin, is distraught because he wanted to be able to provide for his family in a way that his father didn’t; he is ashamed that he was unable to give Nina an education

Daniela and Carla are moving their salon from Washington Heights to the Bronx.

No Me Diga – Nina goes to the salon to get comfort from Vanessa; Daniela and Carla want to talk about Nina’s and Vanessa’s new love interests; they all praise Nina for being able to get out of their barrio, which causes Nina to tell them she dropped out; Daniela, Carla, and Vanessa don’t understand how this could happen since they expected so much from her

96,000 – this is a complicated song, much like the first one, the harmonies and overlapping lyrics sound amazing; at the end of the day Usnavi, Sonny, and Benny learn that the bodega sold a winning lottery ticket for $96,000; the barrio starts fantasizing what they would do with the winning money; Benny would go to business school; Daniela and Carla would buy a new salon; Usnavi would pay off the bodega, spend some on Vanessa because “the only room with a view is a room with [her] in it” (honestly what a line), and go back to live in the Dominican Republic; Sonny would spend the money improving the barrio, getting better access to technology and educating the youth; Vanessa would move out of the barrio

Paciencia Y Fe – means patience and faith; Abuela Claudia reminisces about her life in La Vibora, Cuba; she remembers her mother struggling for work, which is why they moved to New York in 1943; they struggled when they got to New York as well, trying to learn English, working as a maid; Abuela reveals that she has the winning lottery ticket and thanks her mother for telling her to have patience and faith

When You’re Home – Nina and Benny spend time reminiscing over their childhoods growing up in Washington Heights; Benny reminds Nina that things are easier when you’re home as they walk past their usual hangout spots; Nina doubts herself since she dropped out but Benny reassures her that she is still destined for greatness

Piragua – the Piragua Guy sells piragua, or shaved ice/snow cones; he sings about his competition with Mr. Softee; even on the hottest days he will sell piragua since it is his job

The Rosarios have dinner with Nina, Benny, Usnavi, Vanessa, and Abuela Claudia. Nina’s father announces that he sold their cab company to pay for Nina’s education. Nina and her mother, unaware of this decision, are shocked. Benny gets upset because he had dreamed about taking over the company. Nina’s father says that would have never happened because it was a family company and Benny would never be family. Benny leaves. Nina refuses to take the money and follows Benny out.

The Club – Usnavi is nervous about his date with Vanessa; Benny is getting drunk, after getting fired from his five year job with the Rosarios cab company; Vanessa dances with another guy to make Usnavi jealous; Nina finds Benny at the club to apologize about her father but Benny brushes her off; Usnavi finds a girl to dance with to make Vanessa jealous

Blackout – this song is chaotic from start to finish; the heat and humidity cause a citywide blackout; both couples try to find each other and Sonny has to find a way to protect the store from thieves; Nina and Benny end up finding each other; Sonny sets off fireworks to ward off the thieves; Usnavi finds Abuela Claudia and she shows him the money from the lottery ticket; Nina and Benny kiss

Sunrise – so it was night and now it’s morning, I’m sure you can figure out what is heavily implied here; Nina and Benny spend the night together while her father looks for her; this might be my favorite song, Nina teaches Benny some words in Spanish; Benny worries about what Nina’s father with say but is happy to be with Nina anyways

Hundreds of Stories – the bodega gets robbed, Usnavi and Abuela discuss what they should do with the money; Abuela decides that her, Sonny, and Usnavi should each get a third; she encourages Usnavi to use the money to get back to the Dominican Republic; they imagine all the stories they will create where “the sea meets the sky” (I see what you did there Lin)

Nina comes home to her worried parents. Nina and her father start to argue because he disapproves of Benny.

Enough – Camila, Nina’s mom, takes control of the situation by telling both Nina and Kevin that when they have a problem they should come home instead of figuring out their own solutions; Nina should not have hidden the fact that she left school and Kevin should not have sold the company without talking to her

Carnaval del Barrio – Daniela leads the barrio in celebrating their cultures even when it is extremely hot outside; Carla, when asked to sing, sings about her identity as being from four hispanic countries as well as acknowledging her American identity; the community teases Vanessa about her and Usnavi’s obvious affection; Usnavi comes in with the news that Abuela Claudia won the $96,000 lottery and reveals that they’ll be leaving for the Dominican Republic the next day (Vanessa is upset by this news); they celebrate by raising the Mexican, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Cuban flags; Daniela teases Benny about spending the night with Nina; Sonny, hearing all of this for the first time, is angry that Usnavi is just leaving and that Benny is with Nina, who was his babysitter and who he had a crush on; Sonny is also upset because with everyone leaving, the bodega and cab company shutting down there will be no more barrio as they know it; Usnavi ensures that Sonny will get a third of the money and that although the barrio is changing he should still celebrate the night everybody is still together; Usnavi asks Vanessa for one last dance before he leaves; Daniela says her goodbyes before she leaves for the Bronx

Nina frantically pulls Usnavi away from the celebrations.

Atencion – a short song; Kevin uses the cab company’s dispatch station to make an announcement; at noon that day, Abuela Claudia passed away

Alabanza – Abuela Claudia passed away in her sleep; Usnavi holds a memorial for Abuela Claudia; she would say “alabanza” all the time, which means to raise something to God and sing “praise to this”; everyone in the barrio sings Abuela Claudia’s praises, lighting candles and leaving them at her door, showing just how much she was loved in the barrio

Everything I Know – Usnavi and Nina go through Abuela’s old boxes; it them they find all of their old photographs and everything else they gave her, like Nina’s graduation program; Abuela made sure Nina always did her homework even though she couldn’t even spell her own name; Nina decides to take the money from her parents company and go back to Stanford

Piragua (reprise) – the Piragua Guy makes a  reappearence; Mr. Softee’s truck broke down so now he can sell piragua without any competition

Vanessa prepares to move out when Daniela tells her that Usnavi convinced her to cosign on Vanessa’s lease.

Champagne – Vanessa brings Usnavi champagne while he’s closing up for the day; she tries to convince him not to leave without telling him the reason is because she loves him; Usnavi tries to get the bottle open, not paying attention to what Vanessa is saying; Usnavi is confused as to why Vanessa is acting like this when she’s also leaving the barrio; the song ends with Vanessa kissing Usnavi and telling him it’s too late since he’s already made up his mind about leaving

When the Sun Goes Down – another favorite; Sunrise opened on Nina and Benny’s relationship at the beginning of summer while this song sees them pursuing a long distance relationship when Nina goes back to college on Labor Day; while they may not stay together forever, Benny still tells Nina that he will support her no matter what; they promise to think of each other when the sun sets

Finale – this song parallels the first; Usnavi is working at the store before he gets on his plane; all of the characters storylines are overlapping here, Kevin’s company is closed, Daniela and Carla are leaving for the Bronx, and Vanessa is moving downtown; Usnavi remembers all the great things in Washington Heights, all the memories he has with Benny and Abuela Claudia; Sonny had Graffiti Pete spray paint a portrait of Abuela Claudia on the store grate; Usnavi realizes that his home has been there all along, he tells Sonny to tell everyone he’s staying; Usnavi takes up Abuela’s role as the storyteller, the memory keeper, remembering everyone even after they’ve left because Washington Heights is their home