Oxford Academy’s Choir performed their annual musical selection, the full-length musical In the Heights, on Nov. 8th and 9th at the Kennedy Performing Arts Center.
In the Heights follows the primarily Latino neighborhood of Washington Heights, New York City. The timeless musical follows bodega owner Usnavi and his desire to return to his home in the Dominican Republic. The musical’s plot revolves around the tight-knit community, underscoring themes of poverty, cultural pride, romance, and looming gentrification.
Seniors Aditri Harish and Diego Muñoz played Nina and Usnavi, respectively, while freshman Jack Sequeira and junior Ava Pitts played Benny and Vanessa. Senior Eryn Riley played Abuela Claudia. The elaborate set, depicting the actual neighborhood of Washington Heights, was donated temporarily by Whittier High School, featuring props such as shopfronts and a bodega counter stand.
“The set pieces were interesting to work around, and I think a challenging part was […] all those moving parts,” Pitts said. Her character, Vanessa, had many scenes in which she moved around the stage, particularly up the stairs. “There was less space for people backstage because the band was off on the right, so the whole right side was completely taken up.”
The emotional musical evokes many tear-jerking numbers such as “Inútil,” and “Breathe,” where characters lament the cycle of poverty, immigration, and living up to expectations.
“It’s cool to see our progress,” Harish said. “I think we’re doing a good job of channeling what the actual musical is like.”
However, some numbers were primarily in Spanish — adding a layer of difficulty for non-fluent performers in the production.
“We’ve got a couple of students that are fluent, that are helping to teach it to other students, working on inflection and pronunciation, so that hasn’t been too much of an issue,” Choir director Mr. Brian Hogan said.
Although In the Heights presented new challenges compared to previous performances of both full-length musicals and selected song concerts, OA Singers persevered through with enthusiasm.
“This musical is very different from past musicals [we’ve done], especially because this one has actual scenes with dialogue. Our [past] musicals have been all music non-stop. In that regard I think we’re doing well with the changes we have to put on a different kind of show,” Riley said.
In the Heights was the choir’s third full musical selection since the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing large crowds during its Friday and Saturday shows. They performed for a packed house on Saturday, with tickets sold at the door only given a small, select number of available seats.
“Our senior class and show choir is super talented,” said Muñoz. “[They are] definitely very passionate. [Mr. Hogan] wanted to challenge us, he wanted to push us by choosing this musical. For all the seniors, this is the perfect musical to perform as a last Broadway show.”
