Geva Theatre Center's "In the Heights"

One of the perks of being in the “Scale the Heights Producing Group” for the upcoming production of In the Heights at Geva was the opportunity to attend a rehearsal. What a thrill! And as a bonus, we had lunch with the director, Melissa Rain Anderson, and some of the cast. One of the actors replied to a question about her reaction to Rochester – she hadn’t expected there to be so much art and culture here to explore (I certainly could relate…). Several of them also commented on the personal relationships they have developed during the rehearsal period, and how instrumental that is in their ability to successfully portray the relationships among their stage characters. About a third of the actors have been in other productions of “In the Heights” elsewhere. But each director and choreographer brings his or her own interpretation, so none of them can phone it in.

The actual rehearsal began quietly, with two of the main characters, “Benny” and “Nina” (actors Sidney Dupont and Mia Pinero), working on the final duet, “When the Sun Goes Down.” At the piano, musical director Don Kot gave them ideas on how to blend more effectively, asked Sidney to get the sound more forward on a particular note, and helped Mia when she was unsure of a few notes. Then Anderson said, “Let’s put it on its feet,” and “Kevin” (played by Tony Chiroldes), joined them for the scene. They worked on blocking, and Melissa asked Sidney to display more “hope for your own story.” There was lots of discussion about motivation and what Sidney thought has happened or will happen – for example, what “Benny’s” journey will be. It was incredible to see the effect of these simple directions on the actor’s subsequent run-throughs.

Director Melissa Rain Anderson

Anderson’s direction was, in many instances, very specific, but she also gave the actors room to explore and find what felt true for them, and, like an effective manager, she complimented many of their instincts and choices. At one point, she gave the couple an image to focus on when they’re looking away from each other, and both of them had an “aha” moment. Each time they sang through the song, I got chills, and Sam, one of my companions, commented that “it gets better all the time.” After just half an hour, the scene had progressed incredibly, to the point that Anderson declared, “That’s beautiful. I don’t want to touch it too much.” And with that, we were led from the rehearsal hall to the Fielding Stage, where a dance rehearsal was in progress. Productions don’t normally get to rehearse in this space, so it was a luxury, and they were making the most of it, with movable mylar mirrors.

Movable mylar mirrors (Equity rules prevented me
from photographing any of the actors...)

There, the choreographer, Julio Agustin, was directing the ensemble: lots of moving people and pieces. He was incredibly fluid when he illustrated a couple of movements for the dancers, and it was fun to hear an entirely different vocabulary from the vocal one upstairs that I could understand – for example, asking for them to “pump air,” and “hit” versus “melt.” At one point, he even described a certain movement as “a little bit alienesque.” The cast definitely worked well together as a team, and many of them seemed to know all of the songs (if I understood correctly, Jeffrey Nunez, the actor playing “Piragua Guy” was subbing for “Usnavi” during this rehearsal, to give the lead actor a rest, and Nunez had the rap song down pat). Just as with the scene upstairs, the dance came together incredibly quickly. 

Once home, I checked the cast list against the auditions I had attended. Neither of the two women I thought had done a fantastic job had been cast, but another woman and one of the men, whose rap audition had been quite good, had made it into this production. Both are non-equity local hires. Sam also pointed out a young woman in the dance number, Adriana Scalice, who is a current Penfield High School senior and past performer in Geva’s “A Christmas Carol.”

I was a dope for missing this musical when it was performed on Broadway (during its run, you would think I could have seen this Tony-award-winning musical, instead of, say, the dreadful Happiness and Addams Family…). I plan on making up for that loss this fall – I already have tickets to see In the Heights twice, and who knows, I might just find time to see it a third time, if some of my friends want to join me for a weekend matinee!

For more information and tickets, visit http://www.gevatheatre.org/2017-2018-season/