Title of Play, Name of Playwright, Premier Date

In The Heights - The Musical

Playwright:  Quiara Alegría Hudes 



Composer:    Lin-Manuel Miranda



Lyricist:        Lin-Manuel Miranda



First Performance: April 20, 1999

A Detailed Synopsis of the Play that Outlines Each Act and Scene

In the Heights is based on the lives of several characters in the working class, living in the neighbourhood of Washington Heights, on the northern tip of Manhattan. Usnavi is the main character and is a bodega owner who is looking after an elderly Cuban lady, as well as longing for the girl working in the beauty salon nearby and he dreams of winning the lottery and escaping to the shores of the native Dominican Republic.

Act 1:

Usnavi is the first onto the stage and introduces the main characters. Last on is Nina, who has come back from Stanford University. She is worried though, as she has dropped out and is frightened of telling her parents.  

Meanwhile, Nina's parents, Kevin and Camila, need an emergency loan to keep their struggling taxi dispatch afloat, temporarily leaving Benny, a young employee and friend of Nina's, in charge.

 

As well as this, in the hair salon across the street, Vanessa, Usnavi's love interest, dreams of escaping to a studio apartment, despite not earning much money. When Vanessa stops by Usnavi's bodega,  Sonny (Usnavi's cousin) asks her out to a romantic evening on Usnavi's behalf, and she accepts.

 

Later, when Nina's parents return, she reveals how she lost her academic scholarship and dropped out of Stanford. Nina's father, Kevin, is devastated and angry so Nina seeks comfort from Vanessa, but the salon owner and local gossip, Daniela, sits Nina down for a makeover, talking Vanessa into admitting that she cares about Usnavi's 'sexual decisions'. Nina then reveals that she has dropped out of Sanford.

 

Usnavi discovers that he has sold a winning lottery ticket worth $96,000 and everyone on the block imagines life with that money and how they would spend it. Abuela Claudia is introduced after this, and basically brought up Usnavi as a young orphan. She tells us about her journey from Cuba to New York in 1943 (as a child) which then tells us that she actually holds the winning lottery ticket.
 

Next, Nina and Benny go around the neighbourhood and talk about the memories they have and they grow closer and potential feelings arise. The following scene is set at a dinner party, where Kevin announces that he has sold the family car service in order to pay for Nina's eduction. Vanessa and Usnavi go on their date to a dance club, but Benny arrives and is annoyed because he likes Vanessa and is now unemployed. Nina is also there but tensions rise on the dance floor because Vanessa and Usnavi are attempting to make each other jealous. 
In the final scene for Act 1, there is a power cut and everyone breaks into a huge fight. the characters all search for each other in the club, apart from Sonny and Graffiti Pete (from scene 1) who are setting off fireworks. The final moments of Act 1 are Nina and Benny arguing then making up and Abuela Claudia telling Usnavi that she's the one with the winning lottery ticket. 

Act 2:

It begins in the morning time and it is clear that Benny and Nina have spent the night together. Nina teaches Benny some Spanish phrases, and they talk about how anxious he is over what Kevin will think of their new relationship. Meanwhile down the street, Usnavi's bodega has been looted during the night. Abuela Claudia thinks she can help by suggesting to Usnavi that they should use her winnings to move to Usnavi's homeland: the Dominican Republic. Usnavi agrees.
 

Nina's parents have been searching for her all night, and when they learn that she has been with Benny, Kevin is furious. Kevin vows that Benny will never be a part of the Rosario family because he is not Latino, but Camila ends the family fight. Everyone is feeling frustrated by the extreme heat / power cut. They manage to get enough energy for a last celebration before the bodega, salon, and dispatch shut their doors for good.
Then, Usnavi publicly announces that Abuela Claudia won the lottery, and he and she will soon leave for the Dominican Republic, leaving Vanessa heartbroken whilst the neighbourhood celebrates.
Then Kevin makes a shocking, sudden announcement over the taxi radios, stating that Abuela Claudia has suddenly died. The neighbourhood holds a memorial ceremony for her.
 Usnavi and Nina rummage through boxes of Abuela Claudia's things. As Nina discovers photographs from her own high school graduation, she decides to accept her father's sacrifice and return to Stanford.

Daniela closes her salon down and at the same time she announces that she will co-sign on Vanessa's dream apartment in the West Village. Vanessa brings a bottle of champagne to thank Usnavi who helped her make the decision. He is still all over the place after Claudia's death and does not see that Vanessa is flirting with him. Eventually she kisses him.
Benny worries about his relationship with Nina, since her decision to go back to University, and as the sun sets they stand together, uncertain of their future together.

The next morning, Usnavi begins to close the shop. Usnavi is sad because he imagines that the block will be completely different in no time at all, but Sonny has asked Graffiti Pete to paint a mural of Abuela Claudia on the bodega's grate. Sonny rolls down the bodega grate in front of Usnavi, revealing the memorial. Usnavi is completely stunned that they completed this all in one night and he orders his cousin to tell everyone that he has changed his mind and wants to stay. He also promises to make Vanessa happy, and he realises that the block is his true home and he does not want to be anywhere else.

Detailed Contextual Understanding of the Play

Character Analysis

My Job Role

For this year's show, In The Heights, I will be the Stage Manager. This means I will be managing the shows from backstage each night of the performance, ensuring that my team, consisting of a DSM, ASMs and stage crew know what they are doing to ensure backstage runs smoothly.  However prior to the show itself, I will be responsible for the budget when sourcing materials / props. I will also have good communication with the DSM, Gemma, who will be attending rehearsals and reporting back to me what the director / choreographer have asked for. This is important because we will need to be organised and thorough communication /details make sure there are minimal (no) failures in the passing on of important information. Lastly, as SM I will be chairing meetings with all team members to find out where everyone is up to and that everyone is working to an appropriate deadline. 

GC1: Implementing Production Plans

Above are minutes from the first meeting the production team had. I was the scribe and lead the meeting also. We went around the table and everyone discussed what their job role was and from there, we went on to talk about deadlines and when certain things (e.g. attending rehearsals and getting a confirmed props list) had to be done by. Some people e.g. Anna (Props Mistress) had more to do than others at this stage because her role was more centred to the planning process. In contrast Joel, the lighting operator's job was to operate the lights on the night, meaning he has less to do during the lead up to the show. But he was on hand to help the lighting designer, Jordan, when needed.
It was important that we had this meeting because it illustrated how important it was to have a clear understanding of our responsibilities, and so we all knew who the relevant people were to go to if we had any queries. If we did not have this meeting, I think it would have been harder to communicate and this would lead to a lack of clarity.

GC1: Job Role Deadlines & Important Prouction Dates

Equipment List

• A folder with my script inside ( between every page have 1 sheet of paper stating what is needed on that page, e.g. props or a scene change.)
• Cast List (who is playing who so I know who to talk to if I need to)
• Calendar (for keeping on top of deadlines) 

GC2: Hierarchical Structure & My Role and Responsibilities

As the Stage Manager, I will have a great deal of responsibility during the planning process for the production. I will have to delegate jobs to team members and ensure deadlines are met by all departments. This is important because I have to make sure we are organised with time management, meaning tasks are not left until the last minute.

I will work particularly closely with Gemma, the DSM, because she will be the point of call for transferring information from the rehearsals (director’s comments) to us as the production team. Information such as certain props that are required will be passed on, so that we can source it.  Gemma must know the show inside out because on the nights she will be queuing the lights and sound, all of which will be prepared prior to the show week.

I will form a good relationship with my ASMs and backstage crew because for the dress rehearsal and the show itself, I will be managing from backstage. This means I must be on track with pieces of set and where it comes on stage from. There must be enough room to store set/props plus the actors in one space. I must also delegate who is responsible for what props (ASMs / crew. E.g. how many people are needed for a scene change and who brings what on/off stage. The props table needs to be keep high standard organisation and to prevent anything from going missing. If microphones are used there will be a mic table for each one. They are expensive and easy to break so they must be kept in the best condition which means I must ensure this is organised too. Mics also need to be fitted / fixed if they break, with the help of my ASMs, crew and John (sound).  I must be Costumes must be organised also, because there will be fast costume changes between scenes and for safety they must be hung and placed appropriately because performers may need to move quickly from one side of the stage to the other. There can be no obstructions.

I will also work closely with Lucy and Anna, the Costume and Props mistresses. I will be helping them (especially Anna) with their job which means I must be up to date with what they are doing. I will have overall responsibility for the budget (how much we spend) therefore I will try to keep this as low as possible and research where the best places to go to find what we need are and also finding alternative ways of making props, saving money.

GC3: Carrying Out My Role

Here are the calendars I used to write down deadlines. I constantly looked at this to ensure I did not miss an important event e.g. rehearsal, so I had everything ready prior to the day. I also needed this to give my team advanced notice as to where they had to be and when. E.g. my ASM's needed to be at the sound plotting session because they would need to know how to put mics on the performers on the night.

I used the lists from Abbie and Mark and made my own chart so that I knew exactly what was needed. I also wrote when they were needed for (the deadline) I intended to put this up so everyone could see it and use it. Where there is a pink highlighted dash across a bulletpoint, it meant that these were the props that were of a priority / would be more difficult to source. 

 

I wrote a second list with the heading 'deadlines' and underneath what dates props had to be sourced by. This did not completely go to plan as props were brought in earlier / later than the deadlines I set. Apart from the South American flags, folding chairs and the food and a couple of other little props, everything had been sourced in time for the late night rehearsal on the 6th. Then it was a small matter of finishing off in the next week ready for the dress rehearsal on Monday 12th.

 

 

 

 

The final image of the cart ^. We borrowed a shopping trolley and cut down pieces of wood to fit around the cart as the foundation / hold the structure. we then screwed on pieces of cardboard and painted it / attached red material to cover the inside. It would have been inappropriate to use a new cart, and we did not have the equipment / facilities to build one ourselves. I think the final product worked perfectly.

 

As I could not attend the rehearsals leading up to the show due to other lessons, I sent Anna in my place, who took notes for me and above is my evidence.

 

After the technical rehearsal on Friday 9th May, Abbie, the director gave me a list of last minute props we needed to source. The list was short and the items we needed were easily sourced.

Before the show, the last things that needed purchasing were the edible props (bread and a sandwich)

These list(s) were left on the back props table, and when we had the props in the correct place we would cross it off and say where it was left. This allowed us to clearly label things when we had them to avoid confusion. We also wrote on the sheet where the props had been sourced from (e.g. boom box - sport department)  We could not get all props on the list however, such as a record player - it was incredibly difficult to source and they one we found was modern and too heavy. Another prop was sugar glass. It was very expensive to order and time consuming / difficult to make. Obviously it would be dangerous to use real glass on set.




















The final list I copied up were to cleary show what my team's individual job role. I did this so teachers as well as my team themselves knew what was going on. I also made a list of the final things to do on the morning of the first show so I did not forget / miss anything. I also wrote up which side of the stage the props were on to save time and it also helped us check that we had preset everything ready for the show / act 2.

Above are the 3 props tables I set up before the late night rehearsal on the 6th. We used 4 ( 1 Stage Right 1 Stage Left 1 at the front and 1 at the back) because there were a lot of props and all needed to be on a certain side of the stage in order for the performers to make it on stage in time. It also made it easier and simpler for the performers so they were not rushing trying to find their props. I spoke to Gemma and the tech crew via coms. However as I was moving around a lot backstage and did not stay in 1 place I did not use them all the time. I only told Gemma when we were ready to start the show and begin again after the interval. If there were any issues e.g. mics that needed adjusting, Gemma would contact me.






 At the interval we all helped set the scene for Act 2. We had to make the set looked like it had been looted. We all had a role and we stuck to those roles over all 3 nights. Drew and Matt were first on stage to tidy the confettii away from the audience's path. I made the bar back to Rosarios Taxi Rank and opened the cash register. I along with others helped spread the litter around. Matt and Drew then helped pre set props for Act 2 / checked everything was in the correct place. I then went to the dressing room to deal with any of the performer's requests. As they were not allowed in the auditorium during the interval, it was my responsibility as well as Lucy to fetch their costumes from backstage and bring them to them. I think this was a professional approach and worked well.

GC4: Safe Working Practises

 

Above is the fire exit on SL. We could not have any obstructions so had to tell the cast not to leave their costumes / carry out quick changes here. On the other side we moved the chairs so there was a clear pathway for us to quickly move down the side of the stage.  

For our / the cast's safety, we did not allow anyone to pass from SL or SR to the back of the set. This was because a lot of rostra / bars were included in the set and although we bubble wrapped the edges to avoid injuries, we could not risk any accidents.

 

LEDs were on as in the evening / darkness it was difficult to see. We used LEDs to provide a source of light for the performers.