The Rotary Club of Watsonville helped set the stage June 12 for the upcoming musical theater production by Cabrillo Stage at their weekly lunch meeting.
“In the Heights,” the Tony award-winning play by “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, runs from July 11-Aug. 4.
“This theater piece speaks of hope, heritage and healing love—a universal story about changing your dreams and finding your true home,” said Rotary Club President Gil Courtney.
Andrea Hart, artistic director of Cabrillo Stage for the past two years, brought in three actors and a pianist to deliver three vocal works from “In the Heights.”
“This is the kind of show that is easy to fall in love with,” Hart said. “It touches on all notes; it is multi-generational with family stories, love stories, hardships and recovering from hardships.”
According to Cabrillo’s website, “In the Heights” tells the universal story of a vibrant community in New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood.
“[It is] a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music,” the description says. “It’s a community on the brink of change, full of hopes, dreams and pressures, where the biggest struggles can be deciding which traditions you take with you, and which ones you leave behind. The musical incorporates the interplay between Spanish and English, which plays a big role in the play’s storytelling.”
Characters merge the languages in different ways depending on the context or purpose so masterfully created by the writers of the musical.
Singer/actors Lori Rivera, Ivàn Darìo Vielma and Sofia Rosas each delivered a vocal piece accompanied by pianist Michael J. McGushin.
Rosas, 18, said she began singing at age 8 and that, since her dad was in a well-established Cuban salsa band, singing came second nature to her. She told the stunned crowd that she had never taken a formal singing lesson, despite her deeply emotional, professional performance and that she had just graduated from Santa Cruz High School two weeks ago.
“They were fabulous, simply fabulous,” said Rotary member, Gina Swan. “It’s amazing, the talent that shows up at our meetings.”
For information on “In the Heights,” visit cabrillostage.org, or call 479.6154
