Dancers rehearsing for In The Heights. Photo Credit: CHEYENNE PINO
BY SARAH SHARPE
Cooper City High School’s drama department wowed a packed theater for a record four performance run of In the Heights in October, proving that CCHS has more than just a few very talented students.
In the Heights, a recent Broadway musical detailing the lives of several young people in the neighborhood of Washington Heights in New York City is a show that incorporates rapping, a bilingual script, and hip-hop beats into a story about love, poverty, and finding true belonging.
The show originated in February 2007 Off-Broadway and began previews a year later on Broadway. It played 1184 regular performances and closed on January 9th, 2011. The original musical won Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Choreography, and Best Orchestration. It was also nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2009.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the music for the show, originated the lead role of Usnavi, the show’s narrator. Senior Patrick O’Dea, a newcomer to the CCHS drama department, was incredible as Usnavi in CCHS’s production, rapping nearly all his lines to perfection. Senior Jade Martin, another drama department newcomer, who played Usnavi’s love interest, won over the audience with her beautiful voice, and senior David Castorena took to the part of Benny with ease and fluidity. Additionally, Senior Hannah Katz gave a convincing performance as Abuela Claudia and the audience couldn’t help but appreciate freshman Alec Dejesus, who played Usnavi’s affable cousin, Sonny.
Junior Halle Kilman, who played the lead female role of Julia last year in The Wedding Singer, gave a great performance in the role of Nina Rosario, Benny’s love interest.
“It was exciting to be in this show because it’s a really great one and I don’t think that any other school has done it in Broward County,” Kilman said. “All the music is amazing in this show.”
Taking on a four-time Tony Award-winning musical is not an easy task especially when so much of the show is in Spanish. However, Kilman and the rest of the cast proved they could do it.
“There was a lot of pressure, because we’re just in high school and this show was on Broadway,” Kilman said. “It was different because, as high school students, we don’t have the same skill set as people that have gone through college and are on Broadway. However, there are a lot of talented people here, so I think we did it justice.”
Rounding out the cast were senior Sarah Park as Daniela, senior Mosae Rochester as Carla, senior Alex Vinas as Kevin Rosario, sophomore Francesca Maurer as Camila Rosario, senior Alex Shore as Piragua Guy, and senior Sam Silverberg as Graffiti Pete.
Directing the show at CCHS was Drama Teacher Angela Thomas, who thoroughly enjoyed working with the students to put on this musical.
“I think it was a good show for the students here and I liked that we were able to pull it off in English and in Spanish,” Thomas said. “I also love the music from this show.”
Due to the fact that large parts of the show were in Spanish, Thomas recruited assistance from outside the drama department.
“Some of the students auditioned in Spanish, which was, I think, a really good move,” Thomas said. “The Spanish department also collaborated with me, so we had them helping us with the Spanish dialogue and songs in the show. We also had some parents in the community that helped out as dialect coaches. It’s was a really fun experience.”
Learning hip-hop was new for many of the kids in the play, as most of them have never performed raps in a school musical. With the help of longtime choreographer Jerel Brown, however, the new style was a breeze to learn.
“I naturally know hip-hop, it’s something that I’ve always done, and the Latin flavor I know because I have a lot of friends who are from a Hispanic background,” Brown said. “When I go to their family events, we do the salsa, meringue, and bachata. I know some of the moves so I fused it into the hip-hop.”
Like Thomas, Brown has also been with the Cooper City High School drama department for six years. He even had Thomas as a drama teacher when he was in high school.
“She was one of the first people to ask me if I could choreograph one of her shows back in 2007 and when she moved over to Cooper City she asked me if I could help her out and I’ve been here ever since,” Brown said.
With the show being set in modern times, Brown believes that students had an easy time embodying the young, Latin flavor of Washington Heights.
“I think the show was a good fit because we already have a lot of dancers in our program and we reached out to the dance team and cheerleaders for even more participation,” Brown said. “Because the show is so modern, it fit well with everyone, as they could relate to it.”
This show was a huge commitment, but completely worth it for these young actors. The large ensemble jelled together perfectly and audiences were treated to a very enjoyable time at the theater.
