Better late than never. Six years after In the Heights was a hit on Broadway — it nabbed four Tonys including Best Musical and Best Original Score — it now gets a UK premiere on the South Bank and proves to be a slice of feelgood musical theatre easily as fun as any of its West End rivals.
The show is a blast. Its sizzling salsa-meets-hip-hop score and zingy lyrics from Lin-Manuel Miranda are matched by Drew McOnie’s astonishingly fast-paced choreography, with amounts of hip-gyrating that wouldn’t be out of place in a Shakira music video.
The action follows four friends in a Hispanic community in Washington Heights, Manhattan, each struggling with financial troubles: keeping a corner shop business afloat, paying college tuition fees, etc. Of course we also have Act One coupling-up and Act Two relationship wobbles.
Sam Mackay makes a charismatic lead, Wayne Robinson brings a smooth R&B sound to Benny and Victoria Hamilton-Barritt devours every scene she’s in as the gossipy beautician Daniela (special mention needs to be made of her quick-footed movements in towering heels).
With the New York setting, high-energy dancing and ethnically diverse cast, In the Heights invites obvious comparisons to West Side Story. But unlike that classic there’s the feeling that it lacks dramatic oomph. Quiara Alegría Hudes’s book has good one-liners, yet the feather-light plot gives few reasons to remain invested in characters’ plights, despite the efforts of the excellent cast and director Luke Sheppard.
Style over substance, then. But they don’t come much more stylish than this.
Until June 7 (020 7407 0234, southwarkplayhouse.co.uk)
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