Cultural Diversity within the Neighborhood
Marco Navarro
Dr. Benjamin Looker
Urban Crisis ASTD 322
February 23, 2009
Cultural Diversity within the Neighborhood Sitting in a dark theatre, an audience begins to rustle in their seats with excitement, anxiously awaiting the start of the show. The lights dim and the anticipation are diminished as the lights come up, the set of a street side unveils, and the beat begins. In one instant, the audience is transported from a simple theatre to the lively street-side of the neighborhood of Washington Heights, New York. This production is the 2008 Tony-winning “Best Musical” In the Heights. Written and composed by Lin Manuel Miranda, the show combines hip-hop and rap music with a variety of dancing styles to portray the life in the barrio of the immigrant filled neighborhood of Washington Heights in Manhattan, New York. By watching the show, the audience experiences the struggles of life, which include dropping out of college, failing to pay rent, losing loved ones, and living within a world where immigrants and the poor do not have power. The musical demonstrates how communities of immigrants live their lives to promote positive identity for their cultural background by establishing pride within ones race. In the Heights is a cultural representation of how acceptance into American Culture is not done by total assimilation but rather through promotion of cultural diversity within a neighborhood. In the Heights presents the culture and social problems of the community of Washington Heights as they try and solve their problems of assimilation. To begin the show, a hip-hop themed music number introduces each “mom and pop store” on the street and describes how life is bustling with business as everyone runs around town doing what needs to be done. The plot begins with the story of Nina, the first girl to go to college from the barrio, as she tells her parents how she failed to handle her full course load and her two part-time jobs causing her to drop out
Dr. Benjamin Looker
Urban Crisis ASTD 322
February 23, 2009
Cultural Diversity within the Neighborhood Sitting in a dark theatre, an audience begins to rustle in their seats with excitement, anxiously awaiting the start of the show. The lights dim and the anticipation are diminished as the lights come up, the set of a street side unveils, and the beat begins. In one instant, the audience is transported from a simple theatre to the lively street-side of the neighborhood of Washington Heights, New York. This production is the 2008 Tony-winning “Best Musical” In the Heights. Written and composed by Lin Manuel Miranda, the show combines hip-hop and rap music with a variety of dancing styles to portray the life in the barrio of the immigrant filled neighborhood of Washington Heights in Manhattan, New York. By watching the show, the audience experiences the struggles of life, which include dropping out of college, failing to pay rent, losing loved ones, and living within a world where immigrants and the poor do not have power. The musical demonstrates how communities of immigrants live their lives to promote positive identity for their cultural background by establishing pride within ones race. In the Heights is a cultural representation of how acceptance into American Culture is not done by total assimilation but rather through promotion of cultural diversity within a neighborhood. In the Heights presents the culture and social problems of the community of Washington Heights as they try and solve their problems of assimilation. To begin the show, a hip-hop themed music number introduces each “mom and pop store” on the street and describes how life is bustling with business as everyone runs around town doing what needs to be done. The plot begins with the story of Nina, the first girl to go to college from the barrio, as she tells her parents how she failed to handle her full course load and her two part-time jobs causing her to drop out
Cited: Bilingualism 9.6 (2006): 713-727. ERIC. EBSCO. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. Fernandez, Manny. "New Winds at an Island Outpost ." The New York Times 4 Mar. 2007: n. pag Miranda, Lin Manuel. In the Heights. The Fabulous Fox Theatre St. Louis . 12 Nov. 2009. Performance. "Washington Heights ." Washington Heights & Inwood Online. N.p., 2009. Web. 23 Feb. 2010. <http://www.washington-heights.us/>.