Happy In the Heights

Twenty-seven-year-old Lin-Manuel Miranda's new musical In the Heights, which opened last month at 37 Arts, will make most audience members want to immediately pack up their bags and move to Washington Heights. Though I agreed with Charles Isherwood's mostly favorable review in the New York Times in which he notes that "this sun-drenched block of Washington Heights could almost be mistaken for Main Street at Disneyland, or Sesame Street without the puppets," the hip-hop-styled ensemble, eye-catching choreography and singable score kept me from caring too much.

The off-Broadway show, which had a budget of $2.5 million (a ton of money to front an off-Broadway production) is rumored to move to Broadway, and I think no cast is more deserving. I fell in love with the endlessly energetic ensemble's hip-hop and Latin inspired dance moves -- something rarely seen on the theater stage. It was like something from MTV's J-Lo-hosted Dance Life. While it's a cold trip west to the new 37 Arts complex on 37th between Ninth and Tenth Ave., this pic from their MySpace page, should assure you that this spicy cast will provide the heat.