WEDNESDAY, MAY 27
IN THE HEIGHTS: CHASING BROADWAY DREAMS
PBS, 8pm et/pt (check local listings)
By Kevin Downey
In the Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams begins on the stage of a Broadway theater – music is thumping, dancers are swaying.
Viewers are right there on the stage, for a view of live theater that few of us have ever experienced. These in-theater scenes on tonight’s Chasing Broadway Dreams are thrilling and exciting.
These scenes also make up for some decidedly less exciting segments in Chasing, part of PBS’s Great Performances series.
Chasing taps into the Tony Award-winning hit “In the Heights,” a lively, upbeat musical about a group of young people growing up in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood.
When Chasing gets up close, it shines.
“In the Heights” is a Tony winner for a reason. The Latin-flavored music is thrilling; the performances exciting.
There are enough segments of the Broadway show to make Chasing well worth watching.
There’s a second part interspersed throughout that is also worthwhile: The behind-the-scenes action leading up to the opening of “In the Heights.”
It’s incredible to watch the actors prepare for their roles. And the sheer number of people working on the show is mindboggling, from the director to the set designers – whose reveal of the “In the Heights” set to the actors is a genuinely exciting moment.
As is a scene when one of the young actors sees himself for the first time on a giant-sized poster in Times Square. That’s touching.
There is a third element to Chasing – really its reason for being – that doesn’t work nearly as well. That’s when the actors, and show creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, talk about “In the Heights.”
These scenes feel forced and more than a little self congratulatory. It’s a bit off-putting.
Still, it’s easy to overlook this, particularly when the actors get back up on stage and perform. Then, all is forgiven.
Content: Appropriate for all ages
