Even with the limited movie offerings this weekend, I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to see In the Heights. It wasn’t because I didn’t know what kind of movie it would be. Rather, it was because I was pretty sure I knew exactly what kind of movie it would be. As it turned out, I was pretty close in what I thought.
It’s a pure musical.
It was exactly a year ago this weekend that I went to see another musical, or pair of musicals, I should say. With all movie theatres closed, the only way to see a movie, and they were all older movies at that, was at a drive-in theatre. I had taken a weekend road trip to St. Cloud to see a double-feature of Grease and Footloose at the Starlite Drive-In in Litchfield, MN. The experience of that night was unforgettable in the best way. A gorgeous summer evening with the opportunity to see a pair of movies that were perfect for the drive-in experience.
For me, musicals come in 2 different flavors. What most people think of as a musical in movies like Grease or La La Land or the highly underrated Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street or even many Disney movies like The Little Mermaid, one of my personal favs. The other type is the kind of movies like Footloose and Flashdance or Top Gun where the actors don’t burst spontaneously into song but the soundtrack is filled with exceptional music, almost like a 2-hour music video.
I’m a huge fan of the latter with many of them being in my all-time favorites. The pure musicals are much more hit and miss. I’m a fan of Grease but mostly because of the movie experience of seeing it when and how I did. Xanadu is honestly an awful movie and it is a real musical but I could listen to the music in it on repeat for days at a time. Olivia Newton-John and ELO with additional songs featuring Cliff Richard and Gene Kelly among others, make a movie that is utterly unwatchable, eminently listenable.
So, where does In the Heights fit in on my musical scale? (Ha. See what I did there?) Seeing it on one of the best “monster” screens in town certainly helped but a strong story and genial list of actors and actresses make it somewhat worth seeing. Someone I trust on Twitter recommended it by saying, “If you like musicals, In the Heights was a blast. The more I think about it the more I liked it. Classic Lin Manuel. It was a little long, but not as preachy as some think. BUT, if you are not a fan of dancing & singing for 2 hrs 20 mins, well you can probably skip it.” Mr. Z was spot on.
The greeting at the beginning from Lin-Manuel Miranda, the musician behind it, the Director Jon M. Chu and a couple others welcoming people back to the theatre was a nice touch but a little curious considering that that were likely more people who saw it on HBO Max this weekend than saw it in a theatre.
Even with the limited movie offerings this weekend, I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to see In the Heights. It wasn’t because I didn’t know what kind of movie it would be. Rather, it was because I was pretty sure I knew exactly what kind of movie it would be. As it turned out, I was pretty close in what I thought.
It’s a pure musical.
It was exactly a year ago this weekend that I went to see another musical, or pair of musicals, I should say. With all movie theatres closed, the only way to see a movie, and they were all older movies at that, was at a drive-in theatre. I had taken a weekend road trip to St. Cloud to see a double-feature of Grease and Footloose at the Starlite Drive-In in Litchfield, MN. The experience of that night was unforgettable in the best way. A gorgeous summer evening with the opportunity to see a pair of movies that were perfect for the drive-in experience.
For me, musicals come in 2 different flavors. What most people think of as a musical in movies like Grease or La La Land or the highly underrated Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street or even many Disney movies like The Little Mermaid, one of my personal favs. The other type is the kind of movies like Footloose and Flashdance or Top Gun where the actors don’t burst spontaneously into song but the soundtrack is filled with exceptional music, almost like a 2-hour music video.
I’m a huge fan of the latter with many of them being in my all-time favorites. The pure musicals are much more hit and miss. I’m a fan of Grease but mostly because of the movie experience of seeing it when and how I did. Xanadu is honestly an awful movie and it is a real musical but I could listen to the music in it on repeat for days at a time. Olivia Newton-John and ELO with additional songs featuring Cliff Richard and Gene Kelly among others, make a movie that is utterly unwatchable, eminently listenable.
So, where does In the Heights fit in on my musical scale? (Ha. See what I did there?) Seeing it on one of the best “monster” screens in town certainly helped but a strong story and genial list of actors and actresses make it somewhat worth seeing. Someone I trust on Twitter recommended it by saying, “If you like musicals, In the Heights was a blast. The more I think about it the more I liked it. Classic Lin Manuel. It was a little long, but not as preachy as some think. BUT, if you are not a fan of dancing & singing for 2 hrs 20 mins, well you can probably skip it.” Mr. Z was spot on.
The greeting at the beginning from Lin-Manuel Miranda, the musician behind it, the Director Jon M. Chu and a couple others welcoming people back to the theatre was a nice touch but a little curious considering that that were likely more people who saw it on HBO Max this weekend than saw it in a theatre.