What Was It Like to be In the Heights?

by: Jannatul Yesmin 

 

Our stars of John Dewey High School performed Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights here at John Dewey High School on May 11th through 13th. Many of our performers have come a long way and gave us their best performance yet. Our future actors were interviewed behind the scenes for a little insight into being an actor/ actress and about the play itself. Most of their responses were intriguing. Deasha Wachman, a senior, enjoys singing and would love to become a veterinarian one day. Her character was Camila Rosario, mother of Nina Rosario. As an actress she found that everything from the start of auditions to rehearsals to the actual performances were interesting. This year she was able to get a lead role and it felt great to actually sing in front of a large crowd of people. She was able to channel her character’s emotions and be able to relate to her character as well. 

 

Two freshmen named Shanolee Martinez (Sophomore) and Naomi Baldeo (Freshman) performed as two sisters. Both stated that they feel as if they are part of a strong community within John Dewey High School and do intend on pursuing careers to become actresses in the future. They both felt like there was so much pressure and they weren’t as confident about acting initially. However, after the stage, props, and set  were built, they gained confidence and actually felt like they were in Washington Heights! Their most favorite part of everything they have done as actors so far were the auditions and rehearsals as well as performing the preview. 

 

Denitza Pagan, a senior, has been a stage manager for most of the Dewey productions and decided to perform for the first time on stage for In the Heights. Although she has stage fright, she was surrounded by support from her friends, audience, and other actors, so she confidently gave it her best shot.

 

Finally, Llenifer Trejo and Crystal Antrobus, both freshmen, enjoyed their first year performing in high school. Llenifer has had prior experiences in acting because her father was an actor back in her home country. She has also been in many school plays. However, this was the first year she had to play a character of the opposite gender, Sonny. Initially, she didn’t know what to do but over time she was able to understand her character’s feelings and channel them into her performances. She loved the experience and most certainly wants to pursue a career in acting. Crystal plays Graffiti Pete. She found that the one obstacle she found difficult in performing her character’s role was her dance moves. Through rehearsing, support from her peers, and coaching from Ms. Taylor and Ms. Arcuni, she was able to become a success. She feels like she is truly part of a community and felt like she was “In the Heights”!  

 

The audience of our show report that they were filled with suspense, laughter, happiness and most importantly, they truly felt like they were “in the Heights”. Two students, Oishee Rahman and Deanne Brown, came to see the performance and they truly believe that this was the best performance they have ever seen. They were able to relate to the hardships that each character overcomes in terms of education. They believe that the actors have grown in many ways, the show had reached great heights, and look forward to seeing theater at John Dewey High School continue to grow.