The 'In the Heights' director talks characters defined by more than tragedy and Asian American and Latinx solidarity.
In 2010, director Jon M. Chu went to a Broadway show by an up-and-coming composer named Lin-Manuel Miranda. That show was called “In the Heights” and took place in the Dominican neighborhood in Manhattan, New York, where Miranda grew up and still resides, Washington Heights. Although Chu isn't Latinx, he said the musical brought him to tears.
"I grew up in a Chinese restaurant," he said."I knew what it felt like to have aunties and uncles raise you, the hopes and the dreams that are on your shoulders, the conflict that can happen. … [Miranda] said things that I was not capable of saying about my family." The musical is about the residents of Washington Heights and their “sueñito,” or “little dream.” The main character, Usnavi, who was played by Miranda originally on Broadway and is now played by Anthony Ramos of"Hamilton," dreams of going back to the Dominican Republic. His love interest, Vanessa, dreams of moving out of the neighborhood and becoming a fashion designer.
“That’s the responsibility we have in our stories,” Chu said. “Sharing is probably the most powerful thing we could do — not dictating, just sharing.” Chu sees his collaboration with Miranda and Hudes as an example of what allyship can look like — how people from different backgrounds can come together to uplift one another's stories. The Latinx characters in “In the Heights” speak about feeling invisible within American society, a similar sentiment expressed by Asian Americans today.
After all, Chu said, “the Latinx community, the Asian community are the fastest-growing communities in the United States right now. That's our future.”Chu’s next film is going to be another musical, “Wicked,” based on the hit Broadway musical about the Wicked Witch of the West in “The Wizard of Oz.” The musical also touches on themes of discrimination and racism.
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