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A Brilliantly Peppered Production

Dreams, Hope and Love Soar at SVPA
According to a recent interview Brenda Pepper took members of
SVPA, on a field trip to Washington Heights to learn more about the
neighborhood in which Lin-Manuel Miranda sets his Broadway musical
In the Heights about the vibrant Manhattan-based Latino community.
Well the visionary Pepper might get in a little bit of trouble for
essentially allowing her students to participate in an invasion of the
body snatchers! We wont let that happen, instead celebrating
all the teenagers for bringing this Tony Award winning play to
Montclair! Jason Jackson, as the hopeful, hard-working and Gatsbyesque owner of De La Vega bodega, won my heart as he strove,
with the help of his poet-sidekick cousin, Sonny, and a local graffiti
artist, Pete, (played with palpable grit and laughs by Sam Grossier and
Esai Siddeeq, respectively ) to win the love of Vanessa who makes
clear and plain her goal: to hop the train out of El Barrio and unto West
4th Street. When Christie Graham belts out her anthem It Wont Be
Long Now, it will compel you to drop any self-imposed nonsense to
really focus on yourself and the life that you are meant to lead. The
dreamy Caroline Friedman plays, Nina, whose ticket out of Washington
Heights comes via a scholarship to Stanford University. When Nina has
to confess to her parents her leave of absence from the University, all
sorts of havoc ensues as every member of the community strives to
get her back on track, including her even dreamier, yet entrepreneurial
boyfriend Benny, (played with much dignity by Jason Smith whose
character must tackle racial prejudice while keeping it cool). Dance
moves and strategic staging executed by an incredibly talented
ensemble surely have both Bob Fosse and George Balanchine clapping
in their graves. Run and get your tickets to In the Heights.
Evelyn Maria Gonzalez
40 Mount Hebron Road
Montclair, New Jersey
201 693-1183