By Kathleen McAleese
Editor-in-Chief

An award winning show, the plot that takes place in Washington Heights, New York City is coming to Westford Academy. In mid November, WA Theatre Arts will be showing In the Heights, directed by Larry Sousa. The show is based off of the novel by Quiara Alegría Hudes, and has lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The show is supported by individuals working behind the scenes such as Scott Cruikshank as Musical Director, Samantha Garrett as Sousa’s Assistant Director, and Misha Stapp as the Stage Manager.

“The show is about a community and love in a community. For me, I definitely feel that Westford Academy is a huge metaphor to In The Heights. The show is just about loving your family and people you’re not related to, you can love as family,” said Garrett.

Lead Katie Kandra, playing the role of Daniela in the show, is excited by the cast’s progress, but sees difficulty in the choreography because the show is heavy in Latin dance. Also, the role is vastly different from everything she has performed in the past, and the change is refreshing for Kandra.

“[Daniela] is very full of life… she is comic relief and is always lending a sassy comment to a tense situation… she’s a lot of fun to play,” she said. “This is only my second lead role I’ve ever had in musical, so this is a very big departure and I’m really excited because it’s a lot of fun.”

With many characters being immigrants, having accents, or having lines completely in Spanish, Kandra sees some problems in the cultural differences.

“The really big road block for all of us is, being from Westford, this mostly white or Asian American, Indian American community, we need to get our heads around this less affluent Hispanic community,” she said. “I think it’s more of the challenge we have of portraying the culture respectfully and really trying to learn as much as we can about it to do it justice.”

With an upbeat vibe onstage, the cast has been fortunate enough to have seasoned dancers to add another level to the show.

“The dancing has been a really big stretch. Latin dancing is ferocious and the choreography just does not slow down for me and I’m an inexperienced dancer,” said Kandra.

Despite Kandra’s struggle with the dance moves, six feature dancers are working on the show as additions to the cast.

“[Cruikshank] told us that they really needed dancers so we all agreed to do it and I can definitely see why they felt like they needed us. Like I said, it’s really dance oriented and though I know I’m by far one of the smallest parts of the play, I also know it wouldn’t be the same without the dancers that got involved this year,” said dancer Cailey Boumil.

In the Heights will be performed on November 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 25 at the WA Performing Arts Center.