Jordin Sparks - In The Heights - My Review
I watched Jordin Sparks in In The Heights tonight which was dubbed the "re-opening night" for the show.
A bit of a background: I'm not a big fan of the original Nina Rosario, the role Jordin is playing on the show. The original cast member was so UNLIKABLE, it was just amazing how universal that feeling was to people who watched her. I began to think that Nina was really a spoiled brat, a hard role to sing, etc. Fortunately, that isn't the case as I've seen a couple of other Ninas and their portrayal was different and not harsh. Still no "perfect" Nina however, just as Lin-Manuel Miranda is the "perfect" Usnavi, but any Nina outside of the original is better in my opinion.
So how did Jordin Sparks do? With a couple of caveats, I think this was a great casting.
For one: Jordin is fantastic with the vocals. Easily the best of the Ninas I've seen on this show -- even better than the original (who now is Elphaba in Wicked btw, so I'm avoiding that show for now). Jordin just sings effortlessly and her emotions were not exagerrated.
Second: She is young! This is perfect for Nina -- someone who we might really believe is a student at Stanford. I loved that Jordin brings this side of Nina to the show. She was so authentic - it was effortless.
Thirdly: She is "the star" of the show now and she delivers when she comes on stage.
The caveats are: She's huge. Jordin is towering over the rest of the cast! Hahaha. However, the audience was very appreciative when Jordin was dancing with guys shorter than her. Also, Jordin doesn't have that much stamina for the daily grind of Broadway unfortunately. Already she has missed a few shows for vocal rest -- which is a shame since she is now the selling point of the show.
As for the other cast members who have replaced some of the originals, let's just say they are not as good as Jordin. The new Benny is so many notches below the original and the new Usnavi has decided to play the role as a cartoon character which was rather unfortunate. I see the casting for the current Usnavi based on "type" more than anything else (he's lanky and tall like Lin-Manuel). One of the understudies that I've seen is so much better.
Overall, if you are a fan of Jordin, definitely go out to see this. I'm a little jaded since I've seen this show so many times, I am not wowed by some of the current cast -- but it still works. There are still many cast members who have been on the show since the beginning that hold the show together, as well as others who have been on the show for a few months now. The show has a different flavor now from when it started but you still come away entertained and if you are a person of color, inspired that a show like this is still running on Broadway.
From Press Release:
In The Heights is the winner of four 2008 Tony Awards including Best Musical. Lin-Manuel Miranda won the 2008 Tony for Best Music and Lyrics, Andy Blankenbuehler won the 2008 Tony for Best Choreography, and Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman won the 2008 Tony Award for Best Orchestrations. In The Heights won the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Original Cast Album. The first national tour of In The Heights launched in October 2009 in Tampa, Florida, is currently in Tokyo, and will be traveling to Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, San Juan, Grand Rapids and Providence. Last year, In the Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams premiered on THIRTEEN’s Great Performances on PBS HD. IMAGEM MUSIC, the Number #1 independent music publisher in the world, has acquired the worldwide stock and amateur rights to In The Heights. Universal Pictures acquired the rights to produce a feature film based on In The Heights to be directed by Kenny Ortega.