ASCC Stages “In The Heights”
May 4, 2017
By James Kneubuhl, ASCC Press Officer
The Fine Arts Department at the American Samoa Community College (ASCC) presented its 2017 theatrical production “In The Heights” on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 2nd and 3rd, in the Lee Auditorium. A musical with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes, “In The Heights” is set over the course of three days, involving characters in the largely Dominican-American neighborhood of Washington Heights in New York City.
"The musical is based on real-life situations among the Latino Americans who migrated to the U.S.,” said Fine Arts chairman and Director of the production Kuki Tuiasosopo. “Leaving a homeland and trying to adjust to the new environment while maintaining a culture and family traditions is a lot to deal with, and the frustrations are real. This ordeal is very common among the peoples of the world, and certainly for our Samoan people living in the diaspora community in Hawaii, the US Mainland, New Zealand, Australia and elsewhere in the world.”
Artistic Director Regina Meredith-Fitiao, whose students worked hard on the sets and props that will evoke the Washington Heights location of the play, echoed the importance of its multi-cultural theme. “The play hits close to home with situations many can relate to on multi- levels,” she said. “It also touches on what is valuable to us as a person of ethnicity, a people, a community, in a way that mirrors our day and age--with many of similar situations we have to go through ourselves as Pacific islanders.”
More than 50 ASCC students pooled their talents for this production as members of the cast, the choir, the crew, or the dancers. In addition to Tuiasosopo and Meredith-Fitiao, all of the Fine Arts Department also joined the collaboration. Associate Director Dr. Sybil Johnson worked with the students in refining their acting skills. Loretta Puaauli was the Choir Director, and Poe Mageo served as Project Liaison. During the intermission after Act 1, the ASCC Student Association for Faasamoa (SAFF) provided interim entertainment.
Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the earliest draft of In the Heights in 1999, his sophomore year of college. After the first production in 2000, Miranda continued to refine “In The Heights” through numerous drafts, until it opened in a Broadway production in March 2008. This production garnered thirteen Tony Award nominations, winning four. It also won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album and was nominated for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
The ASCC production of “In The Heights” drew near-capacity crowds on both nights, and the students who spent months preparing the show were rewarded with a lively display of appreciation from the audience. The Fine Arts Department acknowledges the support of the ASCC leadership team, the Dean of Academic Affairs, the Chief Financial Officer, the Procurement Officers, the support staff, faculty and students, and the community for their continuous support of the Arts at ASCC.