"I do think the show has a lot of similarities to Do The Right Thing on paper, but without the things I mentioned that make that movie great. I like ITH but it's not a 'great' musical in my opinion."
I have never seen DO THE RIGHT THING, but I would imagine the goals of the creators of that movie were very different from the goals of the creators of IN THE HEIGHTS, aside from the different media. I think the consensus is that weightier musicals (and movies) are per se greater than lighter ones -- that, for example, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF is a great show but HELLO, DOLLY! is not. I get that, and I don't necessarily disagree. But my point was that I think lighter, funnier, heartwarming shows have their own great value, and I don't think any of us would wish for every show to be intensely emotional, heavily dramatic, and/or tragic. Although I too would not declare that IN THE HEIGHTS a "great" musical, I really love it for what it is, and I don't criticize it is for what it is not and never was intended to be. That's just my perspective on it. |
