Joseph Morales News

ItÂ’s that time of year again. Time to make your voices heard for your favorite shows and performances from the 2011 Seattle Theater Season. Last yearÂ’s inaugural Seattle awards were so much fun that we just had to bring them back. (more...)

ItÂ’s that time of year again. Time to make your voices heard for your favorite shows and performances from the 2011 Seattle Theater Season. Last yearÂ’s inaugural Seattle awards were so much fun that we just had to bring them back. (more...)

There is so much heart and soul to be found in In The Heights, the Tony Award-winning musical now onstage at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, that you cannot help but fall in love with every character in the piece, so vibrantly created by Lin-Manuel Miranda (who did the music and lyrics; with a book by Quiara Alegria Hudes). (more...)

In The Heights, now playing at the Durham Performing Arts Center through February 27, may very well be one of the most charming, deliriously feel-good musicals ever written. The story is universal. A community must come together to find the true meaning of family or be torn apart. The music is fresh and dynamic, while reflecting the rhythms of past generations. The fascinating choreography is an eclectic mix of modern, hip-hop, and salsa. In The Heights is so full of love and joy that even the hardest hearts will melt by the final number. This is a musical masterpiece that must be seen! (more...)

In The Heights, now playing at the Durham Performing Arts Center through February 27, may very well be one of the most charming, deliriously feel-good musicals ever written. The story is universal. A community must come together to find the true meaning of family or be torn apart. The music is fresh and dynamic, while reflecting the rhythms of past generations. The fascinating choreography is an eclectic mix of modern, hip-hop, and salsa. In The Heights is so full of love and joy that even the hardest hearts will melt by the final number. This is a musical masterpiece that must be seen! (more...)

The votes are in, the ballots tallied and the people have spoken. Yes, the 2010 BroadwayWorld Seattle Theater awards results are in and my oh my was it a nail biter. There was some fierce competition out there but the voters have spoken. But since the results were so close, we're going to put in not only the winners but also the 1st and 2nd runners up as well. And I'm also going to throw in my own Critic's Choice for the hell of it. So without further ado, the envelopes please... (more...)

While the Broadway production of IN THE HEIGHTS closed this past Sunday night, the touring production opened last night at Providence Performing Arts Center. (more...)

The 5th Avenue Theatre continues its celebration and love of the American Musical with the National Tour of one of the freshest new shows to come along in awhile, “In the Heights”. And while the tour of this fresh show seemed to come across a bit stale, the show still demonstrates that good new musical theater is out there and doesn’t need to be based on a movie. (more...)

Is it actually possible to like something more on repeat viewings? In the case of the traveling national tour production of IN THE HEIGHTS--now performing for a limited engagement at the Orange County Performing Arts Center through August 15--the answer is a very qualified 'yes.' That's quite a feat, considering the show just played an extended run in Hollywood at the Pantages Theatre, featuring its original creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda reprising the lead role. With Miranda's charms and undeniable hip-hop skills on full display, the much celebrated Los Angeles stop was a dazzling thing to behold. So how will the show fare without its main impresario dramatizing this entertaining tale? (more...)

On the surface, taking over the lead role of Usnavi in the National Tour of IN THE HEIGHTS—now performing at the Orange County Performing Arts Center through August 15—seems like a daunting task to tackle, especially after observing first-hand the man who created the role reprising it for six weeks in the tour's celebrated Los Angeles stop. But for actor Joseph Morales, assuming the role full-time directly following Lin-Manuel Miranda is nothing short of a realization of a dream. Morales spoke briefly with BroadwayWorld's Michael Lawrence Quintos to talk about what it means for him to play the lead role in one of musical theater's biggest new hits. (more...)

The Orange County Performing Arts Center's enormously popular "FREE Movie Mondays" on the community plaza continues its series with a big-screen presentation of the 1987 hit film DIRTY DANCING on Monday, August 2. Before the start of the movie, members from the national tour of IN THE HEIGHTS (which performs at OCPAC from August 3-15) will present a free live performance from the show. (more...)

The Orange County Performing Arts Center's enormously popular "FREE Movie Mondays" on the community plaza continues its series with a big-screen presentation of the 1987 hit film DIRTY DANCING on Monday, August 2. Before the start of the movie, members from the national tour of IN THE HEIGHTS (which performs at OCPAC from August 3-15) will present a free live performance from the show. (more...)

Last Monday night the touring cast of IN THE HEIGHTS performed two benefit concerts to raise funds for a Puerto Rican hospital. The concert, entitled "Guilty Pleasures", featured over 20 members of the cast performing their guilty pleasure songs. (more...)

Once in a while, one of the most fortunate things about west coast debuts of touring shows is when a Broadway hit finally transfers here, bringing with it some of the original stars that helped launch it. For those able to catch the Los Angeles premiere of the 2008 Tony® Award-winner for Best Musical IN THE HEIGHTS (now playing at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood through July 25), the pleasant surprise is the presence of the show's original lead actor, who also happens to be the man who conceived the hit musical, as well as write the show's music and lyrics. Not to disparage those that have (and will) take on the same role, but at the very second Lin-Manuel Miranda appears on stage as Usnavi—the show's central hero and de facto narrator—the electric energy is palpable. In Miranda, we see the show's very heart and soul, filled with the hopes and dreams of the characters he helped personally craft. With his lead, the show literally comes to effervescent life. (more...)

IMAGILAND PRODUCTIONS is pleased to announce Broadway's BAILEY HANKS and HAYLEY PODSCHUN to guest star in the new web series "WIENER & WIENER". New episodes premiere twice a month, every other "Wiener Wednesday", through February 2010 on www.wienerandwiener.com. (more...)

IMAGILAND PRODUCTIONS is pleased to announce Broadway's BAILEY HANKS and HAYLEY PODSCHUN to guest star in the new web series "WIENER & WIENER". New episodes premiere twice a month, every other "Wiener Wednesday", through February 2010 on www.wienerandwiener.com. (more...)

On Tuesday, Kyle Beltran, Rogelio Douglas Jr., Natalie Toro and Shaun Taylor-Corbett kicked off the National Tour of IN THE HEIGHTS in Tampa, Floria at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center with a bang. Though most shows try desperately to keep the critics out during the first preview performances to work out any kinks, IN THE HEIGHTS was an exception, according to Tampa Bay Online. And boy, were they pleased. (more...)

As previously reported, Kyle Beltran, Rogelio Douglas Jr., Natalie Toro and Shaun Taylor-Corbett are set to star in the upcoming National Tour of IN THE HEIGHTS, which will launch October 27 at Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Complete casting has been announced today. (more...)

As previously reported, Kyle Beltran, Rogelio Douglas Jr., Natalie Toro and Shaun Taylor-Corbett are set to star in the upcoming National Tour of IN THE HEIGHTS, which will launch October 27 at Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. (more...)

IMAGILAND PRODUCTIONS has announced the new web mini-series "WIENER & WIENER" premiering Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 on www.wienerandwiener.com. "WIENER & WIENER" will air new episodes twice a month, every other "Wiener Wednesday", through February 2010. The series will star Rock of Ages' Katherine Tokarz. (more...)