Firstly, the Tony Award winning musical In The Heights. I cannot get enough of this musical. Everything about it makes me so happy. In The Heights follows a neighborhood of people living in Washington Heights in New York City over the course of three days in July, one of them being the Independence Day holiday. So ensues love, lust, lottery, and a whole lot of drama.
I heard about this show on an episode of the YouTube show Sourcefed Table Talk, where one of the hosts, Sam Bashor, talked about his experience seeing the show when it did a run in Los Angeles. Intrigued, I looked it up and fell in love. Thanks, Sam.
The thing about In The Heights is that it's very contemporary compared to other musicals on Broadway. Lots of hip-hop flare fused with classic Hispanic music. Spanish phrases in the show don't take away from the understanding of the story - if anything, they enhance it.
Every character has a unique storyline. That's what's so brilliant about Lin-Manuel Miranda's music and lyrics: every single person can relate to somebody in the show. Nina, who is coming home from college, Vanessa, who is stuck working a low income job with dreams of moving on to bigger and better things, Usnavi, who just wants to get home to the Dominican Republic, Camilla and Kevin, parents who just want what's best for their daughter, Abuela Claudia, who looks at the past with tons of nostalgia. Even Sonny, a young kid who wants to make the ghetto a better place to live. This show brings something for everyone.
And the music is just incredible, so much so that Lin-Manuel Miranda was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for it. If you don't believe me, have a listen on Spotify. It'll knock your socks off for sure. My favorites: It Won't Be Long Now, Blackout, and Carnaval Del Barrio. I can only hope that there's somebody else out there who loves this show as much as I do.
Alright, my other obsession of the summer is the Serial podcast. Yep, I'm late on the upshot as per usual, since this podcast debuted late last year and immediately became widely popular. I had no idea what it was about before I started listening, but here's a quick briefing: seventeen year old Hae Min Lee disappears after school on January 13th, 1999. Her body is found in a Baltimore park nearly a month later with signs of manual strangulation. A few weeks after, a man named Jay Wildes comes forward and says he knows who killed her. He tells an elaborate story accusing Hae's ex-boyfriend, Adnan Sayed, of the murder. Based on cell phone tower pings, the story seems to line up. Adnan Sayed is charged with murder and ultimately declared guilty and sentenced to life in prison. And did I mention that this is all a true story?
But.... what if he isn't guilty? Serial goes to explore this case more in depth. The clues seem not to be lining up. Jay seems to be changing his story a lot in police interviews. The waters get murkier and murkier as Serial dives deeper into the details.
This podcast is one that truly keeps you on the edge of your seat. Is Adnan guilty? Is he innocent? It's difficult to come up with a concrete answer nearly fifteen years after his conviction.
After I listened to the entirety of the Serial podcast (in about three days, mind you), I needed more. I craved every little minute detail about this case. And thankfully, I wasn't the only one. So I started listening to another podcast based on this case, Undisclosed: The State vs Adnan Sayed. This one goes even further in depth than Serial, spending whole episodes on the autopsy report, the police interviews, and Hae's car. These small things thrust under a microscope actually reveal some very significant issues in this case.
This led me to yet another podcast (told you I'm obsessed), this one called The Serial Dynasty. This one is based more on listener's theories as to what happened to Hae Min Lee. Serial Dynasty also tends to delve into the problems of police interference in this case, suggesting that the Baltimore Police Department has, or had some sort of abuse of power.
No matter how you look at it, no one can deny that this is a very interesting case, and I for one am very excited to see what happens next in this journey to justice for Hae.
So, two obsessions on opposite ends of the spectrum. I can't contain my enthusiasm for either of these. It's like I want to be on Broadway and be a lawyer at the same time. Is that a possible career? Anyway, it's been a good summer so far and I have a lot to keep me preoccupied. Will I develop other obsessions? Stay tuned.
Amy
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