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Mar. 2nd, 2013 08:46 pm
023. "Champagne", In The Heights
"Champagne", as sung by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Karen Olivo, from the 2008 Broadway musial In The Heights.
In The Heights is the baby of composer/lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also originated the role of the show's narrator character, bodega owner Usnavi. The show looks at a weekend in the lives of the residents of New York's Washington Heights, involving romances, family, fights, politics, and one lucky local winning a windfall in the lottery.
One of the plotlines of the show involves Usnavi's crush on Vanessa, who works at the local salon. Vanessa spends most of the show willfully blind to his crush, completely focused on her desire to move downtown and reinvent herself in a new neighborhood. When Usnavi announces the he's closing the bodega and moving to the Dominican Republic, Vanessa starts to realize that she might care more for him than she wants to think she does; when Usnavi convinces Vanessa's boss Daniela to help her get her application for a new apartment approved, she realizes that she might have missed her chance. "Champagne" is Vanessa's attempt to thank Usnavi for his help, to try to convince him to stay in New York, and, finally, to confess her feelings.
The fact that both Vanessa and Usnavi are kind of failures at admitting their feelings makes it a brilliantly weird love song.
Before we both leave town
Before the corner changes
And the signs are taken down
Let's walk around the neighborhood and say our goodbyes
Usnavi, are you alright?
I'm fine, I'm trying to open this champagne
In The Heights is the baby of composer/lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also originated the role of the show's narrator character, bodega owner Usnavi. The show looks at a weekend in the lives of the residents of New York's Washington Heights, involving romances, family, fights, politics, and one lucky local winning a windfall in the lottery.
One of the plotlines of the show involves Usnavi's crush on Vanessa, who works at the local salon. Vanessa spends most of the show willfully blind to his crush, completely focused on her desire to move downtown and reinvent herself in a new neighborhood. When Usnavi announces the he's closing the bodega and moving to the Dominican Republic, Vanessa starts to realize that she might care more for him than she wants to think she does; when Usnavi convinces Vanessa's boss Daniela to help her get her application for a new apartment approved, she realizes that she might have missed her chance. "Champagne" is Vanessa's attempt to thank Usnavi for his help, to try to convince him to stay in New York, and, finally, to confess her feelings.
The fact that both Vanessa and Usnavi are kind of failures at admitting their feelings makes it a brilliantly weird love song.
You see the twisty thing is broken
But I'm gonna open this damn champagne
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