All characters begin backstage. See a diagram of the stage (opens in new window)
SCENE 1: IN THE HEIGHTS
Pete enters -- he runs around outside the bodega, "spraying graffiti". Usnavi enters from backstage.
USNAVI: Yo! That's my wall!
Pete flees to the other side of the stage. Usnavi enters the bodega.
USNAVI: [aside] Hey y'all, good morning! I am Usnavi and you've probably never heard my name. Reports of my fame are greatly exaggerated. Exacerbated by the fact that my syntax is highly complicated. 'Cause I emigrated from greatest place in the Caribbean. Dominican Republic! I love it -- Jesus, I'm jealous of it. But ever since my folks passed on I haven't gone back... Goddamn, I gotta get on that.
Abuela enters from backstage and enters the bodega.
ABUELA: Usnavi!
USNAVI: Abuela, do we have milk at home? My fridge broke.
ABUELA: Try my mother's old recipe! One can of condensed milk.
USNAVI: Nice! Your lottery ticket's on the counter.
ABUELA: Ay! Paciencia y fe.
Abuela leaves the bodega.
USNAVI: [aside] That was Abuela. She's not really my abuela but she practically raised me.
Kevin and Camila enter.
USNAVI: [aside] Next up to bat -- the Rosarios. They run the cab company. They struggle in the barrio. See, their daughter Nina's off at college -- tuition is mad steep.
Kevin and Camila enter the bodega
KEVIN: Good morning, Usnavi! Put twenty dollars on today's lottery.
CAMILA: One ticket, that's it!
KEVIN: Hey! A man's gotta dream.
CAMILA: Don't mind him. He's all excited 'cause Nina flew in at three AM last night. Usnavi, come over for dinner!
KEVIN: There's plenty to eat.
Kevin and Camila leave the bodega. Daniela and Carla enter and make their way into the bodega during the following
DANIELA: She screams, "Who's in there with you, Julio?"
CARLA: Uh-oh
DANIELA: Grabs a bat and kicks in the door. He's in bed with Jose from the liquor store!
CARLA: No me diga!
DANIELA: [to Usnavi] Save all your cardboard boxes. We'll need them to pack!
CARLA: Can you believe the salon is moving to the bronx?!
Carla and Daniela leave the bodega
USNAVI: [aside] Daniela and Carla from the salon.
Sonny enters and comes in the bodega.
USNAVI: Sonny, you're late.
SONNY: Chillax! You know you love me.
USNAVI: [aside] Me and my cousin runnin' just another Mom-and-pop stop-and-shop. People come through for a few cold waters and a lottery ticket. Just a part of the routine. Everybody's got a job, everybody's got a dream.
Benny enters and comes in the bodega.
USNAVI: Benny!
BENNY: Let me get a --
USNAVI: Milky Way.
BENNY: Yeah, lemme also get a --
USNAVI: Daily News.
BENNY: And most important, my --
USNAVI: Boss' second coffee. One cream, five sugars.
BENNY: Vanessa show up yet?
USNAVI: Shut up!
BENNY: Hey little homie, don't get so upset! Tell Vanessa how you feel -- buy the girl a meal.
Vanessa enters and comes in the bodega. Sonny and Benny move behind Usnavi.
VANESSA: You owe me a bottle of cold champagne.
USNAVI: Are you moving?
VANESSA: Just a little credit check and I'm on that downtown train!
USNAVI: Well, your coffee's on the house.
VANESSA: Okay!
BENNY: Usnavi ask her out...
SONNY: No way!
VANESSA: I'll see you later, so...
Vanessa leaves the bodega and Benny and Usnavi step outside during the following.
BENNY: Ooh, smooth operator! You look exhausted, lost -- don't let life slide! You're stuck to this corner like a streetlight.
USNAVI: [aside] Yeah, I'm a streetlight choking on the heat. The people that I know keep on rolling down the street... But it's destiny -- one day I'll be on a beach with Sonny writing checks to me.
Sonny steps outside the bodega
BENNY, CAMILA, SONNY, CARLA: [aside] In the heights
ABUELA, KEVIN, PETE: [aside] I hang my flag up on display.
USNAVI: [aside] We came to work and to live and we got a lot in common.
DANIELA, VANESSA, CAMILA: [aside] It reminds me that I came from miles away
ABUELA: [aside] Every day, paciencia y fe!
USNAVI: [aside] We're taking a flight to a couple days of what it's like en Washington Heights!
Benny, Camila, Carla, Kevin, Pete, Daniela, Vanessa exit.
SCENE 2: BREATHE
USNAVI: Go fix the fridge.
SONNY: Hells no! It's blowing fuses and sparkin' and shit!
ABUELA: Usnavi! Send him to DR for the summer!
USNAVI: I ain't wasting no plane ticket on him. I'd go and Sonny could stay here and sell Twinkies.
SONNY: Thank you, I love Twinkies.
Nina enters
NINA: Hey!
USNAVI: Nina Rosario!
ABUELA: It's the watermelon of my heart! The future mayor of Nueva York!
SONNY: I wanna be your campaign manager. Yo miss, recognize this face?
NINA: Look who's a grown man!
SONNY: Check out the goatee.
USNAVI: That's fridge grease.
SONNY: Why you so jealous of my skills?
USNAVI: Back to work. We'll stop by later.
Usnavi and Sonny return to the bodega -- from this point on they are welcome to come and go from the backroom in the bodega as they please but cannot react to any activity "outside".
ABUELA: Come inside!
NINA: I'll be there in a second.
ABUELA: I'll go put the fan on!
Abuela exits
NINA: [aside] This is my street... I smile at the faces I've known all my life. How can I say that while I was away I had so much to hide? They are all counting on me to succeed... And what will my parents say? Can I go in there and say... "I know that I'm letting you down..."
Abuela enters
ABUELA: Nina!
NINA: [aside] Just breathe...
Nina and Abuela exit; Camila, Kevin, and Benny enter.
SCENE 3: BENNY'S DISPATCH
CAMILA: The mechanic called -- he won't touch another engine until we pay for last month.
KEVIN: I'll fix the cars myself!
CAMILA: Why? So you can hurt your back again?
KEVIN: You used to think I was sexy when I fixed cars.
CAMILA: Before all that mileage! We are behind on all these payments. We need an emergency loan.
KEVIN: It'll have to wait until Monday -- the dispatch called out.
BENNY: Hey boss... I'll cover the dispatch.
KEVIN: You don't speak Spanish, you're not latino...
CAMILA: Benny is honorary latino.
KEVIN: Just get them from point A to point B.
Kevin and Camila exit; Nina enters
NINA: Benny, hey.
BENNY: Nina, you're home today!
NINA: I've gotta find my folks...
BENNY: You used to run the dispatch, right?
NINA: Once or twice.
BENNY: Then you'll have to come check out my technique. Besides, it's getting hot outside. We can turn up the AC. Come with me.
Benny and Nina exit; Abuela enters and Usnavi steps outside the bodega.
SCENE 4: IT WON'T BE LONG NOW
USNAVI: You missed another doctor's appointment.
ABUELA: Would you take advice from a man named Dr. Gross?
Sonny steps out of the bodega.
SONNY: Hey, I fixed the fridge. So let's talk about that raise. Free sodas or I walk
USNAVI: Half-price, diet. That's my final offer.
SONNY: Ain't no Dominicans be drinking no diet soda! I am starting a union! Underaged cousins of bodega workers unite!
Abuela exits, Sonny, and Usnavi return to the bodega; Daniela, Carla, and Vanessa enter.
VANESSA: Daniela, I know I still owe you from last time... But I already gave my mom half my paycheck...
DANIELA: Y que paso? She drank it away! Carla! What's my rule?
CARLA: She'll do anything for you but she won't support your mother's malfunction!
DANIELA: ...dysfunction.
VANESSA: My lights are going to be off for a week!
CARLA: What would Jesus do?
DANIELA: Do I look like Jesus to you? You need to clear out that negative energy. So take five. And get me some packing tape.
VANESSA: Anything else I can get you while I'm at it?
DANIELA: A Pepsi!
Daniela and Carla exit.
VANESSA: [aside] The neighborhood salon is the place I am working for the moment. As I cut their hair, ladies talk and share... Every day, who's doing who and why. As I sweep the curb I can hear those turbo engines blazing a trail through the sky. I look up and think about the years gone by...
Usnavi steps out of the bodega.
USNAVI: Good morning, Vanessa... If it isn't the loveliest girl in the place...
Daniela enters
DANIELA: Vanessa! I'm thirsty, cono!
VANESSA: Can I get some packing tape and a Pepsi?
Daniela exits, Usnavi goes inside the bodega while Sonny steps out.
SONNY: Uh, my cousin over there with his tongue hanging out... Has been meaning to ask you...
VANESSA: Yes?
SONNY: What a lady, such as yourself... Might be doing tonight?
VANESSA: Does your cousin dance?
SONNY: Like a drunk Chita Rivera.
Usnavi comes back outside.
VANESSA: Okay... After Nina's dinner we can hit a few clubs... And check out the fireworks.
Vanessa exits
USNAVI: Oh snap! Don't touch me, I'm too hot! Yes!
USNAVI: No pare, sigue sigue! SONNY: No pare, sigue sigue!
USNAVI: What a way to begin the weekend! Sonny, anything you want is free, man!
Usnavi and Sonny return to the bodega; Vanessa enters
VANESSA: [aside] One day I'm walking to JFK and I'm gonna fly... It won't be long now. Any day.
Vanessa exits; Benny and Nina enter.
SCENE 5: INUTIL
NINA: Who taught you Spanish?
BENNY: The drivers. Dirty bastards.
Kevin and Camila enter
KEVIN: You look more beautiful and even smarter!
NINA: It must be the bags under my eyes. I was hoping we could get a few coffees and go home for a minute?
KEVIN: No, no, no. We have to go by Daniela's! Everyone wants to see you!
NINA: You guys! I planned this whole speech on the plane.
KEVIN: Benny, give us a minute.
BENNY: If there's anything I can do...
KEVIN: Go.
Benny exits
NINA: I lost my scholarship.
CAMILA: Did you get in some kind of trouble?
NINA: No. My grades were below the cut-off... They called me into the Dean's office and he was like, "We have to pull your scholarship"...
CAMILA: But you were studying non-stop!
NINA: No, I was working. To pay for books I didn't have time to read. I guess you could say I left school.
CAMILA: When?
NINA: March.
CAMILA: Four months ago? You lied to me every time I called! ...I'm going to go start on dinner.
NINA: Cancel tonight?
CAMILA: You be home in an hour.
Camila exits
KEVIN: Why didn't you just pick up the phone and say, "Papi, I need some money,"?
NINA: What could you have done?
Nina exits
KEVIN: When I was young... Every day my father would come home and pray for rain. He'd set me down beside him and he'd say. "My father was a farmer, his father was a farmer, and you will be a farmer." But I told him, Papi, sorry I'm going farther. He stood there staring at me. "Useless." I will not be the reason that my family can't suceed. Or all my work, all my life, will have been useless.
Kevin exits; Pete enters and comes inside the bodega.
SCENE 6: 96,000
PETE: Hey. Buy my t-shirt.
USNAVI: That's your sales pitch? Get the hell out of here.
PETE: Today's special -- two for twenty.
USNAVI: How about I give you nothing and you scrub your initials off my awning? You got three seconds before I call the cops.
Pete flees the bodega, Benny enters and comes inside the bodega.
SONNY: Hey cuz, check out the newspaper.
USNAVI: We sold a winner yesterday?!
SONNY: I want a cut of your cut!
USNAVI: I don't get a cut.
Pete comes in the bodega.
BENNY: What's the payout?
USNAVI: 96,000...
BENNY: Damn. SONNY: Damn.
USNAVI: 96,000...
PETE: That's a lotta t-shirts...
BENNY: If I won the lotto tomorrow... I wouldn't bother going on no spending spree. I'll pick a business school and pay the entrance fee. Maybe if you're lucky you'll stay friends with me!
USNAVI: Oh no, here goes Mr. Braggadocio
BENNY: If you're scared of the bull stay out of the rodeo!
PETE: Yo, I got more hoes than a phonebook in Tokyo!
USNAVI: ...you better stop rapping, you're not ready.
PETE: Yo, yo, yo...
USNAVI: Yo, I'm sorry, was that an answer? Shut up, go home, and pull your damn pants up!
Daniela, Vanessa, and Carla enter
CARLA: What would you do with 96 gs?
DANIELA: I'd start my life with a brand new lease! Atlantic city with a malibu breeze...
CARLA: And a brand new weave!
DANIELA: Or maybe just bleach.
VANESSA: Y'all are freaks.
Usnavi, Sonny, and Benny step outside the bodega.
USNAVI: It takes most of that cash just to save my ass from financial ruin.
SONNY: With 96,000 I'd finally fix housing... What about immigration? I'll cash my ticket and picket, invest in protest. I'll never sleep 'cause the ghetto has a million promises for me to keep!
VANESSA: You are so cute!
SONNY: I was just thinking off the top of my head...
USNAVI: 96k. Go.
VANESSA: If I win the lottery you'll never see me again...
USNAVI: Damn, we only jokin', stay broke, then!
VANESSA: I'll be downtown... I'll get a nice studio, get out of the barrio...
USNAVI, BENNY, SONNY: We could pay off the debts we owe!
Vanessa, Carla, Daniela We could tell everyone we know!
USNAVI: I could get on a plane and go!
USNAVI, BENNY, SONNY: We'll get the dough 'n'
Vanessa, Carla, Daniela: Once we get goin'
ALL: We're never gonna stop!
Vanessa, Carla, Daniela, benny, and Pete exit; Sonny returns to the bodega; Abuela enters
SCENE 7: PACIENCIA Y FE
ABUELA: Que calor! Usnavi!
USNAVI: Stay in the shade.
ABUELA: I should go by Father Carlos' church and light a few candles.
USNAVI: Light one for my broken grate. I gotta call a mechanic about that thing. But, like you always say... patience and faith.
ABUELA: Paciencia y fe!
Usnavi exits
ABUELA: [aside] Ay carajo, it's hot! Mama would say, "Paciencia y fe"... It was hotter at home in La Vibora... I remember nights, anger in the streets, hunger at the windows. Mama needs a job -- "Vamos a Nueva York!" Sharing double beds, struggling with English... Finally got a job working as a maid. Ay Mama, what do you do when your dreams come true? What do I do with this winning ticket? What can I do but pray? Paciencia y fe!
Abuela exits, Nina enters and Sonny comes outside
SCENE 8: WHEN YOU'RE HOME
SONNY: Well, well, well... Nina Rosario. I think we both know what time it is.
NINA: Your bed time?
SONNY: ...not yet. About time you opened that wounded heart up to Sonny.
Benny enters
BENNY: Sonny.
SONNY: One day, you'll both need my sympathy! And will I be there? ...probably.
Sonny returns to the bodega
BENNY: Nina, seriously... We always knew you'd be the one to make it out.
NINA: When I was younger I'd imagine... What would happen if my parents had stayed in Puerto Rico. I thought I might find the answer out at Stanford... But I'd stare out at the sea, thinking, where am I supposed to be? So please, don't say you're proud of me when I've lost my way.
BENNY: Then can I say... I couldn't keep my mind off you all day. That may be how you perceive it, but Nina please believe... When you find your way again you're gonna change the world. We're going to brag and say this was your home!
NINA: I'm home...
Nina and Benny exit; Camila, Vanessa, and Abuela enter.
SCENE 9: DINNER
VANESSA: Yo, tomorrow is the fourth of July! It's time to party! Come on Abuela Claudia, I'll show you some of my moves!
ABUELA: Alright, but no "bump and grind"!
Nina, Benny, and Usnavi enter
USNAVI: So, do I owe you a bottle of cold champagne?
VANESSA: The landlord saw my credit application and laughed. Out loud.
NINA: Screw him! It wasn't the right place for you. We should all go dancing later.
USNAVI: Vanessa and I already have plans.
VANESSA: Come with us! The more friends the better, right?
USNAVI: You know it... friend!
Kevin enters
KEVIN: Atencion, everyone. When we came here to Nueva York, we took a leap of faith. Today, I took another. Nina... I sold the business to pay for your tuition.
CAMILA: Kevin, this had better be a joke!
BENNY: Did I just lose my job?
CAMILA: Of course you didn't! We worked for twenty years to build this company!
KEVIN: And for what? So Nina can end up just another girl stuck in the barrio?
VANESSA: Why you gotta look at me when you say that?!
CAMILA: This was our business!
KEVIN: It was in my name.
CAMILA: Dinner is over!
Camila exits
VANESSA: Excuse me, I'm not good enough to sit with the bourgeouise!
Vanessa, Usnavi, and Abuela exit
NINA: Benny, I can fix this, I promise!
KEVIN: Nina, stay away from him.
Benny exits
NINA: You know I will never touch that money!
Nina exits
KEVIN: Nina!
Kevin exits; Usnavi and Vanessa enter.
SCENE 10: THE CLUB
USNAVI: I don't go out, I get so busy with the store... My arms are sore -- no time for the dancefloor! I'm such a dork but I... Have I mentioned that you look great tonight? You really do...
VANESSA: Usnavi, relax!
USNAVI: Relax? I'm relaxed!
Nina and Benny
NINA: Benny, can we take a walk outside?
BENNY: Who let you in? Yo, this is the girl who lost us our jobs today!
NINA: I'm gonna make it right!
BENNY: Hey, why don't you run home to daddy? He loves to remind me that I'll never be good enough for your family!
NINA: You don't know me!
BENNY: For you...
NINA: I thought you were different!
SCENE 11: BLACKOUT
A blackout. Sonny enters the bodega, Abuela, Camila, Kevin, Pete, Daniela, and Carla enter. Everyone is running around and emoting in utter chaos.
USNAVI: Blackout! SONNY: What's going on?! Daniela, Carla, Camila: Oh no! SONNY: The electricity is gone! USNAVI: Blackout! BENNY: Nina, where'd you go? Pete, Sonny, Kevin: Oh no! VANESSA: Somebody better open these goddamn doors! SONNY: Gotta find Usnavi! KEVIN: Calling all taxis! USNAVI: Vanessa! Vanessa! NINA: Has anyone seen Benny? USNAVI: Vanessa, I gotta go! SONNY: We are powerless! VANESSA: Usnavi, help me! KEVIN: If you see my family bring them home!
Abuela, Camila, Kevin, Daniela, and Carla, Usnavi, Vanessa, Nina, and Benny exit.
Pete enters the bodega
PETE: Sonny, we gotta keep movin'!
SONNY: Naw, man, I gotta guard the store!
PETE: They gonna bombard the store until you ain't got a store no more!
SONNY: I got a baseball bat on a rack in the back...
PETE: I'll distract the vandals!
Pete exits and Sonny runs outside; Carla enters
SONNY: It's late and this grate won't come down... CARLA: Oh God, so much panic! SONNY: We are powerless! CARLA: Everyone's frantic!
CARLA: We are powerless!
Sonny runs back into the bodega and Carla exits; Usnavi and Abuela enter
USNAVI: Abuela, are you alright?
ABUELA: The stars are out tonight!
USNAVI: You're not alone tonight.
Usnavi and Abuela exit; Nina and Benny enter
BENNY: Nina, there you are!
NINA: I've gotta go!
BENNY: I'll get you out of here tonight!
NINA: I don't need anything tonight! I can find my way home without you!
BENNY: Then find your way home!
Benny and Nina exit; Abuela, Camila, Kevin, Daniela, and Carla, Usnavi, Vanessa, and Pete enter, and Sonny comes outside
ALL MEN: Look at the fireworks!
ALL WOMEN: Light up the night sky!
Nina and Benny enter and kiss.
ALL BUT BENNY AND NINA: En Washington Heights!
End act, all exit

---

---

---

Nina and Benny enter.

SCENE 12: SUNRISE

NINA: Are you ready to try again?

BENNY: I think I'm ready.

NINA: Llamame.

BENNY: Call me.

NINA: Azul.

BENNY: Blue.

NINA: Amame.

BENNY: Love me.

NINA: Perhaps I do.

BENNY: I don't know what to do... Now that I've found you. What will he say when he sees me around you? So how do you say help me?

NINA: Ayudame.

BENNY: And how do you say promise me?

NINA: Prometeme

BENNY: Promise me you'll stay beyond the sunrise.

NINA: I don't care at all what people say beyond the sunrise.

BENNY: And how do you say kiss me?

NINA: Besame.

BENNY: And how do you say always?

NINA: Para siempre.

Usnavi, Daniela, Carla, and Vanessa enter

SONNY: Sunrise.

Sonny enters the bodega

CARLA: Sunrise.

DANIELA: Sunrise.

USNAVI: Sunrise.

NINA: Al amanecer.

NINA: I will be there. BENNY: I will be there.

Sonny, Daniela, Carla, and Usnavi: Al amanecer.

Nina and Benny exit; Sonny comes outside.

SCENE 13: ENOUGH

SONNY: I got most of the glass up.

DANIELA: Whoever did this I'm going to put a curse on their head!

CARLA: Usnavi, let us help you clean up!

USNAVI: Thanks, but I want to be alone with my broken window.

Daniela and Carla exit; Vanessa enters.

VANESSA: I heard.

USNAVI: I got a gas range, can I make you a cup of coffee?

VANESSA: No one called once last night. No one cared if I was okay.

USNAVI: Sonny was calling and Abuela was alone... ...I meant to call.

VANESSA: I'm sorry about your bodega.

Vanessa exits; Pete enters

PETE: Yo Sonny, you gotta come check out my new wall! I painted that shit by candlelight!

SONNY: Shhh! The man is having female troubles.

PETE: My bad.

Sonny, Pete, and Usnavi go inside the bodega; Camila and Kevin enter

KEVIN: Where have you been?

CAMILA: Waiting since three in the morning for you and Nina!

Nina enters

KEVIN: Start talking.

CAMILA: Where have you been?

NINA: I know I should've called...

KEVIN: Answer your mother -- where were you?

Benny enters

KEVIN: I'll say this nicely. Please stay away from my daughter.

BENNY: Sir, I've been working here since I was a kid. You know me.

KEVIN: Do you think you're anywhere close to her level? You will never be a part of this family!

NINA: Jesus, Dad!

BENNY: Why learn the language when they still won't hear you?

Benny exits

KEVIN: Are you trying to shame me?!

NINA: Yes Dad, that's exactly what I'm trying to do!

CAMILA: Oh my God, enough! Now you listen to me. I'm sick of all this fighting. Papi, you pushed us all away! Throwing Benny out like that -- you sound just like your father! We both know what a son of a bitch he was.

KEVIN: I'm sorry.

CAMILA: Damn right you're sorry. So you stayed out all night.

NINA: Mom!

CAMILA: I'm talking now! You scared us half to death -- you know that right? For months you lied to us. What did we do? To make you think we wouldn't do anything and everything for you? I'll see you both back home.

Camila, Kevin and Nina exit; Abuela enters and Usnavi runs outside

SCENE 14: HUNDREDS OF STORIES

USNAVI: Abuela!

ABUELA: Are you okay?

USNAVI: Do you have the money?

ABUELA: I kept it safe.

USNAVI: So we survived the night -- what happens today?

ABUELA: A third for you...

USNAVI: Uh-huh

ABUELA: A third for me...

USNAVI: No pare, sigue sigue...

ABUELA: The rest for Sonny. And with our share of the money, dream of the seaside air! You can sell your store, open a bar by the shore. Think of the hundreds of stories we'll share -- you and I!

USNAVI: I know the place -- just a stone's throw from home. My folks' home... before I was born... Before they passed on and left me on my own in New York. Ever since then it's like another day deeper in dept... The bodega's a mess... I'll be seeing less of Vanessa... Abuela, I don't know how I can keep it together.

ABUELA: Remember the story of you name. It was engraved on a passing ship the day your family came. Your father said, "Usnavi! That's what we'll name the baby..."

USNAVI: It really said "US Navy" But hey, I worked with what hey gave me, okay.

ABUELA: They'd be so proud of you today!

Usnavi and Abuela exit; Carla, and Vanessa enter; Sonny and Pete come outside.

SCENE 15: CARNAVAL DEL BARRIO

SONNY: Yo, I saw them carrying people out the subway. They said the train stopped, the emergency lights came on... And some crazy dude shouted, "Mayday! Mayday!" Yo, those people were traumatized. This guy was crying like, "I thought it was all over!"

Daniela enters

DANIELA: Okay people, I finally got through. They said it will be at least 24 hours

PETE: Aw, man...

VANESSA: What?!

DANIELA: We can complain or we can get organized!

VANESSA, SONNY, Carla and PETE: Complain!

DANIELA: Today's the fourth of July! Show some fucking spirit!

VANESSA: I'm catching the bus downtown for lunch. Who's coming with me?

SONNY: The buses stopped running -- no traffic lights.

VANESSA: This is like Gilligan's Ghetto Island!

DANIELA: Graffiti Petey, put on some music.

PETE: I ain't got no batteries.

CARLA: Well, can't you open a hydrant?

DANIELA: Hey! Since when are latin people scared of heat? Business is closed and we're about to go... Let's have a carnaval del barrio!

VANESSA: Why is everyone so happy? We're sweating and we have no power! This block's getting worse by the hour. You can't even go to the club with a friend without having somebody shove you!

DANIELA: Ay, por favor! Vanessa don't pretend that Usnavi's your friend. We all know that he love you!

CARLA: Wow. Now that you mention that sexual tension it's easy to see!

VANESSA: Yo, this is bogus!

DANIELA: Haven't you noticed you get all your coffee for free?

Usnavi and Benny enter

USNAVI: Yo, yo, now, everyone gather 'round... Listen, I got an announcement. Atencion, I'm closing shop! Sonny, grab everybody a soda pop! Grab a bottle, kiss it up to God! 'Cause Abuela Claudia just won the lotto! We're booking a flight for DR tomorrow!

DANIELA: Everything changes today!

CARLA: Usnavi's on his way!

DANIELA: Off to a better place!

CARLA: Look at Vanessa's face!

BENNY: Everything changes today! Goodbye, Mr. Rosario! I'm taking over the barrio!

CARLA: We're getting out of the barrio!

DANIELA: Hey Mr. Benny, have you seen any horses today?

BENNY: What do you mean?

DANIELA: I heard you and Nina went for a roll in the hay!

SONNY: Hold up, wait a minute! Usnavi's leaving us for the Dominican Republic? And Benny went and stole the girl that I'm in love with? She was my babysitter first! Is this what y'all want? We close the bodega and the neighborhood is gone! They selling the dispatch and they closing the salon!

VANESSA: We are powerless!

SONNY: We are powerless!

USNAVI: There's nothing going on here that we can't handle.

SONNY: You don't understand, I'm not trying to be funny!

USNAVI: We're gonna give a third of the money to you, Sonny.

SONNY: For real?

USNAVI: Yes! Maybe you're right, Sonny. Maybe we're powerless -- a corner full of foreigners. Maybe tonight is our last night together, however. How do you wanna face it? Do you wanna waste it when the end is so close you can taste it?

Nina enters, runs distressed up to Usnavi and Nina and Usnavi exit; onlookers stare after them, confused

DANIELA: Y cuando me muerra! Entierrame en mi teirra!

ALL: Carnaval del barrio!

Carla, Sonny, Pete, Daniela, Benny, and Vanessa exit; Kevin enters.

SCENE 16: ATENCION / ALABANZA

KEVIN: Atencion... Atencion. Roll down your windows. Un momento, por favor. Atencion, atencion... Please drive slow. Let everybody know. Abuela Claudia passed away. At noon today.

Usnavi, Sonny, Vanessa, Carla, Daniela, Pete, Nina, Benny, and Camila enter.

USNAVI: She was found and pronounced at the scene. A combination of the stress and the heat... Why she never took her medicine, I'll never understand. Abuela Claudia had simple pleasures. She sang the praises of things we ignored. Glass coke bottles, breadcrumbs, a sky full of stars. She cherished these things -- she'd say, "alabanza". Alabanza means to raise this thing to God's face and sing, quite literally, praise to this. When she was here the path was clear -- and she was just here. She was just here...

NINA: Alabanza... Alabanza a Dona Claudia, Senor Alabanza...

DANIELA: Alabanza a Dona Claudia, Senor CARLA: Alabanza a Dona Claudia, Senor

SONNY: Paciencia y fe...

CAMILA: Alabanza a Dona Claudia, Senor KEVIN: Alabanza a Dona Claudia, Senor

PETE: Paciencia y fe...

VANESSA: Alabanza! KEVIN: Alabanza!

USNAVI: Alabanza...

Daniela, Usnavi, Carla, Sonny, Camila, Kevin, Pete, Vanessa, and Benny exit.

SCENE 17: EVERYTHING I KNOW

NINA: [aside] Every afternoon I came... She'd make sure I did my homework. She could barely write her name... but even so. She'd stare at the paper and tell me... "Bueno -- let's review." "Why don't you tell me everything you know?" So hold tight, Abuela, if you're up there. I'll make you proud of everything I know! Thank you for everything I know...

Kevin and Camila enter.

NINA: Dad... I just have to say this. Benny's a good person. I hope you can trust me. Mom... I've been thinking all day about what you said. And you two have never quit -- so there's no way I'm going to. I want to go back to Stanford and finish what I started.

KEVIN: Camila.

CAMILA: Yes?

KEVIN: Are we ready to sell the business?

CAMILA: I'll never be ready. But I think it's the right time.

Kevin, Nina, and Camila exit; Daniela, Carla, and Vanessa enter.

SCENE 18: THE RULE

DANIELA: Still no power...

CARLA: Tell me something I don't know. VANESSA: Tell me something I don't know.

VANESSA: I think that's all the boxes...

DANIELA: Hey, I've got a little something-something. Vanessa's new address. A little birdie told me you needed a credit reference. I'll co-sign on the apartment.

VANESSA: How did you...

DANIELA: Usnavi swore me to secrecy. What's my rule?

CARLA: She'll do anything for you but she won't support your mother's dysfunction.

VANESSA: I know the rule. I just never thought you meant the first part of it. I'm touched -- you care about me.

DANIELA: I'm just signing the paper! You're still paying the rent.

VANESSA: Thank you.

Vanessa exits.

CARLA: Feels good, doesn't it?

DANIELA: What?

CARLA: Spreading Jesus' love.

DANIELA: I never should've gotten you that miracle-of-the-day calendar...

Daniela and Carla exit; Usnavi enters

SCENE 19: CHAMPAGNE

USNAVI: Sonny! Don't act like you can't hear me!

Sonny enters

SONNY: State your purpose.

USNAVI: Your money's on the counter.

SONNY: You think Bert would ever abandon Ernie? You think Knight Rider would be anything without KITT? He'd be takin' a bus!

USNAVI: You watch too much TV.

SONNY: Alright. Bye. See ya.

Usnavi enters the bodega

Vanessa enters and comes in the bodega, Sonny comes into the bodega.

SONNY: This is the end of an era!

Sonny exits

VANESSA: He's got a point, you know. Doing anything tonight?

USNAVI: Cleaning.

VANESSA: Done for the day.

USNAVI: No way.

VANESSA: 'Cause we got a date.

USNAVI: ...okay.

VANESSA: Usnavi... Daniela told me what you did for me. And it's honestly the sweetest thing anyone ever did for me. Usnavi, are you alright?

USNAVI: I'm sorry, it's been a long day.

VANESSA: You oughta stay.

USNAVI: What?

VANESSA: You can use that money to fix this place. And it's not like Sonny's got role models...

USNAVI: What are you talking about?

VANESSA: I'm just saying. I think your vacation can wait.

USNAVI: Vacation? Vanessa, you're leaving too!

VANESSA: I'm going down to west 4th street! You're leaving the country and we're never going to see you again!

USNAVI: What are you trying to say?

VANESSA: You get everyone addicted to your coffee and off you go!

USNAVI: Vanessa, I don't know why you're mad at me!

VANESSA: I wish I was mad!

Vanessa kisses him.

VANESSA: I'm just too late.

Vanessa exits; Benny and Nina enter

SCENE 20: WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN

BENNY: When you leave town, I'm gonna buy you a calling card.

NINA: 'Cause I'm falling hard for you. BENNY: 'Cause I'm falling hard for you.

BENNY: And I will try to make my way out west to California. When you're gone... If we should drift apart...

NINA: Benny!

BENNY: Let me take this moment just to say... You're gonna change the world someday.

NINA: I'll be thinking of home.

BENNY: And I'll think of you every night at the same time.

BENNY: When the sun goes down... NINA: When the sun goes down...

Usnavi exits; Sonny and Pete enter.

SONNY: Yo, Pete.

PETE: Yeah?

SONNY: Step into my office.

Sonny and Pete enter the bodega.

SONNY: I have a proposition for you. I give you a thousand of the lottery money... And you paint Abuela's portrait on the bodega grate.

PETE: Man, for that much I'll fix it, too.

Pete and Sonny exit; Usnavi enters

SCENE 21: FINALE

USNAVI: Lights out on Washington Heights, and now the crack of dawn... The blackout goes on and on and on... Imagine me leaving today on a 747 boarding JFK...

Carla enters

CARLA: [aside] The hydrants are open, cool breezes blow...

Daniela enters

DANIELA: [aside] The hydrants are open, cool breezes blow...

Vanessa enters

VANESSA: [aside] I'll be downtown... It won't be long now!

USNAVI: [aside] There's a breeze off the Hudson... Just when you think you're sick of living here the memory floods in... I'm gonna miss this place, to tell you the truth. And who's gonna notice we're gone? In five years, when this whole city's rich folks and hipsters... Who's gonna miss this raggedy little business?

Sonny and Pete enter.

PETE: Great sunlight this morning.

SONNY: Yo cuz, we fixed the grate.

USNAVI: Yo, what did I tell you about hanging around with this punk?

SONNY: You have to comission an artist while his rate is still good! Look.

PETE: ...he hates it.

SONNY: Shh! He's forming an artistic opinion.

USNAVI: You did this last night?

PETE: Yeah.

USNAVI: ...there goes my flight.

SONNY: What?

USNAVI: Listen up guys, you got a job, I'm not playing. You gotta go now -- tell the whole block I'm stayin'! Go ahead, tell everyone we know!

Pete and Sonny exit

USNAVI: [aside] Yeah, I'm a streetlight, chilling in the heat! I illuminate the stories of the people in the street. Some have happy endings, some are bittersweet. But I know them all and that's what makes my life complete! Abuela, I'm sorry, but I'm not going back because I'm telling your story. I'm not gonna say goodbye to you smiling. I found my island, I've been on it this whole time! I'm home!

VANESSA, CARLA, and DANIELA: [aside] The hydrants are open, cool breezes blow!

USNAVI: [aside] I'm stepping to Vanessa, I'm getting the second date! I'm home!

Sonny, Pete, Kevin, Camila, Benny, and Nina enter.

USNAVI: [aside] Where it's a hundred in the shade But with patience and faith, we remain unafraid. I'm home! You hear that music in the air? Take a train to the top of the world, and I'm there! I'm...

ALL: Home!

End / Curtain Call