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[0:00] Martín Acuña: Hi everyone, I am Martín Acuña and you are listening to Backstage Talk.

[0:16] Martín Acuña: Jonathan Larson asked how can you make someone take off and fly in one of his songs from Tick Tick Boom, and I, for the past two years, have learned one way to do it, through the power of community. Welcome to the Latinx in Musical Theatre special for Season 3 of Backstage Talk, where we will be featuring artists from across all positions in musical theatre, from several Latin American countries and different Latin heritages. I am proud to showcase my Latinx family. I hope you enjoy.

[0:51] Martín Acuña: Hello everyone, welcome back to another episode of Backstage Talk. Today's guest is Jennifer Florentino. She is a Dominican performer that was in On Your Feet First National Tour, was part of the world premiere of Moulin Rouge! in Boston in 2018, and then performed in the Broadway run. She rocked the ensemble of Evita in the New York City Center Annual Gala Presentation, and is currently working in Once Upon a One More Time as Little Red Riding Hood in Washington, D.C. She was also part of Spielberg's West Side Story. Jennifer, I am fanboying really hard right now. I am starstruck. You are amazing. Welcome to Backstage Talk.

[1:43] Jennifer Florentino: Uh, Martín, thank you for having me. I'm so, so, so happy to be here with you today.

[1:49] Martín Acuña: Okay, so let's start with your aha moment in the arts. What made you choose the thespian path in life?

[1:58] Jennifer Florentino: In the arts, okay, so I am originally born and raised in Paterson, New Jersey. My parents are both from the Dominican Republic, like you mentioned, and, you know, dance was always a part of our culture. You know, that's like, my dad used to put on music, like Celia Cruz, El Gran Combo, every Saturday morning, and they just saw how much I loved to dance. So my mom put me in dancing school at Dance World Academy, but then it started to get really expensive, so we went to the Academy of Performing Arts where you had to sing, dance, act, and play an instrument, and that's when I was really introduced to musical theater. In that school, after that, I went to Rosa Parks High School, which is a performing arts high school in Paterson as well, and I had to choose a major, so I focused primarily in dance, and I focused on that all through college, but then I got to work with Sonia Taya, when that's really when I was introduced to musical theater, when she was auditioning to become the choreographer.

I was doing the workshops there, and a lot of my castmates, like Jackie Arnold and Fred, they were just like, why don't you do musical theater? And I was like, okay. So, you know, I started auditioning for it. At first, I didn't get actually, but Sergio Trujillo gave me an opportunity to be a part of On Your Feet, and the crazy part is, is because I wanted to be a part of something that really showcased Latinos, so to be able to do that show as my first musical theater experience was a gift. Oh my gosh, talk about like Cubanos, Dominicanos, Puerto Ricanos, people from Panama, like from Spain, like everything was just mixed in there. It was like a pot, as I call it, but it was so much fun. I, you know, I was very grateful.

Sergio really taught me, and Maria Torres just really taught me the ins and outs of theater, and Natalie, our dance captain at the time, I mean, sorry, our associate at the time, yeah, they just really took me under their wing and really made me understand just the vocabulary of theater, you know, what is stage right, what it is to build a show, and that was my first experience swinging as well. So, yeah, that's how I really got into that journey was just them giving me the opportunity and taking a chance and just going for it. It was so fun to dance salsa seven days a week, like I just, I loved it, and yeah, that's how it all started really was with On Your Feet, and then, you know, I went back to Moulin Rouge because they needed a dance captain, and with that experience at On Your Feet, it really prepared me to do that job as well, and then I was like, I want to be on stage.

So, you know, I love the dance captain and swing position. I definitely learned so much from that, but, and then that's when Evita came and the opportunity, the casting team was also, from Evita, was the same casting team for West Side, so it was really nice to just, you know, see familiar faces and be a part of two Spanish productions. So, so, yeah, it's been a ride so far, and now doing Once with Keone and Mari have been, you know, following their career for over 10 years. It's nice to work with them as, you know, for them being as choreographers, and there's some Latinos in our cast as well, so it's nice to also have that, be able to communicate in Spanish still in my every day. I think it's so important for me, but, but yeah, that's how it started, really.

That's how it all began, and I'm just fortunate enough to keep experiencing and learning through it. I love it. It's been quite a journey, and it's been wonderful to see you jump from different things, all, like, enclosed in dancing, and see you perform. I think I might have seen you in Moulin Rouge when I saw it in January 2020. I don't know, I don't recall if, I have to check my Playbill, but I mean, just being that show in the dance part is hard, and West Side, it's hard.

[7:04] Jennifer Florentino: Yes, yes, so I actually, funny enough, Martín, I was scheduled to go into the Broadway run of Moulin Rouge, but I had a conflict with West Side Story, the film, so I was in Moulin Rouge for three years, and I did all of the creation, the workshops, into the Boston run, so we did a lot of the creation of Roxanne, all those big numbers, which was so fun and so difficult, and yes, at West Side too, when I did West Side, my audition for West Side, Justin had us do it one by one by ourselves, which is, like, so intimidating and so perfect. At the same time, just, like, you just have to trust in yourself, which is always a good test, but yeah, both challenging, but so much fun within the dancing and singing aspect of it. I love it. Now that you mentioned the dance part, the singing part, the acting part, what is your approach to characters and performing in musical theater?

[8:20] Jennifer Florentino: So I usually do my homework in, like, what is our period? You know, like, if it's in the 1950s, for example, West Side Story, I took a, like, I would Google a lot of just how they looked, how they dressed, right? They're, you know, like, just, you know, they have their, like, high-waisted pants and also just a period of, like, their environment, you know, just so I could feel of, like, you know, the five senses, you know, smell, touch, hear, sight, and it'll just give me an essence of, like, okay, where is this person, right? And then I do my homework, like, who do I want to be and what is my relationship to the main characters or my relationship to the community that I'm dancing with? And then I start to build, like, oh, okay, is this person a little shy?

Is this person a little sensual? So I start from there, like, just building off with pictures and then taking it on and just making sure I know where I am. And, you know, for every scene that I'm doing, I need to answer all those questions so then I can make it easier for me to be present within the character, right? Yeah, and it's important to bring yourself in it as well, but it's also exciting when you dive into a whole new person, right? Like, you could become someone new, which is also very fun. So, yeah, that's how I approach my character work. Sometimes I also play music, like, you know, music on the era that I'm in and see how my character reacts to that. Or I journal. A lot of when directors are giving notes and coaching aspects, I like to journal so I could reflect back and just have a better understanding of what they're trying to say as well within the story so then I could be clear on what I want to say within their vision. So, yeah, that's how my approach for character work.

[10:37] Jennifer Florentino: I love it. I love it. And that journal work is so important for you to then always go back to your notes and refresh all that stuff, so I absolutely love it. You have worked and you have become yourself a Broadway powerhouse. You have worked with some of the biggest in the industry right now. What advice would you tell a younger version of yourself, a younger Jennifer?

[11:00] Jennifer Florentino: I would tell myself not to let fear shut me down, but let it wake me up, right? Let it inspire you. It was something that I was talking to my partner yesterday, actually, and, yeah, I just feel like our reaction to fear could be a different perspective, right? So, yeah, I would tell my younger self that. I love it. It's a great advice. A great advice.

[11:34] Martín Acuña: Yes. Since you started working on Broadway, you have been working around Latinos and working, and you mentioned that in your latest gig with Once Upon a One More Time, there's even Latin people in the cast. I want to know what is visibility and representation for you?

[12:02] Jennifer Florentino: Yeah, I think it's so funny. I feel like with on Broadway, a lot of casting, and I say this with the nicest possible way, it's hard to cast Latinos. It's either we're not black enough or we're not white enough. Sometimes we get into that box of where do we go? I think it's important just to

[12:37] Jennifer Florentino: Representation of all entities in a space could have the opportunity for an audience member to relate and to see themselves on stage. And also, it will give you a different perspective on how you could tell a story, right? Because, you know, everyone is built different and their experience within, you know, living in this country could say a lot within a storyline that a lot of perspective or the American way wouldn't necessarily think of. So I think it is very important. I always connect with my Latinos. If I see a Latino, I'm like, hey, like one of my castmates, Celine, I believe there's just only one really that speaks fluent Spanish. We're so connected because we're able to communicate also in Spanish and, you know, make our dishes or share our dishes with our cast.

But yeah, I think it's important. I think that we need to stop as a collective in our industry to meet a quota and to just, you know, what does the story need opposed to, you know, what period are we in? And that's the only people that we're using, right? Because most of it is going to be white, you know? So yeah, I just feel like it's important to showcase every shade and the diversity of our industry should be more inclusive in that regard. So yeah, I think it's important for us to feel like we're connected to someone when someone sees in the audience, you know, they're like, oh, I could do it because they made it. They did it.

[14:40] Martín Acuña: You've worked on, I mean, 2021 was a year in which we had, and I like to think about it this way, like a more Latin representation on musical films. We had In the Heights, we had West Side Story, because on Broadway, there has been a lot of Latin people working there. But a lot of the audience outside the States will never know about them unless you're a musical geek, and you're on top of Broadway shows looking for their casts, like doing that. Or it's this big, renowned show that it's known for being Latin, like it happened with On Your Feet, with In the Heights. But now that you're mentioning that it's important to showcase every shade, how do you think we can increase that Latin visibility and representation on both Broadway and Hollywood?

[15:46] Jennifer Florentino: Right. Yeah, I just first have to definitely commend Steven Spielberg for making sure that the visibility of Latinos was true to form, like they went to Puerto Rico, they hired people from Puerto Rico, they flew them out to be a part of this film. And I think it's really important that they did that. And I'm so happy that they did do that. Just because that's the true essence, like, you know, what better way to showcase a culture from the people who originated from Puerto Rico to tell the story of Puerto Ricans, right? And then we have similar experiences as, you know, Dominicans, people from Panama, Cubans, you know, so that was just extremely special to share that with a cast. And how can we increase that?

Two, the things that are coming up in my mind is one, we could create more stories about the Latinx community. Like, I'm dying to see someone do a Celia Cruz musical, like I would love to be a part of that musical. So also having more creatives, cast and producers have the ability to create shows. I think that it's not only the cast, it stems from the panels and from the board, right? Like to have more representation there would domino effect having more shows and more opportunities for the Latinx community.

[18:27] I also think that like we were talking earlier prior to this, the stigma of not just casting someone of Latinx to be the loud or spicy one, you know, we could be reserved, we could also be shy. We could also, you know, like we were talking about, there's different cultures have different ways in how their upbringing is, you know, and just being a little bit more open-minded and that we don't have to fit the stereotype into castings, right? So I think that that could also broaden our and have more opportunities for Latinos on film as well, just because that is the stigma that I see all the time. But yeah, and like I mentioned, just we need more producers and more creatives that are from our Latinx community.

I just feel like that could open so many doors. You know, in the future, I would love to see myself in that position so I could open many other doors to a lot of Latinos. I mean, a lot of everywhere, you know, in the world, but people that come from a different country or native, you know, we're built different, you know, you see things differently, you know, like my family is from this village called Jamo de la Jardeta and they understand poverty in a different level or different layers. So you giving an opportunity for someone that is from there can mean the world to them and, you know, change their generation and their wealth and what that means to their family. So I just feel like we need more Latin producers as well.

[20:27] Martín Acuña: Yeah, I think I agree with you. That would definitely help us. And yeah, no worries. So what is the most important part of creating Latin characters in musical theatre?

[20:47] Jennifer Florentino: The most important part is making sure for me, I always bring myself and my culture with anywhere and however I'm doing the work, there's still a sense of me inside of each character and being true to that and being honest and being okay with that. You know, sometimes the way that I pronounce things might not be the way that a typical American will pronounce it. So embracing that as well and playing around with different parts of the character. Like we mentioned that, just thinking that you have to be a certain way to fit the stigma of what a Latin character needs to be. But just embracing all parts of our culture and just showcasing it, your most authentic self, whether you are timid, whether you are having fun, whether you are dancing or your strength, there's so much strength within our culture that I just, that's what I lean towards more, you know, when creating character work.

Even if you feel very vulnerable, there's strength to that. So yeah, I just I think it's being authentic and being true to what you want to say opposed to what you feel like you need to say. I feel like that's the most important part in building each character. It's just, you know, how can you be empathetic and passionate and kind and strong and sometimes it could be rugged, but it doesn't have to be one thing. So I hope that answers that.

[22:43] Martín Acuña: It does. It does. And I agree and I love it. And that's fascinating. Jennifer, if someone wants to follow you on social media, contact you, see what you're doing, maybe get a class from you, where can people find you and get a hold of you?

[23:02] Jennifer Florentino: Okay, so my Instagram is Jennifer Florentino. That's it, just my name. And then my website is jenniferflorentino.com. So you could reach me there, send me a DM, I'll be more than happy to share and learn as well. So yeah.

[23:27] Martín Acuña: Okay, last question before we wrap up. Which are your top five favorite musical theater shows?

[23:32] Jennifer Florentino: Oh, I love Hairspray. I love, oh my god, can I include some of the ones that I've been on? Because I love On Your Feet, West Side Story, of course. It's another one that I've seen. In the Heights. I know it's so, it's so, and Hamilton. I love Hamilton too. So yeah, those are some that just pop in my mind.

[24:09] Martín Acuña: Awesome. Awesome. I love, I love them all. Jennifer, thank you so much for coming over. It is so important for me to have you here in Backstage Talk and I cannot wait to see you and more of you and your talent both on stage and on the screen. Thank you so much.

[24:28] Jennifer Florentino: Oh, thank you so much, Martín. Thank you so much for having me. It's quite special what you're doing. And I end with this, you know, I just hope that during this time a lot of people are leading with kindness. And yeah, just remember to be kind to one another.

[24:41] Martín Acuña: Be kind to one another. For being kind to me.

[24:51] Martín Acuña: Thanks everyone for listening to this new episode of Backstage Talk. Remember to follow us on Facebook and Instagram at Backstage Talk Podcast.