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[0:00] Salisha Thomas: Welcome to interviews with cast and creatives from Lynn Manuel Miranda and John Choose in In the Heights in theaters on June 11th.

[0:08] Salisha Thomas: Hello and welcome to Black Hair and the Big Leagues. I'm your host, Salisha Thomas, and my heart is thumping. Please help me welcome Daphne Rubin-Vega.

[0:18] Salisha Thomas: And I am so excited. You look so beautiful. Um, I wanted to start by saying, okay, so the show Hamilton today has made like musical theater mainstream for a lot of people who aren't in theater. And back when I was in the seventh grade, that show for me was Rent. It was the first show that I'd ever been exposed to. The first cast album that I purchased and listened to more times than I can count. And before I realized who you were, I was listening to your voice for so long. And so it's such an honor to meet you and to get to talk to you today. I want the first thing I'd like to ask you is being a part of such an iconic cast as Rent, being a part of the In the Heights movie, being in like a whole person of color version of A Streetcar Named Desire, being a part of like these shows that are so inclusive. Have you ever felt like a token? Have you always felt like it's always been inclusive? Or do you have any other perspective of that?

[1:39] Daphne Rubin-Vega: Um, yes to the first question. I have felt like a token. Um, sometimes I didn't even realize that that's what it was. Um, you know, I grew up um like normalizing spaces that didn't look like me. I grew up in many spaces where people didn't look like me, even in my own home, you know. Um, you know, my dad, my mom, my mom passed when I was young. So, and my dad was, you know, of Eastern European Jewish descent American, you know. So, so, and you know, it feels really good to be part of the movement that changes like the, the, where the needle gets moved a little bit, you know, as they say, the arc is long and wide, but it definitely leads towards um something closer to equity. It's not really um something that we can really some of us can see.

[2:46] Salisha Thomas: Yeah, I hear what you're saying, and I'm wondering, I'm like, it's one thing for all of this to be a part of the conversation right now, but before it was like actively part of the conversation, like all of this diversity, inclusion, walking into these rooms, into these spaces, into these audition settings, even before you got the job, did you ever feel like can I do this? Why am I here? Or did you feel that confidence out the gate?

[3:14] Daphne Rubin-Vega: I'll tell you, I'll tell you what happened when Rent exploded and was such an unexpected juggernaut. Um, I had conversations with people who were in the industry who knew more than I did, who meant well when they said, "This is an anomaly, Daphne. Don't think that this is gonna happen every day of your life." And it's not because you can't do Chekhov or, you know, um, uh things that you've studied to do in school, it's because the world is not ready to perceive you that way. Um, because I remember thinking, like, why can't I play Sally Bowles? Um, for example, that's just an example, but you know, so it just goes to show how things kind of have changed a little bit, you know, but can need to change really what needed to happen was for us to start telling our own stories, right?

Because it, you know, which is so different. Um, it's not trying to do Three Sisters, um, which is fine. Um, we can cut our teeth on these things, but to tell our own stories is so much more powerful.

[4:28] Salisha Thomas: Oh, I love that. I love when you said, why can't I play Sally Bowles? It makes me feel like having, you know, as a child, you're being, well, I don't know everybody, but like being told you can do anything, the sky's the limit, and then we grow up and put these limitations on ourselves, or the world does, or whatever, and it makes me feel like, well, why not? And to continue with that, with that.

[4:53] Daphne Rubin-Vega: Well, the thing is is that like, you know, I can't play Sally Bowles, but Sally Bowles could play me. And so that's changing a little bit there. Do you know what I'm saying? I know you do.

[5:03] Salisha Thomas: Yes.

[5:04] Daphne Rubin-Vega: Okay. I have, oh, wait, first of all, I want to know when you were in Rent, I have no idea because I could not tell. Was that your natural hair?

[5:10] Daphne Rubin-Vega: That was all me, honey!

[5:14] Salisha Thomas: No way!

[5:15] Daphne Rubin-Vega: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on! I need to boast because those days are over, but that was every single hair on that head.

[5:25] Salisha Thomas: You weren't your hair eight years?

[5:27] Daphne Rubin-Vega: That was my hair. I was flat freak flag flying.

[5:32] Salisha Thomas: Oh beautiful. And I haven't gotten to see In the Heights movie yet.

[5:39] Daphne Rubin-Vega: Oh, I cannot wait.

[5:40] Salisha Thomas: I know you're so excited. I know you're so excited because everybody else is. Um, okay, with the whatever I have no idea what you're gonna look like, all the things with your hair design, did you have any say in that, or were you just like do whatever you want? Like, how does it, how did you approach?

[5:58] Daphne Rubin-Vega: Um, I, you know, we have say, we have agency, like we um, I don't think um anything was imposed, you know. I mean, you know, it was like here's what we got and what we're thinking, and it was like, okay, let's see what I can work with and play with and help create, you know. I mean, I love clothes, I love self-styling help, you know. I love makeup, I love playing dress up. And um, and so you know it's really fun when you get to have a character that enjoys playing dress up, you know, more than you do.

[6:39] Salisha Thomas: Right.

[6:41] Daphne Rubin-Vega: That's so cool. Um, okay, now this question is it can be a little leading because you're iconic.

[6:52] Salisha Thomas: And because you're welcome, you're so welcome because you're like an icon, it might already be a given. But when you are on set, whether it's for a movie or you're on stage or backstage for Broadway or anything else in between. Do you, as a person of color, feel seen as a woman, feel seen? And I say that's leading because because you are who you are, it might just be a given.

[7:27] Daphne Rubin-Vega: For In the Heights, yes, absolutely. I've worked with Quiara Alegría Hudes also a few times for many years, and in certain rooms, definitely feel seen. I, you know, I worked um on a show called Empanada Loca, which was a solo show, um written and directed by Aaron Mark at the time for Labyrinth, and I felt seen. Um, then we can move into other spaces and like go into our makeup and hair trailers and be like, you know, I don't feel seen. Right. Um, and so really it feels imperceptibly slow, but I do, I'm a romantic. I feel like it's morphing as we speak. But yes, um, you know, and you never know how much you've missed not being seen until you are. You know, sometimes it's like I didn't know that I was lacking this, you know. I'm not crazy, yeah. You know, a lot of this work that we're doing to just shift the cultural gaze ever so slightly, um, is incredibly powerful for those of us who are like, oh, I didn't even know I was missing this.

[9:02] Salisha Thomas: Daphne, I think that's all the time that we have already. And I just wanted to say thank you for your time. You're so beautiful. I don't know if you styled yourself today, but it looks gorgeous. And thank you for your time.

[9:18] Daphne Rubin-Vega: Yes, peace and blessings. See you next time. And enjoy the film.

[9:24] Dori Berinstein: Hi, this is Dori Berinstein from Deep Dive Broadway and the Broadway Podcast Network. I'm thrilled to be talking today with Olga Merediz and Jimmy Smitts, stars from the film In the Heights. I'm so excited to talk to you. Congratulations with the film, it's spectacular. Um, and Olga, I can't tell you how many times I saw and loved you in the original production of In the Heights. Um, you both have fascinating history with this show. Uh, of course, you know, going all the way back to the beginning, Olga, uh, in the original production. And Jimmy, I understand you were the announcer for uh, did TV commercial announcing for In the Heights a long time ago. Uh, is that right?

[10:11] Jimmy Smitts: They just, yeah, I mean, I was just so impressed when I saw the uh 37 Arts iteration, the off-Broadway iteration. But I had heard even before that, I have a good friend that I went to college with that um worked at the drama bookstore and uh he sent me an email that there were these kids that were doing this reading. So that was even before.

[10:40] Olga Merediz: Yeah, exactly. I think these kids, this these kids are the real deal, he said the next wave but I yeah I when I saw the production at 37 Arts and off Broadway I was just like so wild and I remember my wife and I would just looked at each other and I said this is what everybody has been waiting for you know um so after meeting these guys and and talking to Lynn um after you guys made the move they I said I want to be able to help in any way I can so that was that was my little contribution to do a voiceover for the Broadway commercial.

[10:41] Olga Merediz: Amazing. Oh but to be able to watch Olga yes about her stuff and all of the different and now to see her on the silver screen and you your work production you know was to the readings before and you were I I started um I was telling Jimmy that I started with readings and workshops before off Broadway and I was playing another role and then Broadway and then who would have thought in a million years I'd be where I am. I feel blessed but I have the story when when I was talking at the very very beginning with the workshops I would tell my agents I don't know these kids they're rapping I don't know it's like it's like they have they're rapping I I I don't know, I just got a lot of heart, but I mean I'll do it, see what happens.

[12:22] Jimmy Smitts: It's like the rest of history.

[12:25] Olga Merediz: It's so crazy to me to think that.

[12:28] Dori Berinstein: I was sure that you knew this was going to become a major motion picture at some point.

[12:33] Jimmy Smitts: No, that wasn't uh no, not when I was doing the readings.

[12:39] Olga Merediz: Of course not.

[12:40] Dori Berinstein: Yeah. And I understand that um you all have also worked together. Uh Jimmy, I know you were played Lynn's dad in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Olga, you were in the same show together. So as this was all coming together, I imagine there was some since you were uh working together on that show that there was also a continued conversation about should this evolve into a motion picture.

[13:06] Jimmy Smitts: Um, you mean uh I mean we did I mean Jimmy and I didn't work together at Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I played Rosa's mom, Rosa's mom. Yeah, uh with uh uh Trejo. Danny Trejo's the play my husband, but but I know Jimmy from way back in the 80s. New York and I was in doing a play at the public theater with his wife, and and and Jimmy would come and pick up his wife.

[13:39] Olga Merediz: I think they weren't married then, right? You were not.

[13:41] Jimmy Smitts: No, no, you were going out, and so I know him from way back, and and we've bumped into each other along the way in this industry and all its different facets. It's all circles.

[13:56] Dori Berinstein: Well, that's right, and who knows what's to come. I love that you're both theater people. That means the world, you know, Olga. I enjoyed you so much in Mamma Mia and Les Mis and Man of La Mancha and Jimmy, blown away by Anna in the Tropics and God of Carnage.

[14:14] Dori Berinstein: I'm curious for both of you what the creative process you move you both move so seamlessly from television to film to Broadway, you know, back and forth and all over the place. But moving this story to the screen and your creative process, Olga, I know your character has gone through some evolution, but performing for a camera as opposed to a giant audience, what for you is the difference in your creative process?

[14:45] Olga Merediz: I would say great question, by the way, too. A couple of things in the theater, you're playing to the last row, so you have to have a lot of energy to carry that. And in cinema, it's very internal; you have to have it inside of you, and it's very inner work, you know? When you're singing a song on Broadway, you take the audience and yourself on a journey: beginning, middle, climax, end. In cinema, you shoot out a sequence; you might do the last part first, so you have to be very focused as an actor to know where you are, what place you're in, so that you can have that place for continuity purposes. So that's extremely challenging.

[15:35] Jimmy Smitts: You know, Dori, after seeing the film recently, I was kind of struck by the sense of ensemble in the movie and how the relationships just pop. The performances, because of John's direction, are just like modulated, so you do have those moments that are very personal, and then you have those belting moments and big, but the sense of ensemble, I think it has to do with the fact that the majority of the cast has theatrical roots. Because there was an involved rehearsal process prior to the actual filming, I think it coalesced the group in a really wonderful way. It's just like gear shifts that you do. Hopefully, you have a talented director like John Chu that's able to help you modulate a performance that like Olga had in the "Paciencia y Fe" sequence, which is such an out-of-sequence thing that she had to and was able to modulate. I just think that the theatrical springboard that the cast has as an ensemble really pays off big in a big way with regards to the film.

[17:13] Dori Berinstein: It was an exciting opportunity, Olga, for you to be able to, through the film, open up the character and open up all the opportunities for engagement in many different ways.

[17:27] Olga Merediz: Yes, to really sit down on a New York City's Washington Heights stoop and be in a real apartment and the subway tunnels. The way John Chu directed it, his sense of cinematic visuals are amazing, and the way he breaks that fourth wall and really tells the story of Abuela Claudia, it's just amazing. I just had to be there, and everything was happening around me. But yeah, it's impressive.

[18:05] Dori Berinstein: Well, New York really is a character in the show. I just have to say, because I know our time is up, that when I saw the show on Broadway, it was a show for the world. It was everyone's story. Having seen the film, I feel the same way. You're telling my story, and I know the world is going to embrace it, and I'm so excited it's out as a film. Congratulations to you both.

[18:32] Jimmy Smitts: Thank you. That means a lot, Dori.

[18:34] Olga Merediz: Thank you. That means a lot.

[18:35] Dori Berinstein: Guy, I'm sorry, you were going to say something.

[18:40] Jimmy Smitts: No, I was glad you said that because these themes are universal about family, community, and the music. It doesn't matter if you don't speak the language or the slang or whatever; the music will just cut right through, and the dance.

[18:57] Olga Merediz: Couldn't agree more.

[18:59] Dori Berinstein: Thank you both so much. Enjoy all this. You're gonna make so many people so happy.

[19:03] Jimmy Smitts: Pleasure, thank you.

[19:04] Olga Merediz: The movie we need right now.

[19:05] Dori Berinstein: Oh, absolutely, absolutely. It's a little bit of joy.

[19:09] Olga Merediz: Very much so.

[19:11] Dori Berinstein: Thank you.

[19:12] Dori Berinstein: Hello, I'm Jesse McAnally, the host of Musicals of Cheese on the Broadway Podcast Network. And I'm lucky enough to be talking to Quiara Alegría Hudes, the screenwriter for the film In the Heights. Thank you for sitting down with me. I really appreciate this.

[19:26] Quiara Alegría Hudes: This is wonderful. I'm so excited. I'm just gonna get right into it, and I'm gonna get some nuts and bolts questions out really quickly. I'm very curious about screenwriting for theater, theatrical styling. So, like, I saw the film on Sunday. Wonderful, wonderful movie. But I'm very curious: how do you write action lines when there's dancing? Do you get into the specific nitty-gritty, like here's what happens with this line? Or do you just say, they dance?

[20:01] Quiara Alegría Hudes: That's—I love that question. I mean, I'm such a writing nerd, you know? So I could go on and on about the technicalities of it all day. It varies number to number. If you were to look at the screenplay, for instance, when "The Sun Goes Down," that was probably the last musical number we decided on what to do with it. We weren't sure. John and I kept talking about it, and it was completely his idea to do it on the side of the building. He came to me; he pitched that idea. I was like, absolutely, because I like Nina fell in love when I was a teenager, and that's how it felt. It felt like gravity works differently, you know? In the screenplay, because that came late after I'd already written the maybe the shooting draft of it, it's very minimal.

It's just they dance on the side of the building, and it's left to John to storyboard; it's left to the choreographers to storyboard. They had to do a lot of really interesting gravity trick work to make that happen. Even when we brought in those specialists who were kind of playing with the centers of gravity, they changed the storyboard a little bit too. Then Lynn wrote a new musical thing, so that's very minimal in the screenplay.

[21:20] Quiara Alegría Hudes: I'm trying to think of one that's much clearer in the screenplay, like the finale. Okay, there's a lot of dance in the finale, but I have beated that out much more clearly because there's a lot of information revealed in this and plot revealed in the finale also. We change settings; we go back and forth from here and there, from Washington Heights to the Dominican Republic, and I had to really closely script out those beats. Then the choreographer took them, and John took them and made them into the scenes that they are, but that was much more closely crafted.

[21:57] Jesse McAnally: Speaking of that framing device, was that your introduction, or was that John, or when did that become? Because that was not in the original show.

[22:06] Quiara Alegría Hudes: That was mine. And yeah, you know, it's for a few reasons. One is when you're on a theater stage, the set is the block, you know? We can't go to Abuela Claudia's Cuba; we can't see it. We can't go to Usnavi's Dominican Beach, but we can on screen, and why wouldn't we? These places are rich. Also, on stage, we can't go in Abuela Claudia's living room. Even going in her living room, I had to rewrite her scenes with Nina because that's a much more intimate setting, you know? So those scenes became much more personalized because they're not out in public on the block. I was like, I want to see Usnavi on his beach. I want to see that. That was just an instinct I had, but I didn't know how. I tried it a million different ways, and then I came up with a framing device and I said, you know, Usnavi is older, and he's telling the story of his block in Washington Heights.

What that gave us then, the domino effect of that is that we get an even younger generation than Sonny. That's when I knew this is really right for the movie because it has always been In the Heights; it's always been a multi-generational piece at heart. But for Sonny, the 16-year-old, to no longer be the new generation, actually for there to be the next generation coming up, that was really exciting to me as a prospect.

[23:29] Jesse McAnally: Oh, you're gonna make me cry just thinking about that. Yeah, that's wonderful. And you tricked me because I've watched it as like, we're gonna go in a whole different direction than the stage show. And then I'm like, oh, you did it. We got there. But that was a great transition to my next question, which is in adapting from one medium into another. I don't believe you've ever done that. You've adapted work before and changed work, but you've never changed it from stage to screen in this way. Were there any speed bumps where you're like, how am I gonna make this work? And what were they?

[24:01] Quiara Alegría Hudes: Yeah, I mean, a lot of the things I cut a beloved character; I cut many beloved songs. I don't mean beloved to other people; I mean to myself, you know? Those cuts tended to come from those difficult decisions, tended to come from it just me just not being able to make it work in the screenplay. For instance, a song like "Everything I Know." This is Nina's power ballad before the Broadway show finishes when she realizes her dad is right; she's gotta go back to Stanford. But she realizes why and is kind of ready to rise to that position again. It's a breathtaking song on stage. I've been working on this screenplay adaptation for 10 years, and I could not get it to work. It kept feeling like we get to that point in the screenplay, and it would actually oddly get boring, and it's not a boring song.

What we realized is, you know, a close-up of an actor does that emotional work that that song does on stage, and so we were like ahead of the song; we already got it. That's why it wasn't working. I tried my hardest, but really in reality, that song works best on stage. I had to then therefore make her journey and her turnaround point different, and her turnaround point comes with Sonny when they go to an immigration rally.

[25:29] Jesse McAnally: That makes perfect sense. And it also makes it so that the stage show and the movie are very different things, yet both very perfect in their own mediums, and that's great. I do want to kind of talk about what's coming up in the future because this is a huge year for you. You also got Vivo coming out this year, yes. What was it like writing an animated film? I want to know all about that.

[25:51] Quiara Alegría Hudes: It was so fun. I can't believe I have these two movies coming out because they just represent some of the best times I've had as an artist in my life. The thing that was really—there's a million fun things about Vivo, but just to pick out a few, creating those characters was a dream. I was able to put some use inspiration from my real life and the kind of people who did not see themselves reflected on screen. I was like, I'm turning you into a lead animated character. Those characters haven't been revealed yet, so I'm not allowed to say who they are. I can't wait until they do, and then I'm gonna scream it all from the rooftop. Another part of Vivo that was so fun to write is it's totally romantic. It is such a romantic movie, and I'm a romantic at heart. So to just tell a love story, I was like, what movies are like our love stories anymore? I don't know. It seems like a genre we've moved on past. So it was really cool to write a romance.

[26:53] Jesse McAnally: That's incredible. All right. Here's a pitch for you. I really want to know this, but feel free to be vague as you want about it. What is your dream project? If money, feasibility, and so on weren't factors, what would it be? If you were given all the money, all the resources in the world tomorrow, what would you immediately start working on?

[27:13] Quiara Alegría Hudes: You know, it might be a book of haikus for all I know. Sometimes they're big and sometimes they're small. The answer to that is In the Heights. The answer to that is Vivo. I just wrote a memoir called My Broken Language that's out now. These are all my dream projects. I'm working on lyrics for a stage version of Like Water for Chocolate. That's my dream project. I kind of am in a really blessed and beautiful position where I can say, is this my dream project? Yes, great. I'll write it.

[27:48] Jesse McAnally: All right. I think I could squeeze in one more question here. I'm really appreciative of your time. And don't worry, this is not gonna be a real question. What is your favorite cheese? I run a podcast called Musicals with Cheese, and I love getting people's opinions on cheese.

[28:02] Quiara Alegría Hudes: I was like, Musicals with Cheese? I'll tell you what, there are the best date nights I've ever had. My husband and I have splurged and gone to El Comedor, a very fancy hotel in Old San Juan. They have a cheese hour, and on their patio, a slice of aged Manchego cheese is just about perfection.

[28:29] Ruthie Fierberg: That is as good an answer I think I could ever have asked for. My goodness. Um, that was great. Um, since I have a little bit of free time, what cheese would you equate with In the Heights? Just a rating of cheese, like if you had to compare to it.

[28:44] Scott Sanders: Ooh. Um, you know, probably like an oozy shredded cheese that's just like sprinkled on everything and gets into all the good stuff.

[28:54] Ruthie Fierberg: Perfect. All right. Thank you so much for your time today. That was wonderful.

[28:58] Scott Sanders: Thank you so much.

[29:00] Ruthie Fierberg: My pleasure. Take care.

[29:02] Ruthie Fierberg: This is Ruthie Fierberg from WyWe Theater on the Broadway Podcast Network. And I am so excited to be talking to producer Scott Sanders about the In the Heights film that we've all been waiting for. Good morning, Scott.

[29:17] Scott Sanders: Hi, how are you? Nice to see you.

[29:19] Ruthie Fierberg: Nice to speak to it with you. And you want to know what this is? This is coming full circle for me personally because back in 2009, I worked for the producing office, Kevin McComb and Jeffrey Seller, who were the producers of the Broadway musical on stage. So now to get to talk to you about producing the movie is super exciting.

[29:41] Scott Sanders: Well, I agree with you. I happen to be fortunate enough to both see it off Broadway, and then I was a guest of those folks on opening night on Broadway and was so blown away by the freshness of it and the energy of it. And I really loved that Jeffrey and Kevin and Jill, you know, took it from off Broadway and said, Yes, there is a space for this story, and there is a room, there's room to tell stories of characters that some of us haven't seen before.

[30:13] Scott Sanders: And obviously, Lynn created a score that none of us had ever heard before and really turned Broadway on its ear. So it was so exciting. A couple of years later, I was on a set in Atlanta making a movie for Disney, and Lynn was an actor in the movie. And he came over to me one day and said, Hey, another studio was going to make In the Heights as a movie, and they've decided not to make it. Would you like to produce it? And of course, I was so flattered and honored. And I said, Yes, I think In the Heights would make a beautiful movie. Of course, I'd love to do it.

[30:48] Scott Sanders: And then it was interesting that about a year before that, I was having breakfast in LA with a young John Chu, who was a burgeoning filmmaker. And I was so impressed with his vision and his energy and his passion for music and storytelling and heart-filled stories and dance, really. And so I filed a little note in my head back in those days. Oh, I wonder whether John Chu would be a great director for a Broadway show or a musical film one day.

[31:21] Scott Sanders: So here I am with Lynn, and he said, What about you producing this movie? And I said, What about John Chu as the director? And he said, You're not gonna believe this, but Vanessa, my wife and I had our first date seeing Step Up. We love John Chu. So it was again dismat back in those days for me too. And so I'm so thrilled to be here all these years later, finally being able to ready to put this movie out for the world to see.

[31:51] Ruthie Fierberg: That's amazing. Thank you for sharing that story. I, you know, it's funny. I was watching the other day the Howard Ashman documentary on Disney Plus.

[32:02] Scott Sanders: Oh, isn't that great? Known as Howard.

[32:04] Ruthie Fierberg: And there's a question in there, I think they're at the 92Y that asks him about making movie musicals. And he says, you know, doing it in animation, I think is one of the only ways it actually works because the characters can take this on. And I think making movie musicals is, you know, I think I'm crazy to have done Little Shop, or I'm crazy to attempt to do anything else.

[32:26] Ruthie Fierberg: So, what to you, um, you know, we've seen major successes and major flops in the movie musical genre. Um, but if this trailer is any indication, In the Heights is going to be a success, I mean, it is vibrant, it is, it feels epic already. So tell me about making an adaptation that feels like theater, but is on film.

[32:55] Scott Sanders: Well, it's obviously both an exhilarating and exciting opportunity. It's also an intimidating and challenging opportunity to do that, particularly when you think about Lynn and Quiara adapting their own work for cinema. But you know, if I think back about all the stories that I've ever told as a producer, they have to have heart. I mean, that's what attracts me to a particular project at any given time. And there's so much heart in In the Heights, and there's so much joy in In the Heights, and there's so much sense of authenticity and stories of people that you might not be so familiar with.

[33:36] Scott Sanders: And so I remember when we got started on this, that the ambition was to do something new and fresh that people had never seen before and take that germ of what Lin and Quiara created off Broadway, then on Broadway, and they were groundbreaking in both of those instances. And it was up to us to now make the movie groundbreaking yet again. And I think back to, I mean, I'm sure we've both seen every musical film that's ever been done. And as you said, some work better than others.

[34:00] Scott Sanders: I think back to when I sat in Times Square on in the balcony of a movie theater one night and saw Moulin Rouge for the first time, and Baz Luhrmann's work and vision blew my mind. His use of visuals, his use of 50 composers to create a score. No one had ever done that before. And here we have a musical that Lynn and Quiara wrote that was also groundbreaking. Okay, now what are we going to do in the film version to continue that thread?

[34:45] Scott Sanders: And John Chu really was the secret sauce of that. And he had a vision for how to make magic with this story, at the same time keeping it grounded, but also bringing some magical realism into the storytelling. Um, the casting, it was imperative from all of us from day one that we bring fresh faces to this movie, that we bring real representation of Latin culture from around the world in our cast, that we bring actors from the neighborhood, that we bring some actors from Broadway into the movie, that we really make Washington Heights a character in the movie and really show it off in the most beautiful way.

[35:30] Scott Sanders: We had the resources, fortunately, to be able to shoot for all those weeks in Washington Heights on the streets in a very hot summer, some days with big giant thunderstorms in the middle of the day that interrupted our filming and delayed our shooting. Oh, yes. But all of that, I think was there was an intention in the ambition from day one. And I think it's been realized. And I'm really excited that this movie musical, I think is unlike anything anyone's ever seen before. And I have to give credit to again the vision and the ambition, and then everyone behind the scenes that supported us being able to make that happen.

[36:10] Ruthie Fierberg: Yeah. And what was it like combining, you know? I think sometimes you bring the entire main creative team over so that you have the DNA from the original. Sometimes you bring in an entirely fresh crew, but it is you decided to mix it up, keeping Lynn and Quiara, but getting John and Christopher Scott as your choreographer. How is it to be the leader of that hybrid team?

[36:36] Scott Sanders: Well, I mean, I would love to tell you that it, you know, it took a lot of skill and talent, but honestly, everyone was on that same page from day one. I mean, from the very beginning, it was like, all right, this is a wonderful, well-received musical with lots of fans around the world. And now we have to put that aside for a minute and think about it in a whole new art form. And everyone moved in that direction immediately.

[37:07] Scott Sanders: And it was great to bring some of the original members of the creative team, including its authors, as key participants in that adaptation, but also to bring fresh blood and fresh eyes and fresh ideas. Um, and again, that also is represented in the casting behind the camera, in front of the camera. And so it was great. It was really great to sort of mix the world of movies and theater and music all together and make this magical film.

[37:41] Ruthie Fierberg: And it looks like, you know, there are some script changes. Um, seeing in the trailer, because I haven't yet seen a screener, but seeing in the trailer that Usnavi is like telling a story about the Heights. Tell me about that decision um and how we see that play out in the film.

[38:00] Scott Sanders: Well, you know, there's obviously there's more, way more cast members in the movie than there was on stage. And so we have some younger kids in the movie that were not in the stage version. And Quiara came up with a conceit of Usnavi telling a story. Uh she also came up with several new story arcs for some of the characters to make this fresh story even fresher for today's audiences.

[38:32] Scott Sanders: And I think if you saw the musical on stage and loved it, you're hopefully gonna really love this adaptation in the film as it gets opened up and expanded in many ways. Um, but still honors the original completely. And if you've never seen In the Heights and you've never seen a musical on stage or even a movie musical before, I think you're gonna love it as a movie because I think it's a great story, great characters, great energy, great eye candy, amazing score, beautiful direction and choreography.

[39:09] Scott Sanders: And, but really at its core, it's a great story. And no matter where you live around the world, whether you even know what Washington Heights is, if you've never even visited New York before, I think what this last year has taught all of us is we're all part of a community. We're all part of a family. We've all been separated from our community and our family in many instances this past year. And so we realize the importance of what community means.

[39:38] Scott Sanders: And whether you live in Asia or South America or North America, a community is a community. And so this microcosm of Washington Heights, I think really represents what it feels like to be part of a group of folks that and a family and what you go through, the ins and outs and the ups and downs of that. And I find it very encouraging. And I think, you know, my favorite song in the score is just breathe. And I think about Nina singing just breathe, and I think about how I feel right this moment, which is oh my God, we're all gonna just be able to breathe again.

[40:19] Ruthie Fierberg: That's very real. Well, Scott, as a fan of the musical, as someone who lives in Washington Heights, I am so excited for this. Thank you so much for your work on it, and thank you for your time.

[40:30] Scott Sanders: Thank you, Ruth. I appreciate your support.

[40:33] Eli Tokash: Absolutely. Welcome to Take a Bow. I'm your host, Eli Tokash. I was able to do a little interview with Gregory Diaz.

[40:43] Gregory Diaz: So, Gregory, what does it mean to you to be a part of such an incredible story as In the Heights?

[40:49] Gregory Diaz: Um, and just an important story to tell. In the Heights holds so much to it, you know. It's um, there's really a lot of important themes and messages that I hope portray to the audience and those who just leave watching the film, like um the concept of home and dreaming and just that home and community and unity.

[41:08] Eli Tokash: Yeah, absolutely. So uh everybody knows this, of course, but In the Heights is a star-studded cast. It's incredible with legends of both the theater and movie industry involved in the project. Uh, what is it like to work and learn from the cast every day?

[41:27] Gregory Diaz: It was such a great experience coming into a film with, like you said, such a list of iconic actors and actresses. And really with certain people like Jimmy Smitts and coming into work with people like John and Lynn. I really got to pull different parts and bits and pieces from all of them that I still usually know in my career.

[41:51] Eli Tokash: That's awesome. Uh I mean, you have uh sort of a background in, you know, more of a background in theater as you were on Broadway in Matilda and everything like that. Like how cool is it to kind of combine the love you have for theater and do it on the screen?

[42:08] Gregory Diaz: It was great. I honestly never thought that I would get the opportunity to do something. And I have such a deep and loving passion for both film but also Broadway, so to be able to really combine those and be a part of such a great film that I think combines them both really well, it was amazing.

[42:12] Eli Tokash: What was it like to film during the pandemic?

[42:12] Gregory Diaz: Um, actually we didn't, we filmed it was two years ago that we filmed.

[42:12] Eli Tokash: Okay, it was the summer of 2019.

[42:12] Gregory Diaz: Okay, yeah.

[42:12] Eli Tokash: So you were, it was this was pre-pandemic. That's awesome.

[42:12] Eli Tokash: Um, so okay, do you have like a favorite memory of filming?

[42:12] Gregory Diaz: Favorite memory? Honestly, every day was so great, but I would have to say probably one of the most memorable memories I have was the three days of filming "96,000." It was oh yeah, the energy was so high and those three days we had some trouble with the weather. It was raining a lot, but anytime that we could get, we were just hopping back in the pool or getting that camera out and just rolling.

[42:12] Eli Tokash: So you obviously play Usnavi's like little cousin, so what was it like to just like be with Anthony Ramos and like kind of get like that whole learning experience?

[43:30] Gregory Diaz: I'm sure it was like a workshop every day. What was it like to just work with him really close?

[43:35] Gregory Diaz: Anthony's great. My first experience meeting him was actually for my director session. Anthony was in the room, and I was reading one of my scenes with him, and it just immediately, as soon as I saw him, like on the inside, I'm here like fangirling, but on the outside, I was like, all right, like I've got to keep my cool and like do what I've got to do. He's such a great guy, he's like honestly like a big brother figure in my life.

[44:05] Eli Tokash: That's awesome. Do you notice like a big difference from the movie to the musical?

[44:11] Gregory Diaz: There are some aspects. Honestly, a lot of it is the same. The people that have seen the Broadway show or heard about it, they'll definitely be able to connect to.

[44:24] Eli Tokash: What are you hoping that audience get out of seeing the movie the most?

[44:31] Gregory Diaz: I just want people to walk away, you know, feeling excited and the Latinx community to walk away feeling represented and proud to be who they are. But honestly, just everybody to walk home with those main themes of the film, like home. And although we are talking about Washington Heights, which is an individual place in New York, home is anywhere. You know, home could be across the globe if you're watching.

[44:58] Eli Tokash: Are you happy like that this is finally coming out in this current state of the world that we're in? It's so relevant.

[45:14] Gregory Diaz: Yeah, I definitely, of course. I mean, it was originally supposed to come out in 2020, but of course we had the pandemic, so we decided it would make more sense if we pushed it back. We really just wanted it to be a film that people saw in theaters because there's just something about going to the theaters and the whole experience that just kind of makes it so much more grand to go see a movie. But also with the representation, I find it really important. And like you said, this is a really important time to push a film like this, especially with certain things that are going on in a political climate. I think it's gonna be great.

[45:54] Eli Tokash: Amazing. Thank you so much.

[45:56] Alan Seales: Thank you, Eli. This is Alan Seales with the Theater Podcast. Here now is my conversation with stars from In the Heights, Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera, and Corey Hawkins.

[46:06] Alan Seales: Alan, we're Alan. How are you doing? Let me put you in gallery mode. There we go. Now I can see all of you. Good.

[46:18] Alan Seales: Thank you all for doing this. I am so excited to see the film. It looks incredible. And I actually want to start out, obviously coming from the Broadway Podcast Network. My background is in theater and In the Heights, of course, we all know where it comes from, the background and the theater overlap it has there. But all of you, well, Melissa and Corey specifically, you both have very specific theater backgrounds. Corey, you even have a Tony nomination. And Leslie, you have a slightly different background coming from the singer-songwriter world. I was wondering what it's like on set, given your various backgrounds, approaching the film of this iconic musical, knowing that this still needs to keep its theatrical roots. So, Melissa, let's start with you.

[47:00] Melissa Barrera: Um, I don't know how to answer that question because this is my first experience doing a musical movie. So everything that we did just seemed like this is how things are supposed to be done in shooting a musical movie. But what I appreciated was that we got a lot of rehearsal time, more than you normally get when you're doing theater. We got 10 weeks of rehearsal, obviously, because the scope of the movie and the size of the numbers and the number of dancers in each musical number was crazy. And so we needed that time, and I'm so happy that we got it because it really helps to like get into the character and the bond that we all established while we were spending so much time together in rehearsals really helped to make the relationships within the characters and then the love that's there of this community that grew up together and they know each other from their entire lives to be so real.

And I think that comes across on the screen. But it was very similar to doing theater in a lot of ways. But the pressure I think of knowing that you get one chance to do it right because they're gonna pick one take, and that's the take that's gonna live forever, is a different kind of pressure than live theater.

[48:30] Alan Seales: So yeah. Corey, what about you?

[48:34] Corey Hawkins: Yeah, there is that thing of with live theater because you get to go on stage and mess up, you know, you get to be messy and you get to forgive yourself for a performance that night that just wasn't where you thought it should have been, or whatever. And then you get to come back and kind of do it all again. And there was the luxury of being able to rehearse, you know, and to really just play. I think that's my favorite part of any process is when you and I think more directors and more, you know, they should allow more time for rehearsals on certain projects because I think it definitely gives you the space to breathe and the space to fall into whatever that is. And then you shoot as much as you can and then you give it away.

You know, at the end of the day, there is still that giving it away. You give it away to your director who we trust inherently in your creators, the creative team to kind of put the right thing, the right story together that feels the best that has the right heart, but you got to give them all the options. You know, you have to play first and then give them all of that. And so there is a bit of a, you know, people are like, oh, well, you like film better or theater better. But this experience was definitely, I felt like the best of both worlds because we got to sort of do it all with the best of the best of the best and an incredible cast.

[50:08] Alan Seales: Yeah, amen. Leslie, what about your side?

[50:09] Leslie Grace: Yes, I agree with what both Mel and Corey said. And it's interesting, even though I don't have a theater background, I correlated that time that we did get to play in rehearsals and pre-production time to being able to find it on stage, you know, and in my performance and my musical performances. And it is a different level of pressure to, you know, have in the back of your head this is going to live forever. The take that they choose is going to live forever. So the rehearsal process was, I think, really important for all of us to keep in mind the scene that we were in and, you know, for all of these big numbers and how your character is moving through all of these dance moves. It's a lot to navigate through and piece together.

But I tried also to just keep in mind that we all have our strengths from our previous backgrounds and they all kind of, because it was the best of both worlds, they all kind of came into play for our characters and what we were there to do for this musical adaptation. So it was like the best of both worlds of performance, live performance, which we did some of that while shooting as well, and also capturing that one moment that's gonna live on screen forever.

[50:44] Alan Seales: I love that. And this movie is also, I think, another well-needed milestone towards bringing representation and diversity into the world, into mainstream film, of course, which will undoubtedly have a trickle-down effect into our local Broadway scene. So how do you each hope that the film's release is gonna sort of affect the awareness within representation in our community, especially now as Broadway is just now starting to come back? So Leslie, let's start with you on this one.

[52:06] Gregory Diaz: Um, I'm sorry, what was that again? How do you hope that the film is a milestone towards representation in mainstream media? Anyway, it's gonna have a trickle-down effect into the Broadway community, which right now historically is just underrepresented and having lots of issues.

[52:25] Gregory Diaz: So how do you hope that the film's release is going to tie back to improving representation in Broadway?

[52:31] Leslie Grace: I mean, I hope that people just take this as proof of concept that you can have incredibly brilliant people of color who make something that is felt and that is beautiful, and that also the process of it was incredible. Mal says all the time, like it shouldn't be so rare that we get to celebrate how amazing this experience was for all of us, but it's almost kind of sad that it doesn't happen more often. We all really hope that this movie and what people take from this film is not only the beauty of the story of In the Heights that is already so beloved in the theater community, but that they also take the story of the fact that this production happened and it was taken to the high scale, and that you're seeing people that look like us on the big screen and it's showing the world that that is possible, you know, young boys and girls that it is, you do have a place in Hollywood and that there are roles for you on stage and on screen. So I think that is what we hope that the trickle effect is, and that's like the purpose behind the biggest purpose, I think, behind why we all felt so connected to this project.

[53:58] Alan Seales: I love that. Mel, what do you think?

[54:00] Melissa Barrera: I mean, I think it definitely is gonna be a before and after, I think, in the industry of this movie because we haven't seen anything like this in a really long time. And if we have, it hasn't been with the support of a major studio like Warner Brothers. Like it really is a beautiful thing to see how Warner Brothers is backing and believing in our movie because it makes us feel like our story is important and our voices are important. And I think in this moment in time where we're finally not staying quiet and being allowed and calling for representation and for being allowed to tell our stories. I feel like Broadway has always been a little bit more diverse in many ways because in theater, you get away with casting diverse roles, you know.

But what I have noticed is that that openness of casting in Broadway sometimes falls within the confines of whitewashing or casting Latin-looking people in Latin roles, even though they're actually not Latin. And that's been done a lot, not just with Latin roles, but with other ethnicities as well. So I think it's time for Broadway to also step in and be like, okay, let's try and cast authentically and give opportunities and give the people that that story belongs to the opportunity to tell it. And so I think that hopefully our movie opens many doors, but also is a wake-up call to the theater community and, you know, like you said, a milestone in making strides in the right direction so that the people that have been overlooked and have not been given opportunities get them.

[56:11] Alan Seales: I love that. And that's such a beautiful place to end. I want to thank the three of you so much for taking the time. And I know this is a busy day for you across the board. So just thank you for everything you've done. Thank you for everything you do. And just know that I think you are helping to change the world with this movie. This is one step that we desperately need. Thank you.