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[0:09] Robert Bannon: Are you ready? It's the round table with me, Robert Bannon.

[0:14] Robert Bannon: Hey everyone, welcome to the round table. It's another lunchtime edition. That's right. I'm right here in my fifth grade classroom at lunch with my students who are all first generation Americans, believe it or not, which is why our next guest is so important. Jamie Lozano, everyone I know asks me, have I interviewed Jamie? Robbie Rosel, Mauricio Martinez, all the people that are on the pulse of the next generation of great theater writers. Jamie's won every award. You what you won them all, Jamie. And now you're coming, you're coming to do a special concert or Lortel. You have new musical being done. Welcome to the show.

[0:53] Jaime Lozano: Hey Robert. Uh thank you. Thank you for having me. So excited. Uh and I'm so happy to be joining you in this in your lunch break.

[1:02] Robert Bannon: Yeah, welcome to lunch. So tell me, when did you decide that you were gonna be a songwriter? When did you realize you can write?

[1:12] Jaime Lozano: You know, I mean, I I I have always been a storyteller. I mean, since since since I was a kid, I I like like this thing about telling stories and creating words, but I never had the chance to formally write when I was a kid or when I was a teenager. I I actually started writing songs like I could say I was around maybe 17 years old. Yeah, it's something that I I might try when I was a kid. Maybe I try I have a few attempts, but it wasn't nothing like serious because no one in my family do like music or theater, so it wasn't it was something that feels like a like a very far away from me. But then one thing just led to the other one, and when I was uh I actually was supposed to study criminology.

Uh and I was about to enroll at school, and then uh something told me, wait, you shouldn't study this, just wait, and something's gonna happen. And one year later, I was writing songs and enrolling in music school and writing musicals, but it was like like one choice leads me to the other one. You know, it's it wasn't something that I have been doing since I was a kid because I know a lot of writers, composers, they have been writing since they were like a three years old. I mean, my son, I have a seven years old son, uh, and he has been writing uh in at school, he's making rhymes and all that. I mean, so he he's very into that. Uh, and it was that I was I didn't have that chance when I was a kid.

[2:47] Robert Bannon: When did you come? We can follow Jamie while we're talking. Follow Jamie on Instagram so you can stay up to date on all his all the projects that are out and all the things that are to come. We're gonna talk about a few of them in a minute. When did you come here? You you write a lot about and it the immigration journey, the immigrant story. You know, we all come from somewhere. My grandfather came here from Italy, but I like I said, I'm in North Bergen, where we're 93% Hispanic district, first generation Americans. What's your journey?

[3:13] Jaime Lozano: Uh I went to music school and then I mean I was born and raised in Monterey, Mexico. Um, and then I applied when I graduated from uh music school, I applied for this master's program at NYU. Uh but the funny thing is that uh I didn't speak any English at the time, so they accepted him to the program, they gave me a full tuition scholarship to come to the program, and I was the first Mexican ever like accepted and graduated from that program, and I think I was like the fifth or sixth Latino after at the time I wasn't cycle, I think cycle 19. After 19 years, I was like the fifth or sixth Latino, the first Mexican. So I uh I came to New York City speaking um I speaking no English. I learned practically I learned going to NYU.

I mean, I was able to understand like reading, but I have never like like speak it and communicate with others. But what I learned, uh, and I think that is the key in musical theater, is it's not about speaking like the language, but it's about being able to communicate and collaborate, and that is beyond any language. You don't you don't need to speak the same language, like English, Spanish, Chinese, whatever, uh, to be able to communicate and to be able to collaborate. And that's what I did when I was at NYU. Uh, and since then I I've been focusing my career um because I realized that there was a lack on um on this kind of stories, stories about people in musical theater, stories about uh people coming from other places, and uh as you as you mentioned your family.

I mean, this this country is practically uh made by people from all over the world. Thanks all the immigrants and all these different cultures, is that this country is so rich. Uh so yeah, I I took that as a mission uh to tell the stories of people like myself with different all with different journeys because all we all have very unique and different journeys, but all of those are important. No, there's people that they cross the river, there are people they get here in a fly, they people there's people that they come like booking uh looking for asylum. Uh we have different challenges, and I think it's important to open our hearts and our ears to all those different stories.

[5:38] Robert Bannon: Oh, and you do, and your albums and your music is out, people can stream it like Songs by an Immigrant or Songs by an Immigrant Volume 2, and all there's many, the other side. There's many albums, there's multiple singles and music wherever music is heard, and you can again follow Jamie uh and and to listen to the the whole story. You have won a whole bunch of awards. Lin-Manuel Miranda calls you the next thing to come to this to this art forum for sure. You've done orchestrations for like um In the Heights, you've done work on all sorts of musicals. You have a new musical that you're working on that was just on Playbill with you and Tommy Newman in Rojas, which is come Forestburg Playhouse. But at the end of the day, you seem like you said to be a storyteller. You even are doing shows, you go back to Mexico and do shows.

[6:24] Jaime Lozano: Yeah, I I strongly believe that I mean, I I'm uh I'm a mix of, I mean, I was born and raised in Mexico. The first time that I came to New York City, I mean to the to the United States, I was 28 years old. I mean, I was like old, you know, like a lot of people when they leave, when they leave home, they are like more like in younger years. So um, but but I think uh the way that I speak, my accent, the Spanglish, having my son, my son was born here, my wife is from Mexico also, but she's from Mexico City. So I am who I am, you know. You know, I I can't be someone else. And speaking Spanish, having an accent, writing the stories, going back to Mexico and doing concerts, doing shows there, uh, collaborating with with all kinds of people, like with Tommy.

Right now, right now we are here in the middle of the woods in Forestburg, uh, grinding a show. He uh Tommy and my wife Florence are next next door, just I mean, like working right now. And I I took a little break to do this interview. Uh and and I I collaborate with all kinds of people, immigrants from all around the world, uh, people from the United States with all kinds of backgrounds. And I think that that is a very important part of my story, so the thing that I want to wanna tell.

[7:47] Robert Bannon: And it's so important. It's so important. I see it every day with my my students and their journey and understanding the journey. It's all part of this country's journey, and we all come from somewhere. I actually live in Junion City.

[7:58] Jaime Lozano: Oh, then Jamie.

[8:00] Robert Bannon: Yeah, just a few blocks away. I'll meet you at Noches and we'll grab some lunch.

[8:05] Jaime Lozano: I'm ready. Come on, Jamie. I like uh Coach House and uh have you been there?

[8:11] Robert Bannon: We're literally that's my neighborhood. That's it. We're right here. I'm gonna see you at the North Bergen Walmart or wherever May 30th, Lucille Lortel Theater. You know, the they they're the place for off-Broadway theater there. They they run the awards, they do all of the work. You have an event May 30th. Look, folks, tickets start at five dollars. You can't even go to Starbucks for five dollars. Jamie is not putting his kid through college on your five dollars. It is a steal of a deal. Tell us about this event, Songs by an Immigrant Unplugged. What a lineup.

[8:43] Jaime Lozano: You have quite the guests coming.

[8:46] Jaime Lozano: Yeah, we're very excited about this concert. Um, the Lortero Theater is the theater where I have my very first off-Broadway show back in 2012, I think, sorry, 11 or 12. I did my first Broadway show there that I actually wrote with Tommy Newman. At that time, it was called The Yellow Brick Road. Now it's called El Otro Oz. He just played the Atlantic Theater a few months ago. So I'm very excited to be back in that same theater when I did my first off-Broadway show. And now doing songs for my albums and talking and singing about this immigrant experience. So I think it's important and very meaningful for me and for the people who are gonna be on stage. And also we're doing, we're having a beautiful band.

We have a string quartet. It's gonna be a very beautiful concert, and we are so excited. And the Lucille Lortel made it happen and doing this thing about pay what you want. If you want to pay five dollars, pay five dollars and come. And I think that I'm very lucky to have all these allied organizations that believe in my people, in myself, in this story, and they support what we're doing. And so having the opportunity to do this concert in a very accessible way for all, I think that is very important. Get your tickets, Lortel.org. You can go to Lortel.org, click the link below this video, and you can grab your seats to see this event. I was joking about your albums on Broadway Records, which is, I was joking about Mauricio Martinez, etc. He sings with me on June 14th at 54 Below.

[10:26] Jaime Lozano: Oh no, he sings. You all, they all sing. How do you get your group of guest artists to come? And what is it like to hear your music sung by these powerhouses? I mean, when this project and the people that are around me, that are by my side, we call this Jaime Lozano and the familia. And when we say the familia, the family, it's for real. I mean, all these people we have been going through a lot of things together. We have been facing the same or different challenges. We have been there helping each other. When Mauricio came to the United States the first time, he was staying at my apartment at the time. We were doing a show together. My wife and I, we decided to stay here. We actually came for our honeymoon, and we decided to stay with no official paper.

I mean, we were applying again for our artist visa. So we have all these journeys. Mauricio is struggling also to do a career on Broadway. He's an amazing Broadway actor. We're struggling with writing this story, with having a child, all these people singing our stories and singing my songs, is people that is for real la familia that my son calls them like tíos y tías, like aunties and uncles. It's real la familia, and I think that you can see that on stage. I think that it's very important that it's not only people singing songs by other people, it's like familia, it's like that you are in your living room with your family, telling stories, having fun, sharing about each other, and I think you can see that on stage, and that is very important. And you can feel that honesty.

[12:20] Robert Bannon: Well, absolutely. You must hear from so many people who are a part of the Hispanic community who do not, or any community who do not see themselves represented on stage often. We still are in a time where representation matters so much in theater and television and film. What is the response when people see their stories through your work?

[12:44] Jaime Lozano: I mean, to be honest, that is one of the most beautiful things about what I do. When I was a kid, I mean, I told you that I started very late in writing songs, and it was because of that. I didn't know what Broadway was, I didn't know Broadway existed. I didn't know that New York City was something reachable to me. So because I couldn't see someone like me doing what I was doing, like doing songwriting or writing musicals. So sometimes, I mean, we do concerts in almost every single venue in the city. To be honest, some concerts have been sold out, but sometimes you have to perform for 10 people, 15 people. It's very hard. But what I always say is you don't know who's gonna be there, you know.

You don't know if there's only two people in the audience, but one of those is gonna be inspired by, or you might change the life of some of them because they are looking at that representation now. And I think that representation is just a consequence of what we're doing. I think the first thing is we just have to be honest with what we're telling, be passionate and honest about our stories. And a lot of people ask me, oh, but why do you write only Latino stories or immigrant stories? And I mean, I consider that my mission. Of course, I can write any other kind of songs or any kind of other stories, but right now, I'm focusing on those stories and on being honest, because I think those stories deserve to be told and heard.

And other people see themselves in those stories is just a consequence of being honest with who I am. I think it's humanity. I absolutely, it's for everybody. You don't have to be the same language or the same exact story to understand feelings, emotions, and the journey of our lives. And that's what you do, and you do it well. You have all the awards to prove it, Jaime.

[14:43] Jaime Lozano: We're working hard. We're doing our best. What can we do to support besides coming to see the show May 30th? We could stream the music, right? Your albums, your music is out.

[14:51] Jaime Lozano: Yes, please. You can find Jaime Lozano and the Familia, Songs by an Immigrant in every single digital platform. Yeah, I think it's important to, it's free. I mean, now you don't even need to buy an album, you just can go online and listen to music. And I think, I mean, for us as artists trying to make a living off this, like people listening to our songs, sharing our art, I think it's important, and I'm really grateful for people like you who help us to spread the word and amplify our voices.

[15:28] Robert Bannon: Well, I'm so honored to spend time with you today. I can't wait to see where your work goes. I can't wait to see it literally be sung and performed all around this world, and you give voice to a lot of people who need that representation. It's God's work that you're doing. Jaime Lozano on Instagram, it's his name. You could get that, you can get tickets for May 30th at Lortel.org. And go to his website, stay up to date. You can find his music, you can go see his shows. There are shows all around the world. There'll be more shows in New York City. So we're new plays being written by him at this moment. He's writing right now. So we're excited to see all that's to come. I can't wait to catch one of your shows. I'm excited to see it and to listen.

[16:12] Jaime Lozano: Hope you can make it sooner.

[16:14] Jaime Lozano: Otherwise, I'll just meet you on the corner at Kennedy Boulevard and 65th Street, and we'll just put on a concert right there.

[16:20] Robert Bannon: Put a little...

[16:29] Jaime Lozano: Thank you so much, Robert.

[16:32] Jaime Lozano: How about that? All roads lead to Hudson County, New Jersey. Isn't that weird and random? You know, that's how we do it here on The Roundtable. If you liked our show, I am doing a show June 14th at 54 Below. You can get your tickets at 54below.org, Mauricio Martinez. Oh, he's such a good singer. Mexican novella, soap star, Broadway star. I'm in trouble. For more information about me, go to RobertBannon.com and you could listen to us every day also on the Broadway Podcast Network on Broadway World on Fridays. I'm right here on YouTube. I appreciate you all so much for being here. There is always more good than there is bad, and the best is always yet to come. Sometimes we just gotta look for it. You know what I'm saying? Till next time. Thanks for being here, everybody. Bye bye.