- [Announcer] Funding for this episode of Que Pasa NJ with Carlos Medina has been provided by: Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, P S E and G, P N C Bank, the Engineers Labor Employer Cooperative 825, R O I NJ Business Magazine, Hackensack Meridian Health.

(salsa music) - Welcome familia, welcome to this month's episode of Que Pasa, we have a special treat for you.

- [Carlos] We have Javier Munoz and Mandy Gonzalez, two stars of Broadway.

Who have starred in Hamilton and In the Heights.

Don't forget to ask yourself, ladies and gentlemen, "Que pasa?"

(salsa music continues) - [Carlos] And our guests for this very special episode are, Javier Munoz and Mandy Gonzalez, welcome to Que Pasa.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- I recently had somebody on, Bianca Marroquin, - Yeah.

- who I know you just performed with, - Mm hmm.

- And we talked about being bilingual as a superpower.

- Hmm.

- Tell me what you guys feel about being bilingual and do you agree?

Do you feel it is a superpower?

- I tell you what, so, growing up in, here in Brooklyn, New York, right, in the, in the education system that existed back in the seventies and eighties, it was not a great thing to - Okay.

- to speak both languages.

My parents were so scared about, opportunities for me, that my Spanish is so minimal.

Right, they wanted to focus on English so that I could have great opportunities within education.

And it's now, that I think it is a superpower.

Now it is, it is, I think it's expected at this point to to be bilingual.

So, I've, I've been, you know, training myself to learn more and more and more as I go.

But not only is it important in business, but I think creatively, - Mm hmm.

- you know, for for, for what we can, present.

Our stories and how we can present them, I think it's, it's becoming, it's become more important.

- Sure, sure.

- Absolutely, I think, I'm very similar to Javi, with how I grew up.

You know, my father is Mexican American, my mother is Jewish American, and so, Spanish wasn't really spoken in my household.

And I remember my father talking about how he grew up, and my father grew up as a farm worker.

He traveled all around the United States, and he didn't start school until, I think he was about eight years old when they settled in Northern California.

So my father didn't speak English at all.

And at that time, - Right - in the, let's see, I guess late fifties, early sixties, it was not encouraged, to speak both languages.

And even though my abuelos spoke very little English, it was always encouraged to speak English for my father.

And kind of, I feel like the Spanish in the school system was a little bit, you were a little shamed, - Sure.

- for speaking Spanish.

And so I think with us it was, he didn't push that as much.

And so as an adult, I've had to, and as a, you know, teenager, I've had to learn on my own.

And, you know, sometimes, as much as I've learned, I still am a little self, very self-conscious - Sure, sure.

- sometimes about, you know, my accent and things like that.

And not being a native, you know, Spanish speaker.

- [Carlos] That's great.

Those are interesting perspectives that I hadn't thought about, (Javier chuckling) so that's really great.

- Yeah.

- You've both played iconic roles on Broadway.

- Yes.

- Usnavi.

- Yes.

- Yes, Nina.. - Nina.

- Yes.

- Skyler's sister.

(all laughing) - [Mandy] Yes, all of it.

- [Carlos] Tell me what attracts both of you to these roles and what excites you about that storytelling, being able to, to tell through the lens of these characters.

- You wanna go ahead?

- Sure, yeah, Usnavi specifically, In the Heights was, for me, at the time, in this industry, in terms of theater, regionally, on Broadway in New York, everywhere, it was so difficult to be cast as a minority in this industry.

- Hmm.

- So In the Heights coming along, and all of us, being, you know, from, from one part of our culture or another, and full representation, with full integrity and dignity and pride, it was the biggest turning point in my career.

And I, and I think we all carried that, that responsibility that this was breaking through, in terms of our industry and representation.

That's, I think the, the most important thing that drew me to, to, to, In the Heights and, what fed each performance as Usnavi, when I finally took over, was to, was to maintain that.

You know?

And then Hamilton was, a beast and a half, (Carlos and Mandy laughing) but that, you know, it, it, it, it became an entity of its own.

It had an energy of its own.

You know, I remember so clearly, standing across the street from the public theater before our very first preview, before the, the public was gonna get to see this and know this, this show.

And I, I took a photo from across the street just to remember that moment of, this is the last night, this will be ours.

And after this, it's like, who knows what it's gonna become, but it's gonna belong to everybody else.

And, you know, obviously what it, it became what it became, and it, it just became a responsibility to, to make sure that every single performance was at my absolute best, where whatever degree that could be, because folks were waiting so long to come see that show.

It was always a special occasion for someone.

And, and, it, you just, you know, you had to, you had to pull it up, two show day, find that energy, get through it.

- Three hours?

- Yeah, yeah, exactly.

(Mandy laughing) You know, but please.

- No, I think, well, my career, on Broadway started in 2001.

I was in a show called Aida, Disney's Aida, and then from Aida, I went to another show called Dance of the Vampires, (Javier chuckles) which didn't do as well.

And then I went to another show called Lenin, which didn't do as well.

And I then went to meet Lin-Manuel Miranda and Tommy Kale and became a part of In the Heights.

I know that, your journey with In the Heights, started before mine.

- Just a little bit, yeah.

- A little bit before, but, it was the first time, In the Heights was the first time where I really felt like I was home, you know?

And I think being in the room with other Latinos and feeling like we were telling this story that was so, so important, and I know for us, we've both had our own journeys about being Latinos in this business.

And for me, as a young Latina, I was told to change my name, I was told that I would never, I was too ethnic for this, I wasn't ethnic enough for this, I, you know, and so, with In the Heights I felt like I could just be me.

- Yeah.

- And everybody in that room, we all had a very similar story.

- Yeah.

- And so I think when you start in this kind of business, you hope to be a part of something like that, you know?

And, and then when you actually get to do it, and now when we do our show and we get to see younger people coming of all backgrounds and saying, "oh, that's my story", and, you know, "This is the first time I saw a musical, and I really liked the music, and it was part of it."

I feel so proud to, to be part of that.

- That's great yeah.

- Representation and diversity are very important themes, - Very important.

- on Broadway.

And you're both vocal advocates.

- Yes.

- Yes.

- And you've both touched on it in your answer, interestingly enough, so, (Javier laughing) Tell me more.

How, how's Broadway doing?

How can we do better?

Do you see incremental change?

- Incremental, I mean, it is a, a slow process, slower than I wish it would be.

- Mm hmm.

- I think we have much further to go in terms of representation and opportunity, - Mm hmm.

- and who's telling our stories.

But I, I, I have seen growth and I have seen change, and I, I, I remember, I can, I can actually like chart the moments where I was in, you know, suddenly in the room, in the waiting room for my callback, as the only person of color in the room for the callback, right.

And it was like, that's a step.

Okay, okay.

- Yeah absolutely.

- so they're seeing me now, right?

And, and now being able to go to, to, to audition and the callback processes and see the room filled with us.

- Mm.

- Filled with us, right?

And that's, that's, yes.

Right, so like, it, it, there has been growth and even in terms of writing, the types of characters that we get to play, - Mm hmm.

- as opposed to, you know, when I first started in this industry in the nineties, and it was thug number one and drug dealer number two, and it was like, I'm not doing this, - Yeah, yeah.

- but, you know, and, and to now, you know, come so far and be able to play these, anyone, really, you know, and that's, that's, that's growth.

But, in terms of what gets produced, in terms of who's behind the table, writing our stories, directing our stories, choreographing our stories, that, that, that I'd like to see more diversity there in terms of our industry, for sure.

- Excellent.

- Absolutely.

We have come so far, but we have so far to go.

I think Hamilton definitely opened a lot of doors for all of us, as others have opened the doors before them.

I remember, when Hamilton first opened, finally getting those calls to come in for those leading roles that I never would've been looked at before.

- Yeah.

- And being the only one.

- Yeah.

- And then looking around now and going, okay, now, it's, you know, we're not only in the room, for the job, we're getting the job.

- Yeah.

- And that's very exciting.

But we do have a long way to go.

You know, when I first started, in this business, and even now sometimes, even though they shouldn't say this anymore, I would get the com I would get the comment of, "Well, we're really looking for the girl next door.

She's not the girl next door, the mom next door."

And it's like, well, what does that mean?

- Yeah, exactly, exactly.

- Because I am.

(Javier laughing) Right!

(Mandy laughing) I am the girl next door!

- What does that look like, exactly?

- I don't, I don't, I don't understand what that means.

And then I'll go and see the show and, and see who they hired and go, "oh, that's what that means?"

Like, okay, I, I get it.

But, that's not an excuse anymore.

- Yeah.

- And I think the best person always should get the job and, and so, I think being part of the conversation is very exciting.

And for our show, that we're going to be doing, we have used the Rise Directory.

Our musical director made sure that he used the Rise Directory to hire musicians.

And so, it is opening a door, I think, for, for us to know that that conversation is happening.

And for that to be possible.

- Can you explain to our viewers what the Rise Directory is?

- Yeah, please go.

- Yes.

(Carlos and Mandy laughing) - I was gonna mention, yeah, yeah.

- Yes, no, the Rise Directory is a directory that has been created by professionals in our industry, professionals like, Lin-Manuel Miranda, - Lin, yeah.

- and the Rise Directory, a lot of times musicians in this industry, are, a lot of times in the, his history, have only been hired for theater and things like that, have been white musicians.

- Mm hmm.

And the Rise Directory creates a directory for musical directors and for directors and, - Musicians themselves.

- Musicians... - Just across the board.

- You need to know that there are, other people that you can hire within the Bipoc community.

- Creating a resource essentially, to make it so easy for people who are looking to fill those positions, to just turn to it, turn to the Rise Directory, find who you're looking for.

- That's great.

- Absolutely.

And that's why - Inclusion and diversity.

- Yeah, and that's why it's been important for us to go and do our show in these different communities, so that young people and people of all ages with their families can see that, - Yeah.

- this is possible.

Oh, I can do theater, but I can also do a concert.

- Yeah.

- I can also sing with symphonies, I can do these things.

And it's very important, I know, for us, to open those doors and to say, "Hey, we're here.

Come with me."

- Come, come on.

- You don't just have to be in this one, you just, you don't have to just perform in this one place.

There's so many places for you.

And, and so I think, something like the Rise Directory, also creates that.

- That's great.

I'll tell you that here in Jersey, they have a program in which, if you have a film production, you do get bonus tax rebates if your crew and team are diverse, so... - Great.

- Oh, that's great.

- Kudos to New Jersey - Yeah.

- for doing that.

(Mandy snapping fingers) Work!

- We, we need more of that.

- Yes, we do, yes we do!

- Yes!

- You've both shared the stage with some amazing actors and actresses in your career.

- Why yes.

(Javier an Mandy laugh) - [Carlos] What has been your favorite collaboration?

- Oh my gosh, oh, well.

- Oh, I mean.

- You have like, collaborated with, I think Lin is, you know, you guys sharing these roles, - I know.

- that must be... - Just... - It's, it's completely unique, it's its own thing.

It, it's.. - Yeah, he.

would watch Javi, I would, I remember during In the Heights, because he was also writing, and so he would need somebody, he would need Javi to play Usnavi and during rehearsals, so that he could see what needed to be reworked.

And it really was - Totally.

- just such a collaboration.

- Right.

And that's not something you get to see anywhere else in our industry.

Two actors, sharing a role, creating a role together, is unheard of.

But Lin and I do that.

- It's a trust.

- Yeah, it's a trust.

- Yeah - It's a, it's a, it's a friendship - Mm hmm.

- and it's how we built Usnavi, it's how we build Hamilton together.

And, he's, I mean, it's, it's, I don't know, it, it's indescribable, getting in a room with him, in that way, I don't know if it'll ever happen again at this point.

It's so strange - Oh yes it will!

- to think about, I don't know.

But it, but it, you know, it's, it's it's own unique, special, creative relationship, for sure.

- Absolutely.

I think the people that I've worked with, in, In the Heights, have been some of my, you know, my favorite collaborators.

- And the worst of it all we're all still friends.

- Yes!

- We're all still hanging out.

- We're like also friends and it's like family, (Javier laughing) but if I'm doing a new show, I'll say, "Hey, will you come and see the show?

Like, tell me what you think", or... You know I just did a show at The Old Globe, in San Diego with Bianca, but I didn't work with Bianca in, In the Heights, but I also worked with Carlos Gomez, who played my father (Javier laughing) in In the Heights.

And now he was playing my husband.

(Javier laughing loudly) You know, it's a telenovella for the stage, so it also had to have a telenovella behind the stage as well.

But I couldn't, you know, there's no one else I, I trust more than my family from In the Heights.

It's like, I knew that, you know, if I could ask Carlos, "Well what do you think of this?

Or what do you think of this?"

Like, I knew that, we have the same, - Yeah.

- you know, we just... - It's like a shorthand.

- We speak the same language.

- Yeah.

- It's a, it's a shorthand when you have that kind of history, with people, and, and I think, I'm so grateful that I've been a part of this business for so long that I have people within my community that I trust like that.

As an artist, there's just, there's nothing like that.

- If I can add one more thing to that question, - Go ahead.

(Mandy and Carlos laughing) - is, is our show.

Is, is, is - Yes, absolutely.

- Of course!

- what we created, because, honestly, I, I'm, I was so green, to concert performances until Mandy got me on board for this project.

- Well, 'cause, I didn't know (Javier laughing) like, okay, I've only seen Javi in, In the Heights, and I saw him in Hamilton, but I didn't know he had this voice, like the singing voice.

I mean, I knew he could sing the stuff from that, - Right.

- but then, we did a concert together with Tom Kitt, - Yeah.

- and, he sang a song from Man of Lamancha, Impossible Dream.

- Impossible Dream.

- And I was just like, who is this?

(Javier laughs) And, let's do something.

(Javier laughing) I'm like, let's sing and let's do stuff together that, you know, talk about shows that we have never been cast in, but, we wanna do, and we should be cast in.

- Yeah.

- And it's like, well if, you know, we weren't cast in it and they don't wanna hire us, let's put a show together where we create our own content, and we make, you know, - Yeah.

- our own dreams come.

- Yeah honestly, yes.

- I dunno.

- I mean, truly.

- But it, it's true It's like a, it, it has been this constant conversation and, and it's a wonderful way for us to see each other.

- Yeah.

- And to connect.

But also we have gone to places that, you know, in this country, that we haven't ever - Like, ever.

- been to before.

- Yeah.

- Ever and it's like, man, we're telling these stories to a whole new community.

- Yes.

- And it's exciting, you know?

- Yeah.

- Like we, I didn't think we'd go to Kentucky, like.

- No, that was an experience.

(Javier laughing) - Yeah, but there we are, and people are like, yeah, we love In the Heights, we love Hamilton, and it's just like, hey, you know, but they haven't been able to go and see those shows.

- Right.

- But we are able to go and to bring our love, of, not just each other, but of that material to, you know, to everybody.

- Tell me, how's Fearless going?

You did the solo album, Fearless, tell us about it, and the book.

- Yes, Fearless is going great.

I think it's always a, a word that I constantly try to, try to figure out, that follows me, but I try to, no longer live up to, but, try to work, work in to whatever is going on in my life.

It has led me, that word, has led me through so many moments of my life.

And I feel so lucky to be able to share that feeling, through music.

And so, I think being able to do the concerts, and sing songs from that album, that I absolutely love, including the title track written by Lin, and called Fearless.

And then, to create stories for young people with my Fearless series.

You know, I just released my third book.

- Yes.

- Of the Fearless Series.

And it has been a true joy, to meet so many young people that have, have read my books and, and to see themselves and to go, oh, maybe I want a career in this, this crazy world of the arts.

But, it has to start - Sure, sure.

- with seeing yourself.

- Exactly.

And as role models, both of you, and talking about giving back, tell us how, you know, how do you give back?

Tell me what are some words of advice you'd give to aspiring performers who, wanna, try this crazy career that you guys have successfully navigated?

- I'll tell you, somewhere around my freshman year in college, I discovered that I had a, a deep passion for activism.

- Hmm.

- And, that has grown alongside my art and my craft.

And, and so, to me, they're one and the same.

So the roles that I, I select in the, in the, the projects I, I, I say yes to, I'm always thinking about, what is, what is this message to a younger version of me somewhere watching this.

To my nephews, to, to some minority somewhere who's going to see this, and experience this.

And, and trying to, to portray characters that somehow connect to the activism that I, I believe in and support.

And I think they, they feed each other.

And that's my way of, of trying to give back.

And words of advice, I mean, I would, oof, I would say, that, I know, I know, I know this gets said a lot, but I mean, truly, there, there's, there are far enough messages out there that will try to convince you that you are not enough.

That you are less than.

That you should not.

And, my, my strongest advice is, you know, do whatever you need to do to, you know, block tho, that messaging.

Be the kindest and gentlest to yourself, because you can, and you should.

Whatever the dream is, pursue it, because you, you deserve it.

You deserve to try.

And, that really has to start with a gentleness and a kindness and a love, within you, for yourself.

So that's, that's the thing to preserve.

No matter all the stuff that happens in the industry at any given point, even to this day, (chuckling) you know.

It doesn't matter how long you've been in the industry.

Stick with that.

That, let that be your, your root and your core.

- Ugh, absolutely.

The work that Javi does is so inspiring to me.

Not just work as an artist, but his activism, his advocacy, it has inspired me, to also, become, more of an advocate, more of an activist in things that I believe in.

And so, it's important to us, wherever we go, to meet with young people within the community.

- Yes.

- We try to do a master class, with a teacher that is an arts teacher within the community.

- That's local, yeah.

- That's local, that has students that wanna work with us, like a master class.

Like, we really try to make that possible.

And then, we also invite students from that master class or that work with that teacher, to come on stage with us for the last two songs.

- Yes.

- 'Cause there's nothing like, I mean, I couldn't imagine being a young person, but there's nothing like when somebody that you admire, invites you to, to stand with them.

There, there's nothing like that, that, you never know who, who's up there.

- Sure.

- Who's the next, you know, Javier Munoz, or the first, (Javier and Carlos laughing) you know, like.

- Right, yeah.

- And, for me, I think the advice that I, that I always get give, and I might've said this when we were talking before with Destiny of Desire, is, from a Pablo Neruda poem, which is, "Traveler there is no trail.

The path is made by walking."

And you can see my life and think, oh, it's so fabulous and that's what I want to do, and I'm gonna be like, Mandy Gonzalez and Ha, and like Javi, and I'm gonna, you know, do a show like In the Heights and this and that.

And it's like, that's great.

Start there, start with all those dreams and wants, but just start, you know, take that first step forward and you never know where your path is gonna take you.

My path took me on so many different, - Yeah.

you know, ways before I got to In the Heights and so many different ways that all of my heroes never took, you know?

But it was my journey and my path.

And, but you have to start, in order for that journey to open up to you.

You may start in a world that thinks, I'm gonna be an actor, I'm gonna be this, and then you go, oh, I really like lighting design, or, I like sound design, or I like stage management, or, I like company management.

I like doing, you know, the behind the scenes stuff better.

You know, but you have to start in order to, to get where you need to go.

- Sure, sure.

That's great words.

So you have a little show coming up?

- [Mandy] Yes!

(Javier chuckling) - Tell me about it.

- A little show?

(Javier laughing) A big show.!

- Big show.

- We're going to be at the Mayo Center in Morristown, - Yes.

- New Jersey, my hometown.

(Carlos laughing) - And, I'm so, I'm so excited.

We're bringing our show, Hitting New Heights, - Yes.

- on September the 29th.

And, we will have, students that will be up there for our finale, from the Mayo Center, they have their own educational program, and those students will be singing with us that night.

But we will be doing a show that, you know, is about, us.

- It celebrates us.

Our friendship.

- Our friendship.

- [Javier] The shows we've done together, yeah.

- [Mandy] And our love of theater.

And you will see songs from In the Heights.

You will see songs from Hamilton.

- [Javier] Yes, we encourage lots of people to sing along.

(Carlos laughing) - there's a lot of sing along in our show.

- All right.

- [Javier] Yes.

Yes.

- And, yeah, and even if you don't ask people to sing along, they just start singing along and that's okay too.

- Yeah, and it's awesome.

It's awesome, yes.

- It's awesome, it's really, it's a celebration - Yeah.

- of, of our friendship.

It's a celebration of our life in, in the theater.

And it continues to grow and change.

And so, if you've seen the show before, come back and see something new.

- Come again, because it, it's all joy.

- Yeah.

- Especially after, coming back after lockdown and pandemic, - Oh my gosh.

- When we got back on the road with this show, it was just, like, light, joy, fun, come have a good time.

Yeah.

- Yeah.

- So I wanna put you on the spot, give our viewers a taste of what they're gonna experience in September at the Mayo.

- Oh, okay.

(fingers snapping) ♪ Can you remind me ♪ ♪ of what it was like ♪ ♪ at the top of the world ♪ ♪ There's a breeze off the Hudson, ♪ ♪ and just when you think you're sick of living here, ♪ ♪ the memory floods in the ♪ ♪ Morning light off the fire escapes ♪ ♪ the nights in Bennett Park ♪ ♪ Blastin' Big Pun tapes ♪ I'm a, stop there.

(All laughing) - Woo, awesome, love it.

Thank you, thank you.

That was great.

Thank you for joining Que Pasa.

- Thank you for having us.

- Thank you so much for having us Carlos.

- Guys, yes.

- Thank you.

- No, it's been wonderful.

Thank you.

I'm a big fan.

Best of luck and I'll - Thank you.

- see you, September, what's the date again?

- 29th.

- 29Th.

- September 29th, at the Mayo in Morristown.

- See you there!

(All chuckling) - Thank you.

- Thank you.

- Ladies and gentlemen, that's a wrap.

You heard from the wonderful, illustrious, Mandy and Javier, stars of Broadway.

Don't forget to ask yourselves, Que pasa?

- [Announcer] Funding for this episode of Que Pasa NJ with Carlos Medina, has been provided by: Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, P S E and G, P N C Bank, the Engineer's Labor Employer Cooperative, 825, R O I, NJ Business Magazine, Hackensack Meridian Health.

This has been a production of the Modesto Educational Foundation.

(salsa music)