WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:01.960
<v Speaker 1>What does a bluebird mean for me?

2
00:00:02.880 --> 00:00:06.200
<v Speaker 2>I think, to me in a simple way, it means

3
00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:11.799
<v Speaker 2>my own expression and creativity and ability to be myself

4
00:00:11.920 --> 00:00:15.920
<v Speaker 2>in the world through through my own voice. When the

5
00:00:15.920 --> 00:00:18.759
<v Speaker 2>bluebird is singing is when I'm creating, when I am

6
00:00:19.320 --> 00:00:23.239
<v Speaker 2>expressing myself, and when that isn't happening, it's almost like

7
00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:27.000
<v Speaker 2>the bluebird is trapped in my own head and cannot

8
00:00:27.080 --> 00:00:28.320
<v Speaker 2>really sing.

9
00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:35.680
<v Speaker 3>From futuro Media and pr X, It's Latino Usa. I'm

10
00:00:35.680 --> 00:00:39.560
<v Speaker 3>Maria no Josa Today guitarist and composer has seen that

11
00:00:39.640 --> 00:00:44.519
<v Speaker 3>clue say yes on the making of our first bilingual musical, Assuit.

12
00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:54.040
<v Speaker 3>In a theater industry dominated by white men, finding a

13
00:00:54.120 --> 00:00:57.800
<v Speaker 3>musical with an all female creative team behind it is

14
00:00:58.040 --> 00:01:02.000
<v Speaker 3>pretty rare. But find me in a bilingual musical where

15
00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:07.200
<v Speaker 3>the characters speak Spanglish is even more unusual. Assul the

16
00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:10.240
<v Speaker 3>musical is both of those things.

17
00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:12.760
<v Speaker 2>Thank you for the andro oxion.

18
00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:23.080
<v Speaker 1>I'm sorry about nikon Fuki.

19
00:01:23.600 --> 00:01:28.000
<v Speaker 3>Asul follows the journey of a woman named Bluebird. She

20
00:01:28.160 --> 00:01:30.880
<v Speaker 3>leaves her home to travel to a new world, and

21
00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:35.640
<v Speaker 3>there she has a daughter, Rita. Rita becomes a composer

22
00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:40.039
<v Speaker 3>and through her music, she tries to reimagine the motherland

23
00:01:40.160 --> 00:01:48.600
<v Speaker 3>that she never knew. The musical's inspiration comes from a

24
00:01:48.680 --> 00:01:53.360
<v Speaker 3>concept album by an Argentinian musician, Hassinda cluse Yes. The

25
00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:57.280
<v Speaker 3>album was called El Pajaro Assoul the Bluebird, and it

26
00:01:57.360 --> 00:02:00.840
<v Speaker 3>was one of Jacintha's major projects after she left Argentina

27
00:02:01.160 --> 00:02:03.720
<v Speaker 3>more than a decade ago to study at Berkeley School

28
00:02:03.720 --> 00:02:20.560
<v Speaker 3>of Music in Boston. When her friend and Argentinian theater

29
00:02:20.639 --> 00:02:25.000
<v Speaker 3>director that Tianna Pandiani first listened to the album, she

30
00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:30.800
<v Speaker 3>immediately envisioned it as a musical on stage, but musicals

31
00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:35.200
<v Speaker 3>weren't one of Hassintha's main interests. Still, once that Tiana

32
00:02:35.320 --> 00:02:39.000
<v Speaker 3>introduced her to the world of musical theater, it was

33
00:02:39.160 --> 00:02:44.400
<v Speaker 3>impossible for Hassinda not to feel attracted to it. In

34
00:02:44.520 --> 00:02:49.200
<v Speaker 3>musical theater, the music moves the story and it's as

35
00:02:49.200 --> 00:02:55.639
<v Speaker 3>important as any dialogue or action. It reveals character, motivations

36
00:02:56.040 --> 00:03:01.760
<v Speaker 3>and the real hidden intentions. It's as emotions that can't

37
00:03:01.800 --> 00:03:08.960
<v Speaker 3>be expressed with words. Jacintha and Tatiana then teamed up

38
00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:12.840
<v Speaker 3>with Turkish writer Melis Akir to bring Asoul the Musical

39
00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:19.680
<v Speaker 3>to life. The three artists embarked on a deeply collaborative project,

40
00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:24.519
<v Speaker 3>and after seven years of hard work, the creators of

41
00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:28.720
<v Speaker 3>ASU released an EP with songs from the musical. They

42
00:03:28.760 --> 00:03:31.680
<v Speaker 3>celebrated with two concerts at fifty four Below and at

43
00:03:31.760 --> 00:03:33.960
<v Speaker 3>Joe's Pub, which are a big deal in the New

44
00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:39.320
<v Speaker 3>York theater community. Every day is a hustling and wabo.

45
00:03:40.200 --> 00:03:41.600
<v Speaker 1>Let me show you around.

46
00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:42.840
<v Speaker 2>I was born in this time.

47
00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:49.000
<v Speaker 3>Latino Broadway stars like Mandy Gonzalez, Robin de Hissus, and

48
00:03:49.080 --> 00:03:53.440
<v Speaker 3>Anna Villafagne performed and that helped build a buzz around

49
00:03:53.440 --> 00:03:58.520
<v Speaker 3>the musical. Meanwhile, Jacinta is now embracing her passion for

50
00:03:58.680 --> 00:04:02.840
<v Speaker 3>musical theater and she's working on a new musical commission

51
00:04:02.920 --> 00:04:06.560
<v Speaker 3>at the Goodman Theater in Chicago. Also, she's written music

52
00:04:06.600 --> 00:04:10.840
<v Speaker 3>for the animated musical series Hell of a Boss. Here's

53
00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:14.520
<v Speaker 3>Asul's composer and co creator, Jacinta Husey.

54
00:04:14.640 --> 00:04:23.920
<v Speaker 2>Yes, my name is Jacinta cluse Yes, I am a composer,

55
00:04:24.200 --> 00:04:28.839
<v Speaker 2>a songwriter, guitarist, and I am the composer and co

56
00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:32.320
<v Speaker 2>lyricist of the musical Asul. I would say he became

57
00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:35.839
<v Speaker 2>a musician when I was eleven years old. There was

58
00:04:35.880 --> 00:04:39.159
<v Speaker 2>a lot of music in my home growing up in

59
00:04:39.240 --> 00:04:42.160
<v Speaker 2>Buenos Aiele and Sargentina. No one in my family was

60
00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:44.279
<v Speaker 2>a musician, but there was always a lot of love

61
00:04:44.360 --> 00:04:47.800
<v Speaker 2>for music at home. Actually, my dad was the one

62
00:04:47.880 --> 00:04:50.680
<v Speaker 2>who asked me if I wanted to start learning guitar,

63
00:04:51.200 --> 00:04:53.440
<v Speaker 2>just because a friend of his was a guitarist who

64
00:04:53.520 --> 00:04:56.720
<v Speaker 2>was giving lessons, and so I just fell in love

65
00:04:56.720 --> 00:05:00.760
<v Speaker 2>with the guitar immediately. I remember the very guitar lesson

66
00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:07.760
<v Speaker 2>I had. I just played an emin or chorn and

67
00:05:07.839 --> 00:05:14.360
<v Speaker 2>that blew me away. I couldn't believe I could create sound,

68
00:05:14.640 --> 00:05:18.400
<v Speaker 2>and I hadn't had any previous experience with instruments.

69
00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:20.640
<v Speaker 1>It was so clear.

70
00:05:20.760 --> 00:05:23.560
<v Speaker 2>It was like I played a few chords and that

71
00:05:23.760 --> 00:05:26.640
<v Speaker 2>just really got me into it.

72
00:05:27.880 --> 00:05:29.720
<v Speaker 1>The guitar has been my main instrument.

73
00:05:30.040 --> 00:05:32.920
<v Speaker 2>I play cher ango also, which is an instrument from

74
00:05:32.960 --> 00:05:36.640
<v Speaker 2>the Andes. I also sing play a little bit of piano,

75
00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:39.840
<v Speaker 2>but still the guitar has always been like my rock.

76
00:05:41.400 --> 00:05:45.640
<v Speaker 2>I went to music school in Bunosides and I was

77
00:05:45.960 --> 00:05:48.080
<v Speaker 2>just in love with the guitar. All I wanted to

78
00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:54.000
<v Speaker 2>do was play guitar, and then I applied to Berkeley

79
00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:57.240
<v Speaker 2>College of Music in Boston, thinking it would be impossible

80
00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:01.039
<v Speaker 2>for me to go from Monosidas. I got a scholarship

81
00:06:03.480 --> 00:06:07.080
<v Speaker 2>and I went to Berkeley mainly to study jazz guitar.

82
00:06:07.320 --> 00:06:10.640
<v Speaker 2>At the time, I was really into jazz and that

83
00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:12.960
<v Speaker 2>was something that I felt I needed to come to

84
00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:17.640
<v Speaker 2>the US to really study. I came here and being

85
00:06:17.800 --> 00:06:22.240
<v Speaker 2>far from home made me reconnect more with my music

86
00:06:22.320 --> 00:06:28.320
<v Speaker 2>from my country, and through that process I started learning

87
00:06:28.320 --> 00:06:31.960
<v Speaker 2>a lot more about Argentinian for chloric music, and that

88
00:06:32.360 --> 00:06:35.880
<v Speaker 2>got me into writing my own songs. I heard this

89
00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:40.200
<v Speaker 2>story from many musicians that only when they left their

90
00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:42.920
<v Speaker 2>country is that they really got into the music from

91
00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:43.880
<v Speaker 2>their own country.

92
00:06:44.520 --> 00:06:45.400
<v Speaker 1>So that happened to me.

93
00:06:45.880 --> 00:06:49.159
<v Speaker 2>When I was younger, a teenager, I was really into

94
00:06:49.640 --> 00:06:53.760
<v Speaker 2>rock and bands like Pink Floyd, led Zeppelin, the Beatles.

95
00:06:54.040 --> 00:06:57.479
<v Speaker 2>That was my music, that was my thing, and only

96
00:06:57.480 --> 00:07:01.440
<v Speaker 2>when I left Argentina. Is almost like the nostalgia for

97
00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:13.320
<v Speaker 2>my home made me connect with that music. On my

98
00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:15.840
<v Speaker 2>way here, I was listening to my first album at

99
00:07:15.840 --> 00:07:20.280
<v Speaker 2>Bararosul to remember and get myself in that world and

100
00:07:20.320 --> 00:07:24.320
<v Speaker 2>that experience and the story of that album is that

101
00:07:24.440 --> 00:07:27.120
<v Speaker 2>I was a student at Berkeley, I was about to

102
00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:32.920
<v Speaker 2>end my undergrad and I did this trip to Mexico

103
00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:36.160
<v Speaker 2>with my brother. This was like probably ten years ago.

104
00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:39.800
<v Speaker 2>We were traveling just my brother and I all throughout Mexico,

105
00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:46.280
<v Speaker 2>completely improvising and going to wherever the winds would take us.

106
00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:49.880
<v Speaker 2>And we arrived at this beach. I think it's Plaja

107
00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:53.120
<v Speaker 2>Condida hidden Beach, which is not really a beach. It's

108
00:07:53.200 --> 00:07:57.760
<v Speaker 2>like some random place that we arrived somehow, and this

109
00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:11.679
<v Speaker 2>melody came to my mind, which was save Lobardy, which

110
00:08:11.720 --> 00:08:14.920
<v Speaker 2>means the bluebird is about to fly away. And I

111
00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:17.760
<v Speaker 2>wrote this beginning of a song with that, and I

112
00:08:17.760 --> 00:08:20.080
<v Speaker 2>had no idea what it meant or where it came from.

113
00:08:20.440 --> 00:08:29.679
<v Speaker 2>And so when I got back to Boston, I did

114
00:08:29.880 --> 00:08:33.840
<v Speaker 2>some research around what this bluebird could mean, and I

115
00:08:33.920 --> 00:08:37.520
<v Speaker 2>found this story called the Parasul the Bluebird by rown Dario,

116
00:08:38.360 --> 00:08:41.760
<v Speaker 2>which is about this young poet who says that has

117
00:08:41.800 --> 00:08:46.719
<v Speaker 2>a bluebird trapped in his mind and that bluebird can

118
00:08:46.760 --> 00:08:49.520
<v Speaker 2>only sing when he's writing his verses, and a lot

119
00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:53.400
<v Speaker 2>of people make fun of him because no one really understands.

120
00:08:53.480 --> 00:08:57.440
<v Speaker 2>He's very misunderstood, and sometimes he feels like this bluebird

121
00:08:57.480 --> 00:09:01.680
<v Speaker 2>cannot fly unless he's creating his verse. And the story

122
00:09:01.720 --> 00:09:04.680
<v Speaker 2>is a very tragic one because it ends with suicide.

123
00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:17.800
<v Speaker 2>He leaves a note saying, now my bluebird can fly away.

124
00:09:19.520 --> 00:09:21.520
<v Speaker 1>Okay, so I'll go back as.

125
00:09:25.800 --> 00:09:29.200
<v Speaker 2>That was very moving to me, that metaphor of the

126
00:09:29.240 --> 00:09:33.040
<v Speaker 2>bluebird in one's mind and what that means for different people.

127
00:09:33.720 --> 00:09:35.600
<v Speaker 2>Now that I think about it with some distance, it

128
00:09:35.640 --> 00:09:38.719
<v Speaker 2>connects a lot to mental health and to what are

129
00:09:38.760 --> 00:09:41.240
<v Speaker 2>those things that we have in our minds that we

130
00:09:41.320 --> 00:09:44.600
<v Speaker 2>can only let out in specific ways, especially as artists.

131
00:09:45.520 --> 00:09:50.280
<v Speaker 2>That really inspired me. So my whole al became a

132
00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:52.120
<v Speaker 2>concept album based on that story.

133
00:09:53.120 --> 00:09:54.920
<v Speaker 1>What does a bluebird mean for me? And this is

134
00:09:54.960 --> 00:09:55.800
<v Speaker 1>something that we.

135
00:09:55.679 --> 00:10:00.560
<v Speaker 2>Talk a lot about with my collaborators in my music Lasul,

136
00:10:00.880 --> 00:10:03.720
<v Speaker 2>with Tadiana and my list and I think, to me,

137
00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:07.760
<v Speaker 2>in a simple way, it means my own expression and

138
00:10:07.800 --> 00:10:13.000
<v Speaker 2>creativity and ability to be myself in the world through

139
00:10:13.400 --> 00:10:17.160
<v Speaker 2>through my own voice. When the bluebird is singing is

140
00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:21.720
<v Speaker 2>when I'm creating, when I am expressing myself, and when

141
00:10:22.040 --> 00:10:24.800
<v Speaker 2>that isn't happening, it's almost like the bluebird is trapped

142
00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:27.600
<v Speaker 2>in my own head and cannot really sing.

143
00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:31.959
<v Speaker 1>I could have.

144
00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:35.280
<v Speaker 2>Never imagined that my album and Back as We would

145
00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:39.280
<v Speaker 2>be an inspiration for a musical. I was not a

146
00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:42.840
<v Speaker 2>musical theater person at all. That was not a thing

147
00:10:43.320 --> 00:10:46.720
<v Speaker 2>in Argentina. Obviously, it is a thing that in my

148
00:10:46.760 --> 00:10:49.800
<v Speaker 2>own home. It was never a thing. I had no influences,

149
00:10:49.800 --> 00:10:53.160
<v Speaker 2>no background, anything, And even during Berkeley that thought didn't

150
00:10:53.200 --> 00:10:55.360
<v Speaker 2>even cross my mind. When I was still in Boston,

151
00:10:55.880 --> 00:10:58.800
<v Speaker 2>my good friend Tatiana Pandiani, who's the director of a

152
00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:03.520
<v Speaker 2>soul Kobokri with my list aker and co lyricist, I

153
00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:08.360
<v Speaker 2>started working with her in her thesis production at Columbia University.

154
00:11:08.400 --> 00:11:13.280
<v Speaker 1>She was a graduate student there. I got into.

155
00:11:13.040 --> 00:11:16.240
<v Speaker 2>That play then became a musical, and I was traveling

156
00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:19.880
<v Speaker 2>from Boston to New York to play guitar in that production,

157
00:11:20.400 --> 00:11:24.120
<v Speaker 2>and that whole experience made me fall in love with

158
00:11:24.200 --> 00:11:25.120
<v Speaker 2>the musical theater.

159
00:11:25.240 --> 00:11:26.280
<v Speaker 1>I was like, what is this?

160
00:11:27.280 --> 00:11:31.120
<v Speaker 2>How cool is it that music is serving a purpose

161
00:11:31.240 --> 00:11:34.679
<v Speaker 2>to tell a story and the collaboration aspect of it.

162
00:11:34.760 --> 00:11:37.520
<v Speaker 2>So I then moved to New York about a year

163
00:11:37.559 --> 00:11:44.480
<v Speaker 2>after that, and I released my album at Parosula and

164
00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:49.720
<v Speaker 2>Tatiana came to see the release concert and she had

165
00:11:49.720 --> 00:11:53.160
<v Speaker 2>the vision of this album being an inspiration for a musical.

166
00:11:53.559 --> 00:11:56.920
<v Speaker 2>So I shared the story with her and together we

167
00:11:57.000 --> 00:12:01.040
<v Speaker 2>started creating the first steps of what us would become.

168
00:12:01.760 --> 00:12:06.080
<v Speaker 2>That Tiana is an incredible director who also has the

169
00:12:06.280 --> 00:12:10.720
<v Speaker 2>vision of story and crafting a story, and she's a

170
00:12:10.760 --> 00:12:13.959
<v Speaker 2>writer in her own rights as well. So the first

171
00:12:14.040 --> 00:12:17.440
<v Speaker 2>step in creating as well was right after Taiana brought

172
00:12:17.480 --> 00:12:20.559
<v Speaker 2>this idea to me. We started by doing a lot

173
00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:24.160
<v Speaker 2>of research, finding a lot of other stories and poems

174
00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:28.880
<v Speaker 2>that would connect to El Pajarosoul and we started creating

175
00:12:28.920 --> 00:12:31.520
<v Speaker 2>our own arc of the story. This was for the

176
00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:36.120
<v Speaker 2>first act, and her first step was getting actors together

177
00:12:36.200 --> 00:12:39.679
<v Speaker 2>in a room and starting to explore with some ideas

178
00:12:39.760 --> 00:12:43.120
<v Speaker 2>and started to create some music and develop some characters.

179
00:12:43.280 --> 00:12:52.840
<v Speaker 1>We hate to please and wear a smile gosa. I love, yes, love,

180
00:12:54.360 --> 00:12:55.720
<v Speaker 1>and I always remember those days.

181
00:12:55.720 --> 00:12:59.600
<v Speaker 2>That's very playful days of getting together in the room,

182
00:12:59.720 --> 00:13:03.720
<v Speaker 2>read stories, I would teach some music, we would try

183
00:13:03.720 --> 00:13:07.080
<v Speaker 2>things out, we would play around with different scenes, and

184
00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:09.920
<v Speaker 2>we had a presentation at the end where we felt

185
00:13:10.120 --> 00:13:15.200
<v Speaker 2>we had something. We had a very strong core which

186
00:13:15.240 --> 00:13:18.760
<v Speaker 2>still remains the same, which is the Bluebird. But still

187
00:13:18.880 --> 00:13:23.360
<v Speaker 2>at that time, the main character Bluebird was a man,

188
00:13:24.400 --> 00:13:28.200
<v Speaker 2>and in the new version of the show, blue Bird

189
00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:31.360
<v Speaker 2>is a woman. So at the time It was very

190
00:13:31.480 --> 00:13:34.920
<v Speaker 2>much a place of discovery and getting to share with

191
00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:38.120
<v Speaker 2>a few people and getting to see if the.

192
00:13:38.120 --> 00:13:41.600
<v Speaker 1>Arc of the stories that we had chosen would work together.

193
00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:44.600
<v Speaker 2>There was a moment when we felt like we really

194
00:13:44.640 --> 00:13:48.520
<v Speaker 2>need a playwright to join the team and to start

195
00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:52.640
<v Speaker 2>crafting the scenes and the characters in a more detailed way.

196
00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:56.480
<v Speaker 2>Melie Acker was already a very good friend of us

197
00:13:56.800 --> 00:14:00.160
<v Speaker 2>and one of my favorite playwrights, so it was a

198
00:14:00.200 --> 00:14:03.360
<v Speaker 2>no brainer to bring her in and the three of

199
00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:10.320
<v Speaker 2>us continue crafting the story together. You always thought I

200
00:14:10.360 --> 00:14:14.800
<v Speaker 2>could do this, So this story for us is very personal.

201
00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:19.960
<v Speaker 2>All three of us are artists and writers, and the

202
00:14:20.120 --> 00:14:24.120
<v Speaker 2>story of leaving our homeland to come to the new

203
00:14:24.160 --> 00:14:26.680
<v Speaker 2>world is a story that all three of us experience,

204
00:14:26.800 --> 00:14:29.760
<v Speaker 2>which is a story of Bluebird, and then the story

205
00:14:29.800 --> 00:14:36.880
<v Speaker 2>of Rita in Act too, whose Bluebird's Daughter, is a

206
00:14:36.920 --> 00:14:39.480
<v Speaker 2>story that we have also experienced in our own way,

207
00:14:39.960 --> 00:14:44.320
<v Speaker 2>which is finding our own voice and our own story

208
00:14:44.360 --> 00:14:52.440
<v Speaker 2>in the place where we're at. Spanish for me is

209
00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:57.240
<v Speaker 2>my language. I always wrote songs in Spanish. My album

210
00:14:57.320 --> 00:15:07.000
<v Speaker 2>was written in Spanish. I'm an the story starts in

211
00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:10.320
<v Speaker 2>the homeland, said in a world of magic realism, but

212
00:15:10.400 --> 00:15:13.600
<v Speaker 2>it's a place where people speak Spanish. So we always

213
00:15:13.640 --> 00:15:18.280
<v Speaker 2>felt very strongly about this being the language of these characters,

214
00:15:18.440 --> 00:15:21.360
<v Speaker 2>and this also this being the language of so many

215
00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:28.800
<v Speaker 2>people in the US, and this story of generations of

216
00:15:29.160 --> 00:15:32.760
<v Speaker 2>travelers and immigrants that come to this country and how

217
00:15:32.880 --> 00:15:41.640
<v Speaker 2>language survives through generations or gets lost through generations. In

218
00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:44.720
<v Speaker 2>all the development steps of US so far and working

219
00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:49.560
<v Speaker 2>with actors, we always found that everyone's relationship to Spanish

220
00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:54.720
<v Speaker 2>is so different and so complicated. In cases where someone

221
00:15:54.920 --> 00:15:57.840
<v Speaker 2>is born in the US but their parents were from

222
00:15:58.360 --> 00:16:01.720
<v Speaker 2>from a South American, Latin America and country and they

223
00:16:01.760 --> 00:16:06.120
<v Speaker 2>have this very personal and sometimes complicated relationship with what

224
00:16:06.280 --> 00:16:10.360
<v Speaker 2>language is, where the music comes from, the music styles

225
00:16:10.760 --> 00:16:14.080
<v Speaker 2>they are supposed to be sung in Spanish, so we

226
00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:18.320
<v Speaker 2>always felt like we have to protect that for the show.

227
00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:21.040
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, God moment versus.

228
00:16:27.640 --> 00:16:30.200
<v Speaker 2>In terms of the songs, I would say it's like

229
00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:33.360
<v Speaker 2>a medley of different pieces of different songs from the

230
00:16:33.400 --> 00:16:36.360
<v Speaker 2>album that have made it into the musical. I think

231
00:16:36.440 --> 00:16:38.440
<v Speaker 2>right now my favorite song is the opening number. So

232
00:16:38.560 --> 00:16:42.440
<v Speaker 2>Le Domingo is a song that I just wrote with

233
00:16:42.520 --> 00:16:45.920
<v Speaker 2>my guitar and it sounded like a very small song

234
00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:47.880
<v Speaker 2>that it was just like a guitar and a voice,

235
00:16:47.920 --> 00:16:57.200
<v Speaker 2>and through the development became this like epic musical number.

236
00:17:01.040 --> 00:17:05.720
<v Speaker 2>So last year we recorded an EP which is a

237
00:17:05.760 --> 00:17:09.160
<v Speaker 2>four song cast album or cast EP that you can

238
00:17:09.400 --> 00:17:12.800
<v Speaker 2>listen to and Spotify, titled a Soul, which we chose

239
00:17:12.840 --> 00:17:17.360
<v Speaker 2>four songs that felt very important to the show. And

240
00:17:17.760 --> 00:17:21.040
<v Speaker 2>we had an incredible honor and joy of working with

241
00:17:21.080 --> 00:17:25.119
<v Speaker 2>Alex Lacamore and with Kurt Crowley on this music. We

242
00:17:25.240 --> 00:17:29.280
<v Speaker 2>really developed the arrangements together and work with an incredible

243
00:17:29.320 --> 00:17:33.960
<v Speaker 2>team of musicians and actors and sounds team. And once

244
00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:36.960
<v Speaker 2>we had that it be ready and we were going

245
00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:38.720
<v Speaker 2>to bring it out to the world, we really wanted

246
00:17:38.760 --> 00:17:41.320
<v Speaker 2>to celebrate that and to be able to share more

247
00:17:41.320 --> 00:17:45.440
<v Speaker 2>of the music with an audience. So we had the

248
00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:48.520
<v Speaker 2>opportunity to do it two times at fifture Widow and

249
00:17:48.560 --> 00:17:50.720
<v Speaker 2>that jose pab both were sold out.

250
00:17:51.160 --> 00:17:54.800
<v Speaker 1>Give it up for Anna and has seen that clusage

251
00:17:54.800 --> 00:18:01.440
<v Speaker 1>as co creator and composer of music Joe's Pop concert

252
00:18:01.600 --> 00:18:02.440
<v Speaker 1>was very special.

253
00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:04.960
<v Speaker 2>I said, I'll just hop on stage and add some

254
00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:08.639
<v Speaker 2>extra layers of guitar and it was so fun and beautiful.

255
00:18:08.680 --> 00:18:10.600
<v Speaker 1>I mean, I admire everyone that.

256
00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:14.359
<v Speaker 2>Is on that stage so much and being able to

257
00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:18.439
<v Speaker 2>play with them just felt very moving and to sense

258
00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:23.560
<v Speaker 2>the audience reaction, Yeah, it was super dreamy, and both

259
00:18:23.640 --> 00:18:28.399
<v Speaker 2>shows leftness with a very exciting feeling of this music

260
00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:31.160
<v Speaker 2>really reaching a lot of people and in a very

261
00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:33.480
<v Speaker 2>moving way, with a lot.

262
00:18:33.320 --> 00:18:34.360
<v Speaker 1>Of folks coming.

263
00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:36.000
<v Speaker 2>To us asking us when will you do the full

264
00:18:36.040 --> 00:18:40.879
<v Speaker 2>show we want to see. Writing and musical is a

265
00:18:41.080 --> 00:18:44.639
<v Speaker 2>very very long process, especially when you're writing an original

266
00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:48.199
<v Speaker 2>musical that is not based on existing IP or on

267
00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:51.720
<v Speaker 2>existing story or book or film. I never thought it

268
00:18:51.760 --> 00:18:55.280
<v Speaker 2>would be this complex when it started, and is this

269
00:18:55.640 --> 00:18:59.320
<v Speaker 2>process that requires a lot of milestones and different steps

270
00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:02.080
<v Speaker 2>in order to get to the end, which I.

271
00:19:02.040 --> 00:19:03.280
<v Speaker 1>Think is never finished.

272
00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:07.840
<v Speaker 2>I think we could rewrite it forever and ever, but

273
00:19:08.600 --> 00:19:11.119
<v Speaker 2>we feel that we're getting very.

274
00:19:11.080 --> 00:19:13.760
<v Speaker 1>Very close to our first production with the show.

275
00:19:14.320 --> 00:19:18.720
<v Speaker 2>I think it's so important for bilingual musicals to exist

276
00:19:18.760 --> 00:19:20.400
<v Speaker 2>and Broadway, just if you think of.

277
00:19:20.800 --> 00:19:23.719
<v Speaker 1>What the population in the US looks like, what New

278
00:19:23.800 --> 00:19:24.560
<v Speaker 1>York looks like.

279
00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:29.280
<v Speaker 2>And I have always experience from our audiences and from

280
00:19:29.280 --> 00:19:31.760
<v Speaker 2>people that came to see different concerts and steps of

281
00:19:31.800 --> 00:19:34.000
<v Speaker 2>the show, how many people have come to us to

282
00:19:34.040 --> 00:19:37.040
<v Speaker 2>tell us I really feel seen in this and I

283
00:19:37.080 --> 00:19:40.880
<v Speaker 2>didn't know this was possible. And if you think about it,

284
00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:45.080
<v Speaker 2>if you think about film and opera, bilingualism is not

285
00:19:45.160 --> 00:19:46.600
<v Speaker 2>such a controversial thing.

286
00:19:46.760 --> 00:19:47.960
<v Speaker 1>So I often.

287
00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:51.600
<v Speaker 2>Wonder when will the musical theater see in the US

288
00:19:51.640 --> 00:19:55.040
<v Speaker 2>catch up understand that it's just part of our culture

289
00:19:55.119 --> 00:20:06.320
<v Speaker 2>in this country.

290
00:20:23.600 --> 00:20:28.240
<v Speaker 3>That was composer Hassindak Russelles, co creator of Assoul the Musical.

291
00:20:28.800 --> 00:20:31.680
<v Speaker 3>For more information, check them out at Asul the Musical

292
00:20:31.800 --> 00:20:45.600
<v Speaker 3>on Instagram. This episode was produced by Max Martinez and

293
00:20:45.760 --> 00:20:49.280
<v Speaker 3>edited by Marta Martinez. No relation by the way. It

294
00:20:49.400 --> 00:20:52.960
<v Speaker 3>was mixed by j. J. Carubin. The Latino USA team

295
00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:58.080
<v Speaker 3>also includes Julia Carusso, Jessica Alis, Victoria Estrada, Rinaldo, Leanoz Junior,

296
00:20:58.080 --> 00:21:03.000
<v Speaker 3>Stephanie Lebau, Andrea Lopez Cruz, Luis Luna, Glorimad Marquez, Nor Saudi,

297
00:21:03.040 --> 00:21:07.000
<v Speaker 3>and Nancy Trucchillo. Benny Leiramidez is our co executive producer.

298
00:21:07.040 --> 00:21:10.000
<v Speaker 3>I'm your host and co executive producer Mariao Hosta join

299
00:21:10.080 --> 00:21:12.320
<v Speaker 3>us again on our next episode. In the meantime, I'll

300
00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:15.359
<v Speaker 3>check you out on Instagram and see you on YouTube,

301
00:21:15.560 --> 00:21:20.160
<v Speaker 3>on digs on, tweeted on all of them. A start approxima.

302
00:21:19.720 --> 00:21:29.040
<v Speaker 2>Baye Latino, USA is made possible in part by Druckenmiller Foundation,

303
00:21:30.080 --> 00:21:34.280
<v Speaker 2>Agnes Gund and the Heising Simons Foundation.

304
00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:41.320
<v Speaker 1>Unlocking knowledge, opportunity and possibilities. More at hsfoundation dot org