0:01

Okay, we are back for our third and

0:03

final episode in this very special limited

0:05

series on In the Heights with

0:07

the one and only Lynn Manuel Miranda and

0:09

two of his long time confidence and collaborators,

0:13

in the Heights, writer and producer Guiara

0:16

This and executive music producer Alex

0:19

Lackomore. How are y'all feeling very

0:21

good to hear you again? Are you excited

0:24

to now talk about this

0:26

movie? Yes? I

0:28

mean I can't, y'all. I've

0:31

watched it six times and

0:33

that's just because I keep wanting to show like

0:35

my husband, and then I want to show my daughter, and then I want

0:37

to like, I'm like you guys, just let's just watch it one more

0:39

time. Um. But then, I don't

0:42

think a lot of people know the long

0:45

journey it took to making

0:47

the film version of In the Heights. So where did

0:49

where did the idea first come from? If you don't

0:51

mind, I mean, I think it began

0:54

again with the success of the

0:56

show. I don't think anyone really

0:58

thought of it seriously until you

1:01

know, we we kind of had an amazing year

1:03

at the Tony Awards, which was necessary

1:06

for the future life of the show. Because again, we're

1:08

a show written by people nobody's heard of starring,

1:11

with the exception of Priscilla Lopez, people nobody's

1:13

heard of. Um and so

1:16

um. That seal of approval from

1:19

the Broadway industry really kind of

1:21

you know, it ensured the life of

1:24

the musical on Broadway. And so

1:26

again we got very excited pitches

1:28

from Hollywood studios. Hollywood

1:30

came a call in. I'll never forget the

1:33

meetings with Kiara

1:35

when you know, these big fancy studios

1:38

came to talk to us, and we

1:40

signed with one of those studios, and

1:42

and you know, in retrospect,

1:45

I was so naive and I'm so grateful

1:47

for the learning experience that came with

1:49

that first Hollywood go round, because

1:52

it went from we'll do anything

1:54

to make this musical into a great,

1:56

big movie. Um. And again

1:58

around that time, Mama Mia

2:01

had come out and it was this big hit and it was kind

2:03

of the first big return of the Hollywood

2:05

musical. Now we're getting several a year, but

2:08

it had been a dormant genre for a very

2:10

long time, and Mama Mia brought

2:12

it back in a big way, and it

2:14

went from we'll do anything to make this musical

2:16

too. Oh, but there are no Latinos

2:19

stars who test international. Um.

2:21

And that was that's really Hollywood

2:24

code for we're not going to spend

2:26

money on untested talent. Um.

2:29

And it became the zero

2:32

sum game of well, if this

2:34

international Latina recording

2:37

star isn't in your movie, we're not

2:39

making the movie. Um. And

2:41

again that's Hollywood passing the buck

2:43

to the music industry because they're

2:45

not in the business of making Latino stars. So

2:47

it's a self defeating cycle. And you know it

2:49

better than anyone. Um, we

2:51

don't have quote unquote Latino stars that test

2:54

international because we don't put Latinos

2:56

in movies, movies Chicken

2:59

or the How can I be a star if you don't in

3:02

your movie? Correct?

3:04

And so again I

3:06

I bear no ill will towards this international

3:09

recording star for whom it would have cost money to

3:12

be in this movie. Um. And

3:14

and they didn't do it, and

3:17

the movie went into Turnaround, and Jar

3:19

and I looked at each other and again I thought

3:21

I was going to play with Snobby in that movie.

3:23

Um. And this was ten years ago.

3:26

This was ten years ago. You can still find interviews

3:29

on you ten years ago.

3:31

I met you ten years ago. I

3:34

mean again, and right and like

3:36

it was. It was just like,

3:38

yes, but you don't have quote unquote like

3:41

again, which is Hollywood

3:44

code for fear. It's just the fear.

3:47

And in a lot of ways, time sort

3:49

of caught up with us, and we

3:51

went back to the drawing board. We

3:53

went to many different directors,

3:55

many many different folks, and

3:58

in around I think two thousand fourteen

4:00

or two thousand fifteen, well, a couple

4:02

of things happened. One I met um

4:05

Scott Sanders, who is our the producer

4:07

of our film, for the first time. The

4:10

week after In The Heights closed, I

4:12

got a gig playing a very small part

4:14

in a Disney movie called Like Odd Life of Timothy

4:16

Green. It was really one of the first movies I ever worked

4:19

on. And Scott Sanders was the producer of that

4:21

movie, and he was a he's a film producer

4:23

who also produces theater. He produced The Color Purple

4:25

on Broadway. And he sort of turned to me

4:27

between scenes and was like, what's going on with me in the

4:29

Heights film? And I was like nothing,

4:32

like just nothing, and he goes, well, that's

4:34

insane, um, And it really

4:36

kind of made it his personal cause, uh,

4:39

to to get this movie rolling

4:41

again. And then suddenly Kiara

4:43

has like time and distance from

4:45

the original Broadway musical. And

4:48

and I want you to talk a little bit about the sort

4:50

of the writing of that screenplay because I

4:52

think the updates you did are so

4:55

brilliant, and I don't think they could have happened

4:57

in two thousand and nine when we were so

4:59

close to what we just made. Yeah,

5:01

and and and because the

5:04

movie industry is it's a different

5:06

pace, Kira, how did you approach

5:09

it to adapt because it's not like let's just

5:11

throw it up, let's just throw it up? And

5:13

how the musical was like it's just gonna be the same?

5:15

What what? Because there's a lot of adjustments

5:18

and seamless like the movie is. I

5:20

loved the musical and I loved

5:23

the movie. You know when you're like, oh, oh,

5:26

musical was better or the movie so

5:28

much better like this, you did such

5:30

a good job at adapting this for film.

5:33

I mean, there were some things I knew going in,

5:35

and there were some things that were just a

5:37

matter of trial and error. So the

5:40

the big like above the fold ideas

5:42

going in was I knew there was still going to be a need

5:44

to cut songs and probably

5:46

cut characters just so that the film could

5:48

not only focus more but also breathe.

5:51

You don't want the film to feel like it's just crammed

5:53

full of a bunch of things when you're just trying to get

5:55

to the next thing. You wanted to breathe a little

5:57

bit. Um. I wasn't sure

6:00

which ones though, and that that took trial and

6:02

error. The other thing that was really exciting about doing

6:04

the film and I was a more mature writer

6:07

now. Also it was that I did have time

6:09

and distance from the stage show, but

6:11

I also had a lot more confidence. I had

6:13

spent years um writing

6:15

my own plays and you

6:18

know, following my vision as an artist. So

6:20

I was clearer on what stories I wanted

6:22

to put into the world too, And it was really exciting

6:24

to return Two in the Heights

6:26

with that, you know, kind of more mature

6:29

sense of purpose. And so

6:32

the other thing that was really exciting was on

6:34

stage, it's basically set outdoors

6:36

on the block. You go to a few kind

6:38

of interiors, but it all feels like it's outside

6:40

because that's the unit set that never

6:43

changes. But I'm like, you know, I want

6:45

to go into oh like loudly as living room

6:48

and how is your conversation, you know,

6:50

our kitchen. I want to see what

6:53

could smell? I could smell, you know. I

6:56

wanted to see it. And John Chow was so right

6:58

there about that about these little

7:00

you know, I would like Claudia has a line little details

7:03

that tell the world, you know, And

7:05

that's what a close up on a screen

7:07

in a movie theater can give you. That theater,

7:09

if you're sitting, you have to make the best piece you can

7:11

for the back row of the audience. You don't get

7:13

those little details in the same way,

7:16

um, you know. And I was so excited to know,

7:18

Like, how does I like Loudia talk to Nina

7:20

and US Navy in a different way when she's in the privacy

7:23

of her living room or over her stove top.

7:25

That's a different conversation than they would

7:27

have out on the stoop. Also, I

7:29

want to see what was her

7:32

Cuba? What what

7:34

was her blassa? What were those birds there? I want

7:36

to there's no reason not to. We can go there.

7:38

I want to see US navi's beach. Yeah,

7:41

he wants to see his beach. I want to see it too.

7:44

I want to see what what does it feel like?

7:46

First nav to get that water lapping

7:48

on his feet. It's not just oh it's paradise.

7:51

Oh it's beautiful. Yes, it's those things, but

7:53

it cuts much deeper for them. I don't want

7:55

to do any spoilers, but that payoff

7:57

at the end. It's just genius.

8:00

It's just beauty, Thank you, thank you. What

8:02

was what was so thrilling just that first

8:04

trailer when you see n narrating

8:06

and he's on a beach the

8:09

show, I

8:11

said that. I said that to my husband

8:13

because my husband never saw it, like, oh god,

8:16

oh my, what did I do well.

8:19

Another thing that we that, especially with

8:21

with John cho we talked about a lot, was um,

8:25

you know, when you go to see a Broadway musical, you're just expecting

8:27

them to break into song. It's natural, it's the stage,

8:29

it's all make believe. Make

8:31

believe works a little bit differently on screen,

8:34

and so how do you transition into a song

8:37

without it feeling like awkward and

8:39

a little embarrassing? And so I wanted to

8:41

create a convention that, like those

8:43

navies literally looking at us, direct

8:45

address, telling us a story, and

8:48

if we know he's telling the story

8:50

of what happened to him on those days

8:52

in the heights. Then we know he's an

8:54

unreliable narrator. We get to go into

8:57

his point of view. He experienced something

8:59

like a song, and I put that line in the streets were

9:01

made of music, so that we know that's

9:03

just how he saw the world. He's just a good storyteller

9:06

basically, as opposed to like, oh, awkward, we

9:08

just pivoted into song. There

9:10

are so many things I love about

9:13

this screenplay that you

9:16

guys did that updated it from

9:18

the play which was contemporary

9:20

storylines. You did a dreamer storyline

9:23

that

9:25

that storyline, I was like, Oh my gosh,

9:28

and it was so like it was real and

9:30

authentic. You didn't feel like you're like, oh, let's

9:32

jam in something contemporary

9:34

into this script um. What made

9:37

you decide to pull

9:39

that storyline? One of the things I

9:42

really loved and connected with. Sonny's a character

9:44

I relate to a lot. And I

9:46

I loved writing jokes for Robin des

9:49

Um on Broadway because I knew

9:51

his voice. You start writing just like Lynn was

9:53

writing songs for Chris Jackson. I was definitely writing

9:56

jokes for Robin Dassus and

9:58

they're funny. He's characters a lot of comic

10:01

relief. But what he's joking about

10:03

is like he's kind of a radical political

10:05

visionary. You know, he has a joke like,

10:08

you know, underage cousins of Odego workers

10:10

Unite. You know, he knows about the history

10:12

of labor movements in the nation and

10:15

how Latinos were right there in central to those

10:17

movements. You know, he says, I'm the Robin Hood of el body. He

10:19

was talking about wealth distribution, you know, and I was like, Okay,

10:22

let's that's fun I love that. I Let's

10:24

dig deeper into what

10:27

does Sonny think about what's happening in this nation

10:29

right now? What does Funny think about family separation?

10:31

I bet he you know, I bet that cuts deep

10:33

and hit some real hard and personal. So that was my

10:36

way in. And then I started to explore that, and I thought,

10:38

well, Nina, he and Nina might have

10:41

some interests that overlapped there. So

10:43

what if we get them talking about

10:45

immigration issues, what if we get them talking about

10:47

family separation? How is that personal for

10:50

them? Yeah, there was a big overlap with Nina

10:52

and Sonny. So, uh, Nina is

10:54

the character who goes away to college, doesn't have

10:56

a great experience, um

10:58

and comes back and Sonny

11:01

is the younger cousin

11:03

a loose nabi for anybody who doesn't

11:06

know the play. UM.

11:08

I loved how you intertwined those

11:10

two storylines. And I loved Nina's

11:12

fight with her father at the table of going you're not

11:15

listening and how hard it is for first

11:17

generation college goers to get

11:19

to a Yale or a Stanford,

11:22

um even even any college by the way,

11:25

you know, and just feel out

11:28

of place. Um, you know, And it's

11:30

something it seems like on the surface, Kevin,

11:33

who's the father, should relate to Nina

11:36

and understand because he came here

11:38

from Puerto Rico and so he had

11:40

to build a life, and so he doesn't understand

11:43

that she felt felt ellienated, and he's going, so

11:45

just keep going, what's what's the big deal? Get over it. But

11:48

she's pointing out these kind of subtle

11:50

distinctions that he doesn't notice. She's like, well, when

11:52

you came here, there was a Latino community

11:55

to build those relationships. She's like, there

11:57

is not a Latino community I've been able to tap

11:59

into at Stanford in the same way. So she feels

12:02

a cultural dislocation that's distinct

12:04

from her father's, you know, journey

12:07

and so he she has to get it through

12:09

his thick skull, you know, Like, no, Poppy,

12:12

you you faced your own version.

12:14

But I'm facing my version now and I don't have all

12:16

the answers yet, and it's different than

12:18

what you experience. Yeah, I

12:21

uh, I remember running into

12:23

Lin Manuel and I

12:25

want to talk a little bit about John Chew when he came on,

12:27

because you were, like I was hoping for, like hoping

12:30

get twenty five dancers in the street and

12:32

and here it comes John cho off

12:35

of Crazy Rich Asians and he

12:37

goes, twenty we need we need a thousand,

12:39

Like he just up

12:42

to the game with the

12:45

vision. Lynn, can you speak to why

12:47

John? Why did you go with John?

12:50

Which was a genius choice And people

12:52

don't if you really go down the rabbit

12:54

all of his what he's done in

12:56

the past, like people crazy rich ass Like No, he's

12:59

done so many other musical

13:01

projects and so I felt like he was a perfect

13:04

match for this. But what did he bring to the table? Yeah,

13:07

Well, first of all, when we sat

13:09

down with John for the first time, I

13:11

knew he could deliver a musical number. That was the one

13:13

thing I knew because I saw a step

13:15

up to the streets opening weekend. And

13:18

I love the dance sequences

13:20

in in those movies that he made, and and

13:23

the web series and things he made

13:25

with like Legion of Extraordinary Dancers. I

13:27

knew he liked was able to film

13:29

dancers and capture them in a really brilliant

13:32

and kinetic way. That's sort

13:34

of all I knew before I sat down with him. Uh,

13:36

and Scott Sanders sort of sat me down

13:38

with him. Um. But what we

13:41

sort of quickly realized it was not unlike

13:43

meeting k for the first time. It was it was

13:45

very much the like, oh, you're like me, first

13:48

generation. You know, his dad

13:50

came Chinese American

13:53

and started a business and it's

13:55

like now a thriving, successful business.

13:57

He's Jeff cho um and

13:59

and well known in the Bay Area. But

14:02

he was like us, and that he was he

14:04

was running around between his parents legs at their

14:06

business, an immigrant owned

14:09

like local business. And and then to

14:11

be the one kid of many kids

14:13

to be like reaching for a video camera

14:16

when your parents have made miracles

14:18

happen for you to have a better life, and

14:20

I need to go into the most unstable,

14:23

insecure career choice.

14:26

Um, that's that's something that was a lived

14:28

experience for him, and it has lived experience

14:30

for many of the characters UM

14:32

in our in our show, redefining

14:35

the nuance of what home means to

14:37

us when we when we honor the

14:39

experiences of our parents who made away

14:41

with there is no way And Um,

14:44

again, we met him before Crazy Rich

14:46

Asians had happened and had been released.

14:49

But he instinctively

14:51

knew this isn't a little musical,

14:54

This is a big musical. These

14:56

are relatable characters, but they are they

14:58

have big dreams and we have the right

15:00

to reach for that. Um. And I

15:02

think Crazy with Jasons was really him

15:05

learning about his power and how to use it

15:07

to tell that story. And again he created a lane

15:10

where none existed. And now Jemmy

15:12

chan is in a Marvel movie and Henry Golding

15:14

opens movies. But again,

15:16

like to give the lie that

15:18

we heard ten years ago we don't have

15:21

stars at Test International, he made a big

15:23

movie and made a

15:25

generation of stars. And

15:27

and I think that was the thinking that also

15:29

went into um into

15:31

this movie, was we've got stars, you

15:33

know, We've got Jimmy Smith's, We've

15:35

got you know, Mark Anthony for a day.

15:38

Um, but we also have DNA

15:41

Daphne ruben Vega, but we also have Leslie

15:44

Grace, who is a star

15:46

in this corner of the world music

15:48

community. And we

15:50

have Melissa Barrera, who I

15:52

don't know if you've seen, but if they keep telling it

15:54

on three seasons of Viva UM,

15:57

so again like really intend

16:01

about making a lane for us and dreaming bigger

16:03

than all of us. I wish I were on the

16:05

location scout where Kiara was with

16:07

John and they went to Highbridge Pool

16:10

and we're like, because

16:13

again in your in your screenplay, that

16:15

was on the block, um and there were fantasy

16:17

sequences inside of it, and then you guys

16:19

go visit Highbridge Pool on a hundred

16:21

and seventy fifth Street and go, oh, this can

16:24

be so much bigger. And I think he always

16:26

reached for the idea you couldn't do on stage.

16:28

Oh my gosh, that pool scene,

16:31

y'all get ready for the best

16:34

ever in the history of movies. Like it

16:38

was like such a nod to old film

16:40

as well, and it's

16:42

total Esther Williams MGM.

16:45

Total You know. We were done our location

16:48

scout, by the way, it was raining, it was cold. We were

16:50

done, and we're driving away,

16:52

and John Choo looks at me and he's like, is there anything

16:54

else in the neighborhood that we should see that

16:56

I should just see so I have a sense of it. And I was like, well,

16:58

you know, we're not too far from the pool,

17:00

but I'm sure it's closed, and I'm sure the pools

17:03

are drained. And we we in the rain,

17:05

kind of snuck around back where there's um

17:08

a wrought iron fence so that you can peek

17:10

through, but it doesn't look like anything because the pools

17:12

are drained. It's kind of like a drag of

17:14

an empty space. And

17:16

and then we're kind of like giggling in the backseat

17:19

of the van. After that, we're like, you know, could

17:21

we? Would we? And we

17:23

were still asking could we like

17:25

two days later, and we

17:28

were like, there are shots in that sequence.

17:30

I don't know how he did. I don't know how

17:32

he did. I look at that

17:34

sequence and I go, that's just he's

17:38

a genius. I mean, he's a genius. And how he shot

17:40

it in that song, I mean the song and how

17:42

everybody's in it but doesn't feel

17:45

um for I mean, it's just a beautiful,

17:47

beautiful scene and sequence and song.

17:52

The Um,

18:22

can we talk about Anthony Ramos for

18:24

one second? And lynn

18:27

Ah knowing knowing

18:29

that you're not going to be a snobby, So who

18:32

I mean to find lynn Manuel's

18:34

replacement? Like, I just I don't even know

18:37

there's you. You can't even fill your shoes.

18:39

Um. And Anthony did not

18:42

only a great job, he owned it and

18:44

he knocked it out of the park. Can

18:47

we talk about like he is so charismatic

18:49

he jumps off the screen. I just

18:51

want to like kiss his face every time he comes

18:53

on screen. Well, everyone wants to kiss

18:55

his face. That's how you know you have a movie star

18:58

on your hands. I've felt

19:00

that way when he walked into the Hamilton's

19:02

audition room and and performed my

19:04

shot like he wanted to devour

19:07

the room. Um. And you

19:09

know again, I had the good fortune of

19:12

of performing Hamilton's

19:14

with him for a year and a half where he literally

19:16

played my son uh in Act two

19:19

every night and um.

19:22

But then the real stroke of good luck came when he

19:24

actually played us Navi in a production

19:26

of In the Heights at the Kennedy Center and it was directed

19:28

by another Heights alum, Stephanie Clemmens.

19:31

He was replacing an actor who got injured

19:33

at the last minute, um, and just sort of

19:35

tagged in as a favor um. And

19:38

I will never forget seeing him in

19:41

that role. It was this very

19:43

out of body experience of like,

19:45

oh, I wrote this role

19:48

all those years ago so that you

19:50

could play it someday, Like that's

19:52

why I did that. I

19:54

played us Navy, but you are Ustafi.

19:58

Uh. And that's that's truly how

20:00

it felt to see him in that role for

20:02

the first time. And then um,

20:04

it was just a matter of like introducing him

20:06

to John and making uh seeing

20:08

if John felt the same way we

20:11

did. Um. But it was you know, he's

20:13

he's a star and and he and he

20:15

comes to it so effortless, like Anthony doesn't have to

20:17

put anything on to be nav Like

20:20

he is someone who is the heart

20:22

of a community. He is someone who is the

20:24

center of his circle of friends and

20:27

and loved ones um in

20:29

in such a grounded and

20:31

real way. And he's

20:33

gorgeous and can sing and dance and act. But

20:35

like he just it's it fits

20:38

him, Like it's like I made

20:40

this suit ten years ago

20:42

and like here comes this kid, and it fits

20:45

him perfect. I don't have to alter a

20:47

one of it's great and it's

20:49

it's not just an emotional connection, it's I mean

20:51

even even his facility with the rhymes

20:54

and the flow is so

20:57

fluid, it's so easy. You

20:59

don't hear him sing. He makes it sound

21:01

easy and not easy. Yeah,

21:04

he's just like he's born to do it. I

21:06

was gonna ask Alex about that, like being with

21:08

this project from the beginning and then moving it to

21:11

the film side. Musically, it

21:13

so much honors the play,

21:16

but it's such a new thing. It's

21:19

its own thing. The film and the music

21:21

is is is different in a beautiful

21:23

way. Um, how was that

21:25

approach? Like, what did you what did you

21:27

have to do differently? Yeah, So

21:30

what I loved is the opportunity

21:32

that we got to just really

21:34

like make the music as authentic as

21:37

possible, as rich as possible, as powerful

21:39

as possible. When you're watching a

21:41

theatrical performance, right, the music lands

21:43

on you in a different way as an audience

21:46

member, right, because you're hearing something live, You're

21:48

focusing on a lot of different things. You're feeling the

21:50

vibrations in the air. Right. The sound travels

21:52

through the speakers in a certain way that like maybe

21:55

little mistakes might not come across in

21:57

a certain way. But when you're making a record,

21:59

which is a slap whaten a movie is right, all those

22:01

details come into focus, and when one thing

22:03

is out of place, or something just doesn't sound

22:06

quite right, or the performance isn't there,

22:08

you feel it and you notice it. It's magnified

22:10

because you're seeing a big screen or you're hearing

22:12

it on headphones or whatever it is. So here

22:14

we have this opportunity that you know, for

22:16

example, if there is a section of it won't

22:18

belong now that has about at the groove, then

22:21

like, let's call abachata specialist

22:23

come in and play the guitar on that, right, if

22:33

there's a certain uh grad lava

22:35

like you know, we didn't have a quatro in the orchestration

22:38

and kind of because it's hard to find one

22:40

guitar as you can play electric

22:43

electric guitar, acoustics, t car todays

22:45

and and everything else. Right, but okay,

22:47

great, let's get a quatra player to play on

22:49

that song because that's what the song needs. Huh

23:02

right, uh ninety six thousand, Like wouldn't

23:04

it be great to have Michael Lozando like who

23:06

produces hip hop tracks and has

23:08

like low end for days when he plays bass,

23:10

Like, let's get that guy to play on the track. It

23:21

was really like, you know, we were like kids

23:23

in a candy store knowing that we could

23:25

really do whatever we thought the songs needed,

23:28

and everything just got magnified in the best possible

23:30

way. Like we went from uh, six horns

23:32

on Broadway to nine horns for the movie,

23:34

right, we had two percussionist sent a drummer.

23:36

Well, let's have four of because in the cent a drummer because

23:39

we got to have that fourth guy on the guido playing the

23:41

groove. You know, it's like all of a sudden, we get

23:43

to do, uh, just take the

23:45

song to that next level. And my co

23:47

executive music producer, Bill Sherman, his

23:50

tagline was like, hey, we have to make Heights

23:52

two point no musically, and that's where

23:55

it's just like, how do we just take it to the next level.

23:57

And that's just on the track side, right, Because

23:59

then on top of that, you have all these

24:01

amazing actors who sing their

24:03

faces off, and that's what about this movie.

24:05

The actors you see performing on the screen

24:08

are singing I didn't know I love Melissa

24:10

from Viva, I didn't know she could sing like

24:12

that, And I just met Leslie

24:15

Grays and I was like, oh my god, you you

24:17

are a singer who is now acting

24:19

like I was. But Corey Hawkins,

24:21

what a great choice for Benny. He's

24:23

amazing, amazing, amazing.

24:25

One of the things I love the most is that um

24:28

again me being able

24:30

to bring in all the institutional

24:32

knowledge I had about the show just from

24:34

having been around it and having lived in it, and having

24:36

heard Lynn talked to actors about

24:38

what the songs are meant to evoke,

24:41

and being with kra as she's creating the scenes

24:43

and knowing what the message is supposed to be. One

24:45

of my favorite parts as the producer was being

24:47

in the studio and talking directly to the actors

24:49

and say, Okay, when you delivered this song

24:52

line, I think it leads a little bit more of this

24:54

undertone. I think it needs to feel a little bit more

24:56

like this, so that the performance that they gave to that microphone

24:59

felt like it had story, It felt like it had meaning,

25:01

felt like it was lived in. And

25:03

I just love being able to work on

25:06

all angles right, that's facts in the vocals,

25:08

in the mix, and everything to get the song sounding

25:10

in the way that I thought that the songs are

25:13

needed to sound. And I really enjoyed that part of it, to

25:15

the point where the actors are so

25:17

at home with it that you know that number Champagne

25:20

in our in the movie, they're singing life,

25:23

you want to stay what you

25:26

can stand up? So maybe save

25:28

this place. Very

25:31

funny and it's not like Sonny's

25:33

got roll models. What

25:38

are you talking about? Thing? I

25:40

think your vacation can wait. Vacation,

25:43

Vanessa, you left us soon, and I

25:45

moved down to what you

25:47

can take the aage Ronda say

25:49

you're leaving the country and we're

25:52

never gonna say again. Everyone,

25:55

I take it to your coffee. And I

25:58

don't know what give that I

26:01

wish I was. That's

26:04

one continuous live take

26:07

with one very talented steadicam

26:09

operator. Uh, the whole number. And I think

26:11

it's the ninth take. And

26:14

again like that's the level of prep

26:16

and and rehearsal so that on the day

26:18

we go, holy sh it, we have a quiet day on

26:20

location in Washington Heights. Let's

26:22

sing it live and and they and they're able

26:25

to do that. Oh my gosh, I did not know that.

26:27

But like you said about that song, like it

26:29

became something else because the movie, you

26:32

know, you could do it in in film.

26:34

So when you saw

26:36

the final cut because I got, I cried. I

26:38

think I cried four times just in the opening credits,

26:41

like just I was like, this is beautiful.

26:43

My husband's like it hasn't started. I'm like, it's

26:46

um. Did you feel like

26:49

do you were you happy with with the final

26:51

result and feel like, wow, this is full

26:53

circle. I feel the same way

26:55

about the movie the way I feel about

26:58

my neighborhood itself, Like

27:00

there are so many layers um

27:03

of meaning and so many layers

27:06

of my life in Wintel. In

27:09

this movie, you know, you

27:11

go from one. It's on location

27:13

in the neighborhood we wrote the songs about.

27:16

So there's the layer of seeing

27:19

Nina and Benny sing when you're home in

27:21

the same park and playground

27:24

where I was on my first date with my wife

27:26

and we were showing each other our favorite parts

27:28

of the neighborhood. Um, seeing

27:31

again those easter eggs of Seth Stewart,

27:33

our original Griffiti Pete as the bartender

27:35

in the club, seeing our original

27:38

cast singing the hydrants are open. In

27:40

that final scene, the ice

27:43

cream man played by sometime

27:46

lin Manuel Miranda collaborator Christopher

27:48

Jackson. Um the

27:51

again like layers and layers,

27:53

Like there's the layers of the writing of the experience,

27:55

there's the layers of performing the experience,

27:58

and then there's this new layer of

28:00

this incredible company of actors

28:02

who have brought it to life on screen

28:04

and them finding community. Like I can't

28:07

watch Naval Barrio in

28:09

the movie without thinking about the fact

28:11

that we only had one day to get it,

28:13

one day to capture an eight minute

28:15

musical number from sun up to sundown,

28:18

and the joy and the triumph

28:20

and hearing Anthony Rommel's being like this is

28:23

for the culture. Let's go and

28:26

cheering us on at every turn, um

28:28

So, and I feel the same way again.

28:31

I live um not far from

28:33

where I grew up. I walked five blocks

28:35

and I'm fifteen years old again writing that

28:37

poetry in the cloisters, or I'm

28:39

walking by the apartment building where

28:41

I took piano lessons when I was seven years old.

28:44

So to have those layers of experience

28:46

in the film as well, it's really really enjoyed.

28:49

And and the poignancy too, of coming out

28:52

of this pandemic and seeing

28:54

people singing and dancing in the streets and

28:56

finding community with each other, which

28:58

we're all rusty at right out, Like

29:00

what does it like we're all kind of swinting

29:02

and walking back into the sun, like

29:05

oh yeah, I remember kissing, remember,

29:08

like dancing with our friends at

29:10

a club like we've all,

29:12

um, we've all you know, for very good reason,

29:15

been been hunkered down. And and to

29:18

see a movie that was filmed before this happened,

29:20

and it's such a celebration of what

29:22

community can do when they're together. Um

29:25

again, like hits, I'm still another level. Yeah,

29:28

you guys live. I can't even tell you

29:31

what this movie means just to see

29:33

it on screen. Well, listen, I remember

29:35

you championing us when we first went out to l A with

29:37

the show, and that's when we became friends.

29:40

So you know, we go all the way back with this thing.

29:42

So I love you. I'm so grateful to you for doing this. Um

29:45

So, this June eleventh,

29:47

we're going to celebrate a world of

29:50

dreams and community and music and

29:52

dance and food and romance and

29:54

family in the Heights June

29:57

eleventh, in theaters and on

29:59

HBO Max for thirty one days. That's

30:02

a wrap. Thanks for joining us. We

30:04

will see you all on the Michael

30:06

to podcast Network from I Heart Media.

30:08

So much cool stuff happening there, including my

30:11

very own podcast, so stay tuned

30:13

for that and more from some of

30:15

the most iconic Latin X voices

30:17

and creators. See you soon.