very happy to see you i'm happy to see
you
this is wild it's all happening
it's all happening
[Music]
the very first time we met i remember
auditioning for bring it on yeah you
were not in the room i was
attempting to rap
you came in like midstream you were like
you sound great you're doing great i'm
just gonna
say oh was i late you were you were like
so it wasn't like an official meeting
but i remember being like
that's lit my mom miranda and
he looked me in the face oh good
gracious great more than anything
remember your first time on stage in
front of an audience and it was like the
energy was like shoot you were like
i don't know what to do are you
everywhere yeah i couldn't stand still
so bad you think i'm frightened of you
man we almost died in the trench well
you were off getting high with the
french i remember when you and lack
zuckermore were putting together like
first
readings of hamilton or what i knew to
be the first readings of hamilton and i
remember looking at you and be like i'm
not ready for this part but i'd like to
be in the show
like like
i knew it from then i was like no but i
really would like to be in the show and
i'm just really glad the whole thing
like lives on disney plus forever and
ever so we can all go back and re-watch
and think because very much like west
side dorian and kanto there are these
themes that we also have to and tick
tick bone for that matter we all have to
like keep revisiting these
very valuable lessons right now it's a
lot going on in the world this is that
moment
it's the first time people are gonna see
the show that aren't just
us the best thing having done the show
with leslie and karen in 2014
was
that i knew there was a community of
people who just loved jonathan larson
his friends and his family and that was
going to be like our greatest resource
that we were going to go have dinner
with his girlfriend be like what was
really annoying about him
figuring all that stuff out was so much
fun and and then andrew was like our
human ouija board for it because that's
amazing something felt weird in his gut
we were like all right follow the gun
gut that's important let me know
i love that you are an actor you are our
creator but now you are a full-fledged
director my friend what i felt i could
bring to it because a lot of people
could make a great move tick tick boom
but i have been a struggling songwriter
on a deadline you have seen me yes that
was
where i felt i could be useful to andrew
as like this is what it's like there's
one moment where he straight up steals
uh like a move of mine if he gives me a
note like this lyric isn't quite working
i always try to fix it right then so i
don't have to think about it like i look
up into my brain and i try to and he
does he does it in the movie and he and
he jacks it
it's just like no no i'm going to fix it
i'm going to fix a hole in a second
rhyme climb slime prime what like and
i'm just so real though yeah
you have been now up close on three
shows in process not just not just bring
it on in hamilton but donna where you're
literally seeing us like
well let's try this ending yeah and and
and trying stuff out anything
from just your workshop experiences and
like literally working on shows and
process that came in handy like that was
like already in your tool belt when
you're in rehearsal for west sides you
guys andy lincoln bueller
and you and amanda green you always like
if you feel something say something yeah
and that honestly has been it's simple
advice but it's been the greatest advice
so
i
did if i felt something while i was in
the room for west side i said something
yeah or i just kept going with it yeah
you know stephen had a short hand with
me where he was like she's feeling
something don't do anything
or i would just put my hand up and then
i'd keep going with a moment and that's
how i've learned to work
and it serves the characters really well
but it's not just about the character
it's about the story
you met me when i first got to new york
and i was just trying to be an actor
right i remember i was like i'm puerto
rican and you're like
because i
do not speak spanish i'm not fluent
and i thought for the longest time that
that made me less of what i was
and maybe i shouldn't talk about
my background because perhaps i didn't
represent the community well enough and
so when the movie came around and even
just deciding to walk in the room i was
like i don't know if i'm really what
you're looking for i have the skill set
but maybe my background isn't
good enough i was pleasantly surprised
that
you know this is this was a group of
people that was like no you were very
much enough yeah and
you know we love you if we will hold
your hand you are on our anita
[Music]
my relationship to spanish is exactly my
relationship to music i can speak it i
can talk to anybody in the world in
spanish but if you ask me to write it or
if you ask me to read it i'm slower
i would spend my summers in puerto rico
and i would just get sent to my
grandparents and that was my total
immersion time my grandparents didn't
speak english my aunt and uncle didn't
speak english and i would
dream in spanish because i was kind of
surrounded in it
[Music]
it was very clear very early like this
song's gotta be in spanish it's like the
foundational story of the movie it
required more than my conversational
spanish it required more than what i
used to get through the day in
washington heights and so you know i met
thesaurus
and i had my beautiful metaphor and
and then i just i started dreaming in
spanish again did you which had not i
had not done since i was like 15 years
old
that's special that's full circle yeah
and it was like kind of all hands on
deck like my brain being like let's go
we gotta do this we gotta go this is
this is important i saw someone tweet
like who knew we would get an animated
film about
generational trauma but talk about it in
a way that is tangible for young people
it still comes back to love
and 100
yeah there's no bad guy in the movie
except
how tight we hold on to each other and
our fixed ideas sometimes of each other
inside a family
the lesson of the movie is them bringing
all and seeing all of each other as
opposed to the part that they value
right by the way i never told you this
you were great in mary poppins oh you're
so nice tomorrow's here it's called
today to count your blessings you're a
lucky guy
that offer came along
and
here were the reasons i said yes rob
marshall made the best modern musical
with chicago i want to watch him direct
i will learn things watching him direct
my wife wants to live everywhere in the
world and i wrote a whole show about how
i never want to leave washington heights
so this is a great way for
uh
us both to be happy because i'll be
working and learning and she will get to
live in london and so that was that was
the decision-making it was sort of like
what's best for my family and my space
but also
watching rob marshall is going to make
me a better director if they ever let me
direct them and then guess what and they
did let me
god bless that julio yeah but it was it
was really what do i want to learn next
and that that's more i find more than
anything that's what guides my decisions
like i'm going to learn so bring it on i
wanted to write in a room with tom kitt
and amanda green i was like we never get
to write with other composers you know
get to see how someone else does it mary
poppins
ari
you can act and you can sing and uh you
can make us feel a lot of things so i
imagine the offers coming your way
are pretty infinite and crazy i mean
what's the compass you're finding in
terms of it because a lot of a lot of it
is saying no to the good so you can say
yes to right but it's also like the best
for you right
every offer i get i i read yeah full
stop i read every single thing i felt
like i had to make a lane for myself
and so now that i have opportunity i i
actually do give due diligence to every
offer that comes because i'm grateful
there's the stories inside you yeah that
you want to tell and so and that's
happened which you carry around like
luggage right like here's the things i
feel like i have to offer yeah and then
there are the things that come along
where you go
i gotta do that i'll kick myself forever
if i don't do it i love you i love you
i'm really glad we did this and you got
to check in even if it wasn't for the
kids you're so busy i appreciate you
yeah making the time yeah absolutely
this is the coolest thing yeah crazy
let's go we'll see ya sunday
[Music]