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Daphne Rubin-Vega has been theatre royalty since she burst onto the scene as the original Mimi in Rent. While her role in that blockbuster show secured her status as a Broadway legend, the Panamanian-born actor has continued a steady streak of diverse roles onstage and onscreen. In the upcoming film adaptation of In the Heights, based on Lin-Manuel Miranda’s breakout musical, audiences can catch up with her indomitable star power as the vivacious salon owner, Daniela.‍

In the Heights, which follows an ensemble of Washington Heights residents as they sweat through the hottest days of the summer, is an electrifying ode to Latinx immigration and persistence. I caught up with Rubin-Vega on Zoom to talk about her career, and why she thinks the film is a landmark for movie musicals and Latinx representation. 

“You don't know what you're missing if you've never had it,” Rubin-Vega said. “The wordless power of being in a space that looks like you—where what you look like, and your culture, are normative—speaks volumes. To render that on film, in a classic way that pays respect to the best of what filmmaking has to offer, is like finally being able to inhale a full breath of air and take up space.”

The actor, who has twice been nominated for the Tony Award, noted a difference between her own theatrical upbringing and the one her young castmates are currently experiencing.

“I was one of those children who grew up in spaces that didn't look like me, and I was told that I was very privileged to be in those spaces—and I was,” she said. “But the consequence of that experience was feeling othered, like I was lucky to be there and that I didn’t have anything to bring to the table, but rather that I was there to absorb what was there.”

“Carnaval del Barrio,” a rousing anthem of Latin-American pride led by Daniela, sees the entire neighborhood wave their national flags. Rubin-Vega said the scene proved “transcendently beautiful” only after seeing the final cut of the film.

“When we shot that scene, there were only a few kinds of flags, and being a Panamanian I wanted to see Panama's flag,” she said. “I was told not to worry about it because they were going to CGI it in later. Cut to when I first saw the film and I saw not only Panama, but all the flags represented, it gave me a physical experience of being seen. It sounds very tropey, but it has a cellular response in your system where you feel a little less crazy and a little more belonging in the world.”

Daniela, a community leader due to her ownership of a busy, gossipy salon, flexes her matriarchal power throughout the film.

“One of my favorite lines of Daniela's is, ‘We survived slave ships, Taíno genocide, conquistadores and dictators.’ That spirit of, ‘What do you mean you can't deal with the heat, or this adversity right now?’——that's her,” she said. “It was a great moment of recognizing the power of representation.”

Though director Jon M. Chu is not Latinx, Rubin-Vega said his “generosity of spirit” and “fully-blossomed” artistry made him fit in with the mostly Latinx cast and crew.

“Everyone involved was brought in because they were experts in a specific field,” the actor said. “There was enough attention and reverence and resources implemented to find those people. I mean, these people are ridiculously talented, and that elevates the atmosphere on another level; it's quite remarkable.”

Rubin-Vega calls herself an uncredited “secret weapon” of the musical’s original Broadway production: she voiced the radio announcer at the top of the show who warns the Heights inhabitants of the coming heat wave. She said she was happy to help Miranda on his Broadway debut, knowing his popularity would soon explode.

“When I think of Lin as a young cuz, it's because I've watched him come into this community and change it so dramatically,” Rubin-Vega said. “When I came into the New York theatre community, I was a part of something bigger that changed the face of Broadway. When you saw Lin coming, you recognized that——in addition to the fact that he's Latino.”

Like Miranda, Rubin-Vega’s mere presence demands recognition. Despite a career of playing roles as profoundly off-beat as Magenta in The Rocky Horror Show, and Stella in a multiracial Broadway revival of A Streetcar Named Desire, she said she does not seek out roles for their political significance.

“I was once asked why I chose such politically-charged roles,” she said. “I wondered what they meant by that, but I think that by dint of the fact that I inhabit a role, the role is perceived differently. When I play a role, it brings attention, or lack thereof, to what it is to be an actor in this body. I'm happy to bring that element into my work.”

‍In the Heights is released in theatres and streaming exclusively on HBO Max on June 10.

Follow Juan A. at @itsNumberJuan.

We recently caught up with Nikki Blonsky, who is, of course, most well known as Tracy Turnblad from the hit 2007 film Hairspray. We chatted about how she is spending her days during quarantine, her now famous Cameo videos, dream roles, and so much more.

“Well good morning Quarantine, that is how I am holding up.” I spoke with Nikki on the phone just after she had finished baking three dozen muffins. “Whole wheat banana nut, peanut butter and blueberry, cranberry walnut, oh, I really went in," she joked. “Of course, always using whole wheat and coconut oil, trying to be as healthy as possible.”  

As for quarantine, it’s been a ton of Guy’s Grocery Games and Top Chef, but she notes that is nothing new for her. Her latest project to keep her busy during these past few months of lockdown is Nikki Nights, a nightly “talk show” via Instagram live with some of her favorite celebrity friends. From Ricki Lake to Rose McGowan to Shoshana Bean, Ms. Blonsky logs on every night and chats up a storm with her delectable charm. Nikki Nights is slated to turn to podcast format soon, so watch out for that.  

It has been almost fourteen years since production began on New Line Cinema’s adaption of Hairspray. While she couldn't recall when she last watched the movie in full, Blonsky mentioned how she will always throw it on if it's playing, just to see what scene they are at.

We reminisced about her favorite memory of filming. “Every day was a new memory... it was just a non-stop adventure. It was a dream, literally. The first day filming "Good Morning Baltimore" on top of that garbage truck, it was the most magical experience of my life.” As for who she is still close with that that all-star cast, she mentioned how she made some of the best friends. “I saw Brittany Snow this summer, I know she just got married and I am so excited for her. I also spoke to Elijah Kelly a few weeks back; he’s supposed to call me back. Sir, I am waiting,” chuckled Blonsky. It is actually her movie mother who she is closest with... John Travolta. “We probably talk once a month or so. Not a holiday or birthday goes by that is not acknowledged. So, to that I say to my friends, if John Travolta has the time to text me back, so can you!”

While Nikki has kept busy with recurring roles on television and movies throughout the years, there are always dream roles that she would love to tackle. The one that came to mind was a movie adaption of Carmen, the famous Georges Bizet opera. And for musicals, Blonsky would love to take on Fanny Brice in the inevitable Funny Girl film. “I am a huge Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, Liza Minnelli fanatic, and Cher is just always leading the pack.”

And when she is not acting, Blonsky passes the time in her other profession... hunting ghosts. Yes, you read that correctly, it's right there in her Twitter bio: Actress, Singer, Dancer, Public Speaker, Paranormal Investigator. “Why yes, I am a paranormal investigator. Would you believe it? My late uncle was very into science fiction and that is certainly something he passed along to me,” she noted. Partnering with Chad Lindberg of The Fast and The Furious fame, the duo have gone on to explore Lake Shawnee, an abandoned amusement park in West Virginia, as well as Eastern State Penitentiary in Philly. “We have communicated via flashlights, my microphone was fully drained, lots of wild things went on,” remembered Blonsky. All I am saying is as soon as quarantine ends, I need a Nikki Blonsky paranormal television show, you hear that @SyFy?

While I had her on the phone, I had to bring up her wildly popular Cameos that have been floating around the internet for the past year or so. If you are unfamiliar, Cameo is a platform where you can hire celebrities to film any kind of greeting for you. Just this week alone I have seen Ms. Blonsky’s videos on Twitter, YouTube, as well TikTok. One young fan asked Nikki to create a get well soon video for his friend who fell off his bike while listening to “The Nicest Kids In Town,” “I have received a ton of prom-posals and even quite a few wedding proposals. Cameo has brought me so much closer to my fans, I love doing them and I promise to sing in every single one”, she said. As of our phone call, Ms. Blonsky has completed 3,078 Cameos in the past year and a half.

And for Boston, Blonsky hopes to come visit her 28 second cousins who live in the area once it is safe to do so. If one thing is clear, Nikki certainly hasn’t let quarantine keep her down.

*This article originally appeared on Theatre Talk Boston.

Have you ever been to a Broadway show and tried their signature cocktail in the bar in the lobby? Theatrely recently had a virtual drink with Kellyann Coyle and Brian Sedita, who took those drinks and are teaching you how to make them on their Instagram, Broadway By The Glass.

Theatrely: What were you both up to before the pandemic started?

Brian Sedita: In the theater industry, at least, I have a podcast called “Pitch to Stage” on the Broadway Podcast Network. And then after quarantine started, I also co-created another show with Michael Kushner called “My Broadway Memory” which is also on the Broadway Podcast Network, which I'm still co-creator of, but have stepped down in terms of my commitment to producing and all that kind of stuff, because quarantine was one thing, and then after that life went back to normal a little bit for me. I don't work in the theater industry anymore.

Kellyann Coyle: For me, pre-pandemic, I'm an actor in the city, dancer first! I did a couple of tours and some regional stuff. I'm also a bartender, my bar has since closed until April. So this passion project has pulled literally the two things that I love doing that I can't do during quarantine together. So it's been so great. And we both just love theater so much. So it's like it's such a fun passion project for us.

T: How did you two meet?

BS: So we actually grew up together! We went to preschool through graduating high school together and have stayed best friends since.

T: When did you two decide to start Broadway by the Glass?

BS: So I'm also a bartender in New Jersey. Honestly, it's so funny, because I had been thinking about doing something like this for a while. And then, I know Kelly was thinking about doing the same thing, and at that point I really didn't have a lot of time to commit to it. But I was like, "you know what? If you want to go ahead without me I will not be offended." And it just ended up working out that when we were going to start this time freed up in some areas of my life so I was able to commit a lot more time to it.

KC: It was literally like the next day, wasn't it? Because I was ready to go and then you were like, "I have time now." And I'm like, "yeah!"

BS: And what I've loved most about this collaboration so far is that Kelly and I haven't really worked together in an artistic or professional sense since high school. So this has been a really great way to connect even more than we normally would have over the past couple of years.

T: Walk me through your process a little bit, how do you get from picking a show to formulating a drink?

KC: Hmmm, well, I feel like when we started out, we were picking random shows and we were like, "OK, so, what's something we could do from Frozen, like maybe an iced drink?" And then I guess we got a little more specific with Christmas. We did a 12 Days of Christmas countdown, and Brian made a full on list of all Christmas shows and Christmas songs. Then we went in and listened to it and tried to get inspiration from it, like if they mention a liquor or what the vibe is. I feel like that's the one thing that we really try to do is get the vibe of the show. So like when you think of super smoky and like dark, that's what you expect when you hear Hadestown.

BS: And I mean, if you're twenty one and above, you might love alcohol. And if you're a Broadway fan, like merging those two things is just lots of fun. How many times do you get drunk and sing show tunes? So this is like the perfect marriage of those two things. And it's creative to like sit down and like craft a cocktail! Like it's not just your normal margarita for Escape to Margaritaville. We're trying to come up with things like where we can introduce people to different kinds of liqueurs and spirits so that it'll also expand people's vocabulary and liquor cabinets.

KC: A little educational! And we're starting to do hopefully every Friday a little history on either a cocktail or explaining a liquor or liqueur and doing like a little education segment on IGTV.

BS: Like, there's so much that we could do with this and so much that we've discussed how we can build and grow as a brand. So every show you go to has a really cool cocktail list and you're excited to go to the bar and look at what they came up with for the shows. So our dream for this would be to create custom opening night cocktails for opening nights on Broadway or around the country and doing cocktail workshops and leading cocktail parties and stuff like that, and maybe getting our cocktails on those Broadway show menus. I think the moment that I first was inspired to do something like this was two years ago. I went to the opening night of Be More Chill and they had and at the after party they had a Squip-tini and it was this Mountain Dew and vodka, and it was smoking because it had dry ice in it. And it was this really cool cocktail that like maybe didn't taste great because Mountain Dew doesn't taste great. But it was so specific to the show and it was that perfect marriage of those two things that I was talking about with alcohol and a Broadway show. And then there's such missed opportunities, like I remember going to the Alice By Heart opening and they didn't do anything with a teacup, like you'd think like a tea cocktail, like Earl Gray Gin. Or there's so many tea inspired cocktails now. And they didn't do anything like that.

T: What's been your favorite drink that you've posted so far?

KC: Oh, my God, lemme see. I loved the "You Go, Glen Coco" and it was a candy cane martini. And I was super excited about it. And I was trying to get inspiration from recipes online. Everyone was going the white chocolate route, which I don't love. So I went in the complete opposite direction and went a little fruity with it. And it literally tasted like a melted down candy cane that you get when you're a kid where it's sweet and minty, but not like in your face, and the garnish was really cute. I put icing around the edge and dipped it in crushed candy cane and it just was so pretty. And it did really well on the page.

BS: My favorite was also from our Christmas series. And it was "She Loves Christmas" and we used the "12 Days of Christmas" from She Loves Me as the backtrack to it. And we went to the nine days of Christmas and that's what day we did it on. It's a vodka elderflower liqueur, which is my absolute favorite liqueur, Aperol, lemon juice and simple syrup. And it's something that honestly, I've made for so many of my friends when they come over to my house now that they're like, "you need to bottle this!" And it's delicious and it's sweet and sour and it's good and it hits hard.

T: Is there anything on the horizon that we can look forward to seeing?

BS: We're partnering with some Broadway box subscriptions to get our cocktails in their boxes like little postcards with cocktails and a mocktail. And then you'll scan like a QR code to exclusive videos with us doing a workshop on that cocktail. So a little more than our social media might give you. You have an exclusive link. And then we're going to be releasing some merchandise in the spring. There's many references to liquor throughout the Broadway musical theater canon. So we're going through that and picking out our favorite things to design and hopefully by March we'll have that up and running. So we're kind of trying to build that brand so that by the time Broadway comes back, we can really hop on. There's so much content out there because there's so many artists that are looking for something meaningful to do during this time. Yeah, there's so much exploding, and hopefully there's so many things that we want to take outside of this time of quarantine back to like normal times. I mean, theatre is all about connecting, and honestly, for us, when you go out to a bar and connect with people over a drink, it's the same kind of connection that you can have at the theater.

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