Speaker 1: Why do some women yearn for Shakida's Black Hair to
Speaker 1: make a comeback? And whatever happened to the power couple
Speaker 1: of My Dreams, Mariah Carey and Luis Miguel.
Speaker 2: I'm Maria Garcia.
Speaker 1: You may remember me for my podcast Anything for Selena
Speaker 1: or my Devo and now I'm back to unpack more
Speaker 1: stories from the present.
Speaker 2: And the past.
Speaker 1: Listen to me Excited with Maria Garcia on the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3: You could say that twenty twenty six is the year
Speaker 3: Melissa Barera's dreams came true. The Mexican actress produced an
Speaker 3: award winning film, is launching her very own production company,
Speaker 3: and made her Broadway debut, all in one year.
Speaker 4: But getting here has been a journey.
Speaker 3: You may know Melissa Brera from the Stars series Vida,
Speaker 3: or maybe from the film In the Heights or from
Speaker 3: the horror movie franchise Scream, But you may also know
Speaker 3: her because of her speaking out against the genocide Agasa.
Speaker 3: It's that outspokenness that got Melissa Verrera dropped from the
Speaker 3: Scream franchise. Now, more than two years later, Melissa has
Speaker 3: landed her perfect role and It's probably about as far
Speaker 3: away from scream as you can get. Melissa is starring
Speaker 3: in an absurd musical parody. It is so campy. I
Speaker 3: saw it myself recently on Broadway, just before sitting down
Speaker 3: with Melissa Barrera herself.
Speaker 2: It's the story of Titanic, but told through the eyes
Speaker 2: of Celine Dion because she thinks that she was a
Speaker 2: passenger the Titanic.
Speaker 4: I was so shocked that I didn't know what to do.
Speaker 5: So I just dimmed.
Speaker 2: I started to sing. I started to sing very well.
Speaker 2: And so she tells you the story of Jack and
Speaker 2: Rose as if she was there witnessing it all.
Speaker 3: Melissa plays Rose, adapting the role Kate Winslet played in
Speaker 3: the James Cameron film.
Speaker 2: And it works because we all know and loves Celindion,
Speaker 2: and we know that she's a kooky lady. You know,
Speaker 2: she's a character, and she's you know, like very eccentric
Speaker 2: and like out there and funny.
Speaker 3: The Iceberg is also a character, Donnie a Tina Turner wig,
Speaker 3: who the hell are you?
Speaker 4: I'm the Iceberg bitch.
Speaker 2: And so Marlon Mindell, who plays Celindion in our show,
Speaker 2: has done an incredible job of like capturing the essence
Speaker 2: of Celendion in this campy way, this story that's so
Speaker 2: cooky crazy, and that's what the musical is.
Speaker 3: The show first opened off Broadway in twenty twenty two
Speaker 3: and has built something of a cult following since then.
Speaker 3: It won two Olivier Awards when it debuted at the
Speaker 3: West End in London in twenty twenty five, and then
Speaker 3: in April of this year, Titanique finally opened on Broadway,
Speaker 3: earning four Tony Award nominations for Melissa Barrera. It was
Speaker 3: a return to her musical theater roots. From Futuro Media,
Speaker 3: It's Latino Usay. I'm Mariaokosa Today a conversation with actress
Speaker 3: Melissa Barrera. We talk about her Broadway debut, her decision
Speaker 3: to become a Hollywood executive, and the consequences she faced
Speaker 3: for speaking up against injustice.
Speaker 4: You probably don't remember this, sure I do. I don't know.
Speaker 3: It was twenty twenty four when we last did the
Speaker 3: interview with you. You said that one of your dreams
Speaker 3: was to be on Broadway.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's always been my dream. My north star
Speaker 2: was always Broadway. That's what got me into acting, was theater,
Speaker 2: musical theater that was always kind of like top of
Speaker 2: my bucket list. So I feel like there were moments
Speaker 2: in my life where I was like afraid to say
Speaker 2: it out loud because I didn't think that it was
Speaker 2: ever going to happen. So I would be careful about
Speaker 2: mentioning that dream because I was like, what if I
Speaker 2: never do it and then people think that I'm a failure,
Speaker 2: you know, like that kind of like weird thing. But
Speaker 2: then I started thinking about, like, no, actually I have
Speaker 2: to say it because that's manifesting. I just have to
Speaker 2: put it out in the universe.
Speaker 3: Asked for it, and then what they were just like,
Speaker 3: would you like to audition for Titanique?
Speaker 4: Yeah, well I so you had to audition.
Speaker 2: I had to audition. I actually I told my team
Speaker 2: at the end of last year, I was like, I
Speaker 2: really want to do theater this year. I had been
Speaker 2: trying for a couple of years.
Speaker 4: I was in talks of.
Speaker 2: Like joining a few shows, but there was a way
Speaker 2: that I wanted this dream to come true, Like there
Speaker 2: was a like an ultimate version of this stream of
Speaker 2: like originating a role for a Broadway show, being on
Speaker 2: like a cast album if you do that, being part
Speaker 2: of like the whole rehearsal process with the company, and
Speaker 2: that doesn't happen if you're coming into a show that's already.
Speaker 5: Running, oh right, of course as a replacement. As a replacement, right.
Speaker 2: So I was waiting for the show where I got
Speaker 2: to like do it from, you know, the whole rehearsal
Speaker 2: process and you know, being the original, even though in Titanique,
Speaker 2: you know, it's been running off Broadway and off off
Speaker 2: Broadway for years, so there's been many many roses who
Speaker 2: have been incredible.
Speaker 4: So I'm saying it wrong. It's not the technique. I'm
Speaker 4: making a mistake.
Speaker 2: So it's because we're lapping now because we say Titanic
Speaker 2: and that's no. But it's Titanic, right and English okay,
Speaker 2: And so people come and love it because it's just fun.
Speaker 2: It's just two hours of laughter.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: I have to tell you, Melissa, sometimes I'll be getting
Speaker 3: into bed because you know, I'm I go to bed
Speaker 3: very early because I wake up, yeah, very very early,
Speaker 3: and I'm like getting ready for my you know, nighttime routine.
Speaker 3: It's like nine or nine thirty and I'm like, Melissa
Speaker 3: just got off stage.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, And I live the life of a vampire.
Speaker 4: How are you feeling about that? Because how many shows
Speaker 4: do you do a week?
Speaker 2: Eight shows a week.
Speaker 3: It's no joke, no, because you're also you're dancing, you're moving,
Speaker 3: you're going up, you're going down, you're singing. Yeah, like
Speaker 3: you're carrying the show with your voice.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And I've always known that doing Broadway is hard. That's
Speaker 2: just something.
Speaker 4: That physically emotionally.
Speaker 2: Physically and emotionally and like everything that you require stamina,
Speaker 2: you require discipline, and it's like endurance, like a high
Speaker 2: performance athlete kind of career. I've always known that to
Speaker 2: be true, and so I just think, like, not everybody
Speaker 2: can do Broadway for an extended period of time. Then
Speaker 2: I come and I'm doing this, and I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm ready. And I usually, like I'm very good at
Speaker 2: like programming myself mentally when I'm going to go on
Speaker 2: a shoot or something, I'm like, all right, we're on
Speaker 2: this shoot for five months, and for five months, I
Speaker 2: am just going. And then as soon as the shoot
Speaker 2: is over, I'm in bed for a week. You know,
Speaker 2: it's like your body kind of like relaxes. But during
Speaker 2: I'm good, Like I'm not even tired. I'm like because
Speaker 2: I've told myself, this is the amount of time that
Speaker 2: you just have to be on and for this, Like
Speaker 2: we were two weeks into rehearsals and I was I
Speaker 2: felt like I had gone run over by ten trucks
Speaker 2: and I was like, how am I going to survive this?
Speaker 2: And it's hard and I'm doing a show that's fun.
Speaker 2: I'm laughing and you know, it's silly and it's not
Speaker 2: it's not two acts, it's one act. So I have
Speaker 2: like the easiest, I think version of this because I
Speaker 2: love the show. It's a comedy. We have fun every night.
Speaker 2: It's one act, under two hours done. And still I'm like,
Speaker 2: I'm pulling myself out of bed because I get home
Speaker 2: like the show ends. I get home around eleven pm
Speaker 2: every night, and then I have to walk my dogs,
Speaker 2: feed them, walk them again.
Speaker 4: Cuddle, yeah, play with them twice. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I walk them as soon as I get home, feed them,
Speaker 2: and then wait a little bit, like I shower, get
Speaker 2: ready for bed. Then I walk them again because I'm
Speaker 2: going to sleep for ten hours at least, so they're
Speaker 2: not going to go until the morning, so I have
Speaker 2: to give them, you know. But I just think about
Speaker 2: the people that have kids that like get home that
Speaker 2: have to like make lunches or make dinner or you
Speaker 2: know something like that. And I'm like, how do people
Speaker 2: do this? How have people been doing this for so long?
Speaker 4: Why?
Speaker 3: I'm like, why, it's Monday. We're doing this interview on
Speaker 3: a Monday. Yes, you're about to go perform. Yes, so
Speaker 3: how do you prepare?
Speaker 2: I drink water all throughout the day.
Speaker 4: Well, but don't you have to go to the bathroom
Speaker 4: then if you're on stage?
Speaker 2: So Maria, every day, every day during the show, Yes,
Speaker 2: I am peeing my pants And there are there are
Speaker 2: two more. I only have two months because my track,
Speaker 2: I'm on stage like ninety percent of the show. Yes,
Speaker 2: so there are two moments where I run to the bathroom.
Speaker 2: It's during Jim's monologue. He has this big monologue in
Speaker 2: the middle, and so that's a moment where I can pee,
Speaker 2: and I literally go to the stage manager's office bathroom
Speaker 2: because it's right there. I couldn't there's no way that
Speaker 2: I could go up to my room. And then there's
Speaker 2: another moment during River Deep that I could potentially if
Speaker 2: I need to go again go But for the most part,
Speaker 2: like ten or fifteen minutes into the show, I'm already like, oh,
Speaker 2: I have to.
Speaker 4: Go to the bathroom.
Speaker 5: It's true, Melsa is saying that, but your character is
Speaker 5: like I'm trying to focus and trying to not think
Speaker 5: about it, but it's impossible because I'm uncomfortable.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 3: Well, it doesn't show and when people go see this show,
Speaker 3: I think one of the things that they love and
Speaker 3: why it's gone extended. I mean, yes, you're part of
Speaker 3: an ensemble, but I think people who know your work
Speaker 3: have this unexpected moment with you, which is like, Melissa
Speaker 3: Barera is a very I mean she's a trained actor.
Speaker 4: She's often very serious, taking on very.
Speaker 3: Serious issues, and in this one, the best word to
Speaker 3: use is a very Mexican word, which is moikas.
Speaker 4: Can't even translate mikas. Yeah, it's like faces.
Speaker 3: You're making faces all the time, silly faces, you're hamming
Speaker 3: it up. Can you just talk a little bit about
Speaker 3: that and bringing that Melissa Brera, Yeah, with the funny
Speaker 3: faces onto Broadway.
Speaker 2: I love it because it's so fun and I'm surrounded by, like, legit,
Speaker 2: the funniest people on earth in every other role, so
Speaker 2: I feel very protected and very uplifted and like safe
Speaker 2: to be silly and try things, and you know, just
Speaker 2: like everybody knows who Rose is. Rose is Kate Winslet, right,
Speaker 2: And the movie it's like she's the angenenue, the lead girl.
Speaker 2: She's gonna fall in love and the steaks are real.
Speaker 2: She's engaged to this man that she doesn't want to marry,
Speaker 2: and she falls in love with this like guy from
Speaker 2: like the third class cabin and they have this like
Speaker 2: beautiful love affair and it's very romantic and serious, and
Speaker 2: it's you know, the steaks are life and death. It's
Speaker 2: Romeo and Juliet, right.
Speaker 4: But our version is Rose.
Speaker 2: Is horny because teenagers are horny. You know, It's just
Speaker 2: a fact.
Speaker 4: It's just a fact.
Speaker 2: And so I get to like really play with that
Speaker 2: side of her and really explore that and bring that
Speaker 2: in and play with how funny that is and not
Speaker 2: have to worry about being proper or pretty or anything.
Speaker 2: I'm just having fun and trying to show this other
Speaker 2: side of the character that I think would have made
Speaker 2: the movie great if they had like, you know, that
Speaker 2: very real like horniness of teenagers.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, that's so funny.
Speaker 4: Coming up on Latino Us say.
Speaker 3: Melissa Barrera talks about the cost of speaking out.
Speaker 2: There are a lot of people that got fired for
Speaker 2: basically saying Palestinians deserve human rights and they shouldn't be
Speaker 2: getting bombed. And it's sad to me that there are
Speaker 2: interests that are more important to certain people of power
Speaker 2: and money, and that they will do everything they can
Speaker 2: to shut people up from saying that people deserve to live.
Speaker 2: It's hard to comprehend.
Speaker 7: Stay with us, Elardo present our podcast percent See Join
Speaker 7: Luna Perciento, The take a Control Mundo, percent.
Speaker 2: Treva I see It.
Speaker 8: Oh so Lamola or the Tears goes Bia Divas in
Speaker 8: percenta format podcast.
Speaker 4: Hey We're back.
Speaker 3: Mexican actress Melissa Barera has been telling us how much
Speaker 3: she's loving getting to play Rose in the Broadway production
Speaker 3: of Titanique. The show was originally supposed to end in
Speaker 3: mid July, but it was so well received it got extended.
Speaker 3: And the thing is, this very funny production is serving
Speaker 3: as a breath of fresh air, not just for Melissa,
Speaker 3: but also for audiences too. Let's get back to our conversation.
Speaker 3: We're living through a very difficult political time. But when
Speaker 3: I came out of the theater, I was like smiling, laughing,
Speaker 3: cracking up about the fact that I just spent this
Speaker 3: time in the theater laughing my head off. So how
Speaker 3: do you put those two things together? Like the serious
Speaker 3: stuff that is happening and here we are on Broadway,
Speaker 3: you every night making people laugh like crazy.
Speaker 2: I think this kind of show is like a medicine
Speaker 2: for people at a time like this where everything like
Speaker 2: feels dark and heavy. I do think that for me specifically,
Speaker 2: being a part of the show, doing this job is
Speaker 2: helping me not go crazy, you know, because it's it's
Speaker 2: a balance. Like my algorithm is war and ice and
Speaker 2: deportations and families being separated in bombs and like ugly
Speaker 2: things that I think it's my responsibility to know what
Speaker 2: is going on in the world. And then I get
Speaker 2: to come here and it's a safe haven for me
Speaker 2: where I get to like be silly for two hours
Speaker 2: and remind myself that it's okay to laugh and to
Speaker 2: find like the joy in these times. And we give
Speaker 2: that gift to the audience as well. Of like here,
Speaker 2: you can leave all that at the door. This is
Speaker 2: a safe haven. We're here to give you joy to
Speaker 2: remind you that, like it's okay to like be silly
Speaker 2: and joke around, and hopefully you feel a little lighter
Speaker 2: when you leave. I think historically when people need it
Speaker 2: the most is when creatives and artists start making comedies
Speaker 2: like this, because people need that. Entertainment is a lifeline.
Speaker 2: You know, like people are always like so ready to
Speaker 2: dismiss artists like, oh, come on, you're just an actor,
Speaker 2: like shut up, and it's like, no, when you were
Speaker 2: during the pandemic, locked up? What were you doing? What
Speaker 2: kept you saying? TV and movies and podcasts and podcasts
Speaker 2: like just everything that is part of the entertainment industry
Speaker 2: that creatives are giving you a lifeline of conversation starters,
Speaker 2: of not feeling alone, of seeing yourself represented, of seeing
Speaker 2: maybe something that makes you think, oh, man, I never
Speaker 2: saw myself in that space, but because I saw that person,
Speaker 2: I know that I can do it too. And I
Speaker 2: think that Titanic being on Broadway six is what was
Speaker 2: meant to be because the times call for something like that.
Speaker 3: The thing is, Melissa, the things that you have talked
Speaker 3: about are in fact life and death, and you've borne
Speaker 3: the consequences right about speaking out about the genocide and
Speaker 3: the war on Gaza.
Speaker 4: Would you say you were blacklisted? Would you use that term?
Speaker 4: A yeah, definitely, which is.
Speaker 3: Like terrible as an artist, And so how do you
Speaker 3: put that the fact that because of your humanity, your consciousness,
Speaker 3: your international awareness, that you say no, no, no. In
Speaker 3: the United States, I was actually blacklisted for for my
Speaker 3: political thought, not for my actingah, my political thought.
Speaker 2: It's hard to comprehend. But it's also not the first
Speaker 2: time that that has happened to someone, and it won't
Speaker 2: be the last. There are a lot of people that
Speaker 2: got fired for basically saying Palestinians deserve human rights and
Speaker 2: they shouldn't be getting bombed and attacked in this way.
Speaker 2: And it's sad to me that there are interests that
Speaker 2: are more important to certain people of power and money,
Speaker 2: and that they don't care about people's lives, and that
Speaker 2: they will do everything they can to shut people up
Speaker 2: from saying that people deserve to live, that children deserve
Speaker 2: to grow up. It's hard to comprehend, but I also
Speaker 2: feel like.
Speaker 4: The tide has.
Speaker 2: Turned so much and like everybody kind of just seeing
Speaker 2: things for what they are, even if they were resisting
Speaker 2: at the beginning. And so I try to continue to
Speaker 2: have hope because I do feel that there's a lot
Speaker 2: more people out there that care, that actually do care
Speaker 2: about each other, and that understand that we're all connected.
Speaker 2: That we can't turn a blind eye to something that
Speaker 2: is happening on the other side of the world just
Speaker 2: because it's on the other side of the world, because
Speaker 2: before we know it, it's right here on our doorstep.
Speaker 2: And I think people, especially in this country realize that
Speaker 2: this year where it's like, oh wow, the same tactics
Speaker 2: that were used over there, the same surveillance mechanisms, the
Speaker 2: techniques used by like police are they're the same, yeah,
Speaker 2: and the checkpoint And so I do think that we
Speaker 2: just have to name things for what they are, even
Speaker 2: if there's consequences. I was one of a lot of
Speaker 2: people that face consequences. But I'm on Broadway now.
Speaker 4: So who's laughing last, you know, like.
Speaker 2: I'm still here and I'm and I'm you know, about
Speaker 2: to launch my production company. And everything happens for a reason,
Speaker 2: and it kind of it took me in a direction
Speaker 2: of like actually taking more control of my life and
Speaker 2: not allowing other people to have control over my life.
Speaker 4: We'll be right back.
Speaker 3: Yes, hey, we're back. Let's jump back into my conversation
Speaker 3: with actress Melissa Barrera. So you decide to launch your
Speaker 3: own production company, Yeah, which is not easy. Can you
Speaker 3: tell me a little bit about this, Like, No, I'm
Speaker 3: going to become an executive.
Speaker 2: I've always wanted to do that. I just didn't know
Speaker 2: how to go about it. And I got very lucky
Speaker 2: that I started working with this other production company and
Speaker 2: my producing partner was running that company at the time,
Speaker 2: and she was actually the one that suggested that I
Speaker 2: start my own production company.
Speaker 4: And your immediate reaction was like what me?
Speaker 2: My immediate reaction was like really, I was like, you
Speaker 2: don't have to be like knighted by someone to do this,
Speaker 2: Like can I just do it?
Speaker 3: Like the gods of Hollywood say you can create a
Speaker 3: production Yeah?
Speaker 2: I didn't know, because I was like, I can't do
Speaker 2: it by myself, Like I have to have someone with
Speaker 2: experience helping me run this, and who's going to want
Speaker 2: to come work with me? You know what I mean?
Speaker 2: That was like my thought. She kind of gave me
Speaker 2: like the little kick, yeah, the little kick of luck
Speaker 2: and of kind of like just go for it. And
Speaker 2: obviously you need money, right for an overhead and to
Speaker 2: produce movies. And so now it's like I'm getting to
Speaker 2: learn that side of the industry where you have to
Speaker 2: go and find financiers. And in our position, I'm like,
Speaker 2: I can't just take money from anybody. I want to
Speaker 2: be working with like hearted people, people that care about
Speaker 2: the world. And hopefully it's not just like a busy
Speaker 2: in this transaction where it's like I'll take your money
Speaker 2: and whatever I want them invested in the stories that
Speaker 2: we're telling. Because my idea of anything that I ever
Speaker 2: do is if I do well, we all do well.
Speaker 2: This is a team, and I want to surround myself
Speaker 2: with good people because we're all going to rise together.
Speaker 4: So what are the stories that you feel?
Speaker 3: Because your company is about telling the stories that aren't
Speaker 3: being told, right, so kind of what's on your slate
Speaker 3: in terms of what's not being told?
Speaker 4: What needs to we have? We have?
Speaker 2: Our mission is focused on human connection. I'm a love
Speaker 2: what do you call it?
Speaker 4: Like love? Love language? Person love? No, I love love
Speaker 4: love love. You're romantic?
Speaker 2: A romantic and I grew up watching rom coms, but
Speaker 2: I also grew up watching a lot of genre and
Speaker 2: like big action adventure things. But always what hooked me
Speaker 2: into a story was the love. So that's like what
Speaker 2: we're gravitating towards as we build our slate is we
Speaker 2: want all of our projects to have love in them somehow,
Speaker 2: no matter the genre. And we're also you know, like
Speaker 2: we're looking for new voices, like up and coming filmmakers.
Speaker 2: I love working with first time directors or like people
Speaker 2: that really have a unique visual storytelling voice. And so
Speaker 2: we're looking for like talent in writing, in filmmaking and
Speaker 2: trying to like help bring the new generation of filmmakers
Speaker 2: that are telling original stories, that are telling like new things.
Speaker 3: All right, So when we were last together, you were like,
Speaker 3: I'm dreaming of Broadway. So we're going to give you
Speaker 3: the opportunity since it seems like it works well here. Yeah,
Speaker 3: well it's two Proximo. Next big thing on the bucket list.
Speaker 2: I want to build this company out to become like
Speaker 2: a new version of what studios are.
Speaker 1: Like.
Speaker 2: I want to have distribution, I want to have financing.
Speaker 2: I want to have like a big company where people
Speaker 2: can come and we can like put movies out and
Speaker 2: make sure that they get to theaters. And you know
Speaker 2: to have like all in house, Like I want to
Speaker 2: build this company, but I want I want to operate
Speaker 2: on love, and I want to operate in like the
Speaker 2: energy of opportunity, and like I don't want anyone to
Speaker 2: be scared of like losing their jobs. Like it feels
Speaker 2: like that's what like the industry feeds off of is fear.
Speaker 2: And that's why I think there's a lack of original stories.
Speaker 2: It's because no one wants to get fired because they're
Speaker 2: so true. Everyone is constantly getting rearranged and all that,
Speaker 2: so no one wants to take a chance. And so
Speaker 2: I want to create an environment where people are allowed
Speaker 2: to take risks and do different things and take a
Speaker 2: chance on new people, just a different, more loving environment
Speaker 2: and where people aren't afraid to speak up.
Speaker 4: So finally, what is something that is bringing you joy
Speaker 4: right now? Oh?
Speaker 2: I mean this show really brings me joy, Like getting
Speaker 2: to go to work every night and do a live
Speaker 2: performance and get like that immediate like going to the
Speaker 2: stage door and meeting people and laying their reactions. I
Speaker 2: do love them.
Speaker 4: I love that.
Speaker 2: I used to be that girl, like I would go
Speaker 2: to see a Broadway show and then I would wait
Speaker 2: at the stage door with my playable to get it signed,
Speaker 2: and so it's crazy to now be on the other side.
Speaker 2: But I love it. I love doing it because of it.
Speaker 2: I know how much it meant to me when the
Speaker 2: artists came out and gave me two seconds of their time.
Speaker 2: So try to always do that. My dogs give me
Speaker 2: joy every day just having my dogs.
Speaker 4: And their names are and Rambo and Zeus and Zeus.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I love them and just having them waking
Speaker 2: up with them every day really kind of grounds me
Speaker 2: and reminds me to be grateful. And this like this
Speaker 2: new chapter of my life that I'm you know, building
Speaker 2: something from scratch and finding collaborators and meeting new people
Speaker 2: and learning a whole new side of the industry like that.
Speaker 2: I love learning things that One of my favorite parts
Speaker 2: about the job is having to learn new skill for
Speaker 2: a character.
Speaker 4: I love that.
Speaker 2: So I'm just excited about this new chapter.
Speaker 4: We're all feeling it. We're feeling the excitement for you,
Speaker 4: which is gonna ask you did you see that?
Speaker 7: Thank you?
Speaker 3: That was actress Melissa Barera, star of the Broadway musical Titanique.
Speaker 3: It's on stage now through September twentieth. This episode was
Speaker 3: produced by Nude Saudi. It was edited by Alana Casanova Burgess.
Speaker 3: It was mixed by jj Krubin. Fact checking for this
Speaker 3: episode by Roxana Aguire. Fernande Echavari is our managing editor.
Speaker 3: Nancy Drujuillo is our production manager. The Latino USA team
Speaker 3: also includes Julia Caruso, Renaldo Leanos Junior, Stephanie Lebou Godriman
Speaker 3: Marquiz and Jujeta Martinelli. Benede La Midas and I are
Speaker 3: executive producers. I'm your host Maria Noo Hoosan. Remember Latino
Speaker 3: USA is part of Iheart's Mike Utura podcast network. Executive
Speaker 3: producers at iHeart Our Leo Gomez and Arlene Santana join
Speaker 3: us again on our next episode. In the meantime, I'll
Speaker 3: see you on all of our social media and dear listener,
Speaker 3: don't forget to join Futuro plus.
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Speaker 4: Lot bay yas Joo.
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Speaker 6: TAU Foundation. The Annie E. Casey Foundation creates a brighter
Speaker 6: future for the nation's children, by strengthening families, building greater
Speaker 6: economic opportunity, and transforming communities and the Ford Foundation, working
Speaker 6: with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide,