Speaker 1: Pushkin. I don't normally have people introduce themselves here on
Speaker 1: Backstage Pass, but I had to share this one with
Speaker 1: you because well, in a second you'll see why. My
Speaker 1: name is Stephanie Beatriz. I'm an actor. You might know
Speaker 1: me from such programs as Brooklyn nine nine. I play
Speaker 1: Rosa Diaz on there, and I also recently played Carla
Speaker 1: and In the Heights and Eric is my voice teacher.
Speaker 1: You left out one important thing. Oh what's that you said?
Speaker 1: I'm an actor and I'm a singer. Yeah, oh my god.
Speaker 1: Very hard to sort of wrap my brain around the
Speaker 1: fact that I can sing still, but you can and
Speaker 1: you've done two musicals. So yes, this is Backstage Pass
Speaker 1: with Eric Vitrop. I'm Eric Vitro. I have to say
Speaker 1: I love my job because I get to coach some
Speaker 1: of the most talented and famous singers working today. On
Speaker 1: this show, I talked to them about their lives, their craft,
Speaker 1: and what it really takes to make it big in
Speaker 1: the music business. I work with a lot of singers.
Speaker 1: But as you heard, even though Stephanie's been in musical
Speaker 1: features like In the Heights and the animated Disney musical Acanto,
Speaker 1: Stephanie didn't consider herself a singer. She didn't call herself one.
Speaker 1: To be honest, she was surprisingly apprehensive about her singing.
Speaker 1: At first. She wasn't even sure she should audition for
Speaker 1: In the Heights. I remember my friend Melissa Fumero from
Speaker 1: Brooklyn nine nine saying, you have to audition for this,
Speaker 1: you have to, And I was like, I'm not a singer.
Speaker 1: They're going to choose singers like Adam, what am I doing?
Speaker 1: I'm not a singer. Have you heard that track the
Speaker 1: Carlo things? It's not easy. She was like, get a
Speaker 1: voice lesson, get prepared, go in there and do your best.
Speaker 1: So you called me yes, And then I remember calling
Speaker 1: and being very nervous. So I was like, I don't know,
Speaker 1: I haven't taken a voiceless in college like years. You
Speaker 1: were a little like, you know, I'm not really a
Speaker 1: real singer. They probably need great singers for this and
Speaker 1: all of that, And in my head I'm thinking, if
Speaker 1: I say yes to this person, it means I'm saying
Speaker 1: no to that person, right, So I think I remember
Speaker 1: the first half of the call going, oh, should I
Speaker 1: recommend her too? Who should I tell her? She? Because
Speaker 1: I don't have time but you were so charismatic, so funny,
Speaker 1: you had such a great personality. I so enjoyed talking
Speaker 1: to you. I was like, Oh, what the hell? And
Speaker 1: then you came in and I don't get this feeling
Speaker 1: all the time, but I kind of thought, Oh, this
Speaker 1: is gonna work. She's gonna do it. Like I actually remember,
Speaker 1: and I think I said it to you too, that
Speaker 1: I have a really good feeling about this roll of
Speaker 1: Carla in the Heights you did and boom it happened. Yeah,
Speaker 1: what do you remember about that process? What I really
Speaker 1: remember about the first lesson was that you talked to
Speaker 1: me about singing the song like it was a monologue,
Speaker 1: and it was so helpful to me because I was
Speaker 1: so nervous about the sounds coming out of my mouth.
Speaker 1: I didn't have a lot of technique at the time,
Speaker 1: Like I was quickly learning from what we were covering
Speaker 1: in the hour that I spent with you that first time.
Speaker 1: But you talked about Emily Blunt and how you gave
Speaker 1: her some notes that were the same notes that you
Speaker 1: were giving me, which was like, think about what your
Speaker 1: character desires in this song and why that might connect
Speaker 1: to where the notes are going. And I was like dull,
Speaker 1: you know, like it was like someone just opened a
Speaker 1: door and was like, over here some new tools to use,
Speaker 1: and it was really extremely helpful. I remember that being like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I'm way less worried about the sound
Speaker 1: and I'm way more invested in what I'm doing as
Speaker 1: an actor, and I think that's what got me the role. Well,
Speaker 1: I'm so happy to hear that that was helpful. You know.
Speaker 1: I say that truly everybody, because everyone's voice always sounds
Speaker 1: better when they stopped listening and thinking about it, right,
Speaker 1: and especially in your case, because I thought, well, she's
Speaker 1: a really good actress, so she's going to respond to
Speaker 1: thinking about this as an actor as opposed to as
Speaker 1: a singer. And it's funny you bring up Emily because
Speaker 1: she was even more reticent about auditioning than you. Or
Speaker 1: she was like, what a waste of time. I'm wasting
Speaker 1: your time, I'm wasting my time. And then she started singing.
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, she has a beautiful voice. Then
Speaker 1: she did Into the Woods and then became Mary Pop
Speaker 1: and with you you did Into the Heights and now
Speaker 1: are Disney Princess. I mean, it just shows you that
Speaker 1: you can't hold yourself back. You can't make those decisions.
Speaker 1: If someone sees something in you, take it in, absorb it,
Speaker 1: go with it, don't fight them on it. Yeah, your
Speaker 1: voice has been such a huge part of your career obviously,
Speaker 1: and so like when you're doing different people like Rosadeaz
Speaker 1: or Carla, what do you think about beforehand? Do you
Speaker 1: spend a lot of time thinking about what each character
Speaker 1: is going to sound like? For me, at least it
Speaker 1: comes more in the rehearsal process or like in the
Speaker 1: process of starting to work with the other actors and
Speaker 1: see like what the fit is. Sometimes I have like
Speaker 1: a really strong take on it. Like I think for
Speaker 1: Carla during in the Heights, I knew I wanted to
Speaker 1: do something like much higher higher and pitch higher in
Speaker 1: pitch yes, because she sort of lives in this place
Speaker 1: of like she lives in the top of her head, right,
Speaker 1: meaning that she kind of lives in this like floaty.
Speaker 1: I'm involved, but I'm also like half of my brain
Speaker 1: is maybe somewhere else half of this time. You know, Well,
Speaker 1: there's a funny line in the song where she doesn't
Speaker 1: get she doesn't get what's going on. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: she doesn't always get what's going on? Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: that happens multiple times, right, Like it happens in the
Speaker 1: beauty salon, it happens in the lyrics. Come on, I
Speaker 1: don't think I know what you mean. And then it
Speaker 1: happens where she she's been witnessed the same as everyone
Speaker 1: else to Usnavi and Vanessa's relationship, and she has to
Speaker 1: have it directly pointed out to her. And then she's like, wow,
Speaker 1: now that you mentioned that's sexual attention, it's easy to see.
Speaker 1: I love that. The way that he wrote it is
Speaker 1: so indicative of what that character is. It's like totally
Speaker 1: do do do do do do do do do do
Speaker 1: do do? So she's like adding it. You can see
Speaker 1: her doing a math, you know, and you can hear
Speaker 1: her doing the math, which is really cool. Exactly exactly.
Speaker 1: It's so sweet. There's something very sweet about it. So
Speaker 1: for me, I was like, well, she probably lives and
Speaker 1: like got much higher. Such a good choice, such a
Speaker 1: good choice. Yeah, and for Rosa than Brooklyn ninety nine,
Speaker 1: the opposite, right, I mean, yes, she does not suffer fools.
Speaker 1: She does not. And also like side note, this is
Speaker 1: something that I don't talk about very much. But when
Speaker 1: I auditioned for the pilot, I was teaching workout classes
Speaker 1: in Hollywood, and I was yelling and using my voice
Speaker 1: a lot, and so it was raspy. When I went
Speaker 1: in for that audition, it was raspy, and I thought,
Speaker 1: how am I gonna like work with this a little bit?
Speaker 1: And so it sounded better to me if I placed
Speaker 1: it just a tiny bit lower, not as low as
Speaker 1: I eventually placed the Rosa voice, but a little bit
Speaker 1: lower in my register helped me sound stronger in the auditions,
Speaker 1: because I auditioned originally for the Amy Santiago role, and
Speaker 1: then they called me back for the Amy role and
Speaker 1: for the Rosa role, so I wanted to differentiate between
Speaker 1: those two two and so for Rosa, I just placed
Speaker 1: it a little bit lower in my register. So she
Speaker 1: talks a lot deeper than I do. She's very straightforward.
Speaker 1: She got and talks on this register, and she doesn't
Speaker 1: suffer fools. She thinks everyone's an idiot. Well, I plans
Speaker 1: on Saturday too, I'm having dinner with my parents. So
Speaker 1: you don't even like your parents. You call them smiley,
Speaker 1: moral and hug freaks. Plans or plans, I'm a badass
Speaker 1: and I'm an anarchist. So once you determined that that
Speaker 1: was Rosan, like you really go, Okay, this is who
Speaker 1: she is. I love this, this is her. Do you
Speaker 1: do anything vocally to prep for that or do you
Speaker 1: just go in and it just happens. I did not
Speaker 1: prep for it, and it caught up with me at
Speaker 1: a certain point. It caught up with me. I think
Speaker 1: like second or third season. It was like uncomfortable. Sometimes
Speaker 1: I can slide into it really easily now because I
Speaker 1: know where it lives comfortably, right, But there was a
Speaker 1: point where, and I think it was like coming back
Speaker 1: to the show after like the break, because we shoot
Speaker 1: for x amount of weeks and then we have a
Speaker 1: break while they decide whether or not they're going to
Speaker 1: kill us or not, you know, and then coming back
Speaker 1: it would be like, oh no, what is this voice?
Speaker 1: Like where is it? Over time, I'd sort of tried
Speaker 1: to like train myself to like slide back into it easily,
Speaker 1: and now it's like second nature. I don't need to
Speaker 1: do that. But there was a point where I realized, like,
Speaker 1: you have to think about this a little bit more. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm glad we talked about that because I do think
Speaker 1: people need to think about that, Like, if you are
Speaker 1: going to do an unusual character voice, sometimes you should
Speaker 1: really warm up your voice, do exercises, practice doing it,
Speaker 1: build up a strength and a stamina to be able
Speaker 1: to do it totally, especially with I think accents, and
Speaker 1: people don't think of accents as related to singing, but
Speaker 1: they are because it's so much about sound. Where the
Speaker 1: sound is in your mouth yea, and what sounds natural
Speaker 1: to an audience, you know, like if you don't practice that,
Speaker 1: you will say your hard are on stage when you're
Speaker 1: not supposed to. I just will. Stephanie sounds confident about
Speaker 1: her voice and her skills now, but she was insecure
Speaker 1: about singing for a long time. She told me it
Speaker 1: all started back in middle school. I went to a
Speaker 1: public school in Houston, and my school had three electives.
Speaker 1: They had acquire art and speech and debate. And art
Speaker 1: was very expensive because you had to have money for
Speaker 1: all these like supplies, So that was kind of out
Speaker 1: of the question. Choir The first day that I was
Speaker 1: in there, literally the first day that I was in there,
Speaker 1: the teacher was like, I'm not sure that you have
Speaker 1: the best voice, so I would consider switching your elective.
Speaker 1: She literally pulled me aside outside that to me, so
Speaker 1: I switched. I switched to speech and debate because I
Speaker 1: was mortified. And in speech and Debate, that was the
Speaker 1: first time that I sort of started acting. The speech
Speaker 1: and debate class would do like a play, and they
Speaker 1: did a melodrama and I was cast as the bad
Speaker 1: guy in the melodrama. So I wore like a top
Speaker 1: hat and a mustache and it was really fun. I
Speaker 1: had a blast. I had such a blast. I bet
Speaker 1: we had like three performances. You know, six and seventh
Speaker 1: and eighth graders all go to the auditorium and watched
Speaker 1: the performance. And I remember the next day at school
Speaker 1: there was a boy in my science class who had
Speaker 1: never talked to me before, and he came up to
Speaker 1: my desk and was like, Hey, your brother was really
Speaker 1: funny in that play. You gotta tell him. I was like,
Speaker 1: and I didn't know. You know, that was my first
Speaker 1: experience with like, oh, I fooled you. Wow, I really
Speaker 1: deeply fooled you. Because you've been in classes with me
Speaker 1: since sixth grade. Now we're in seventh grade. You've seen
Speaker 1: me every day in your science class, and I fooled you,
Speaker 1: and I made you laugh, and I made you come
Speaker 1: up to me to communicate to my non existent brother
Speaker 1: that you liked what I did in the play. What
Speaker 1: a light bulb moment. Yeah, it really was doing a
Speaker 1: movie like in the Heights and then becoming a latinox
Speaker 1: Disney princess. What would you say to that teacher? Now?
Speaker 1: I think I would take her a side gently and
Speaker 1: not in front of her whole class, or like send
Speaker 1: her an email or something and say I would think
Speaker 1: twice about how you pose things to students that might
Speaker 1: take them really seriously. But also thank you, because yes,
Speaker 1: you booted me out of your choir and I found
Speaker 1: my way to a theater. So yes, you probably got
Speaker 1: so much more out of it I think I did. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm just like thrilled you didn't let it hold you
Speaker 1: back or stop you from singing the rest of your life.
Speaker 1: Because if I could think of a few choice things
Speaker 1: to say to her, and maybe I'll hunt her down
Speaker 1: and say, well, you know, that just really struck to
Speaker 1: my core, you saying that, because my father used to
Speaker 1: always say he had heard me singing along with some
Speaker 1: TV commercial when I was three and said I was
Speaker 1: out of key, off key, I was out of tune,
Speaker 1: and he wouldn't let go of it, like he held
Speaker 1: onto that thing for years. And he did get me
Speaker 1: a piano and gave me piano lessons, so I'll give
Speaker 1: him that. But he was like, stay away from anything
Speaker 1: singing because like, you don't have an ear for it.
Speaker 1: And I don't know what inside of me got me
Speaker 1: to keep going because he was so negative. And then
Speaker 1: when I would watch people on TV sometimes because I
Speaker 1: knew right away, I say, oh, I'd love to play
Speaker 1: the piano for them, or I'd love to give them
Speaker 1: some notes, like I'm thinking, like even as a kid,
Speaker 1: I used to think that, and he go, what makes
Speaker 1: you think You're gonna get to Hollywood and meet these people?
Speaker 1: And somehow, if you have that thing inside of you,
Speaker 1: you have to listen to it. Yes, it is about
Speaker 1: honoring it and trusting it and allowing yourself to listen
Speaker 1: to it and not let other people drown it out,
Speaker 1: especially people who are these big figures in your life,
Speaker 1: like teachers, like parents, like you know, like people you
Speaker 1: look up to and say like, oh, it's not for you,
Speaker 1: right if that is painful to you to have somebody
Speaker 1: say like, that's not for you. If there's pain there,
Speaker 1: I think that that's a sign of like, oh that
Speaker 1: must be for me, because it's that it costs me
Speaker 1: something to hear that. Oh that's a great point. Well,
Speaker 1: I've observed with you that even when like the music
Speaker 1: is challenging, like when you get a new song, like
Speaker 1: for example, when Kantos songs were coming, you were always like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: this is can be challenging, but you never backed away
Speaker 1: from it in any way. And I thought that was
Speaker 1: such an admirable quality that you were like, Yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna do the best I can. I'm gonna go for this,
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna make it happen. Thank you, stay right there.
Speaker 1: Next on Backstage Pass, Stephanie and I will talk about
Speaker 1: the biggest challenge she faced while working on Disney's and Kanto,
Speaker 1: singing with an unexpected partner. Welcome back to Backstage Pass.
Speaker 1: So Stephanie and I worked together for In the Heights
Speaker 1: and then we started working on Disney's and Kanto. In
Speaker 1: the movie, Stephanie plays the lead role of Mirabelle, a
Speaker 1: fifteen year old Colombian girl, but pretty soon after she
Speaker 1: started recording, she found out she had a new singing partner.
Speaker 1: I didn't know that I was pregnant until we I
Speaker 1: had already done dialogue and stuff before I found out,
Speaker 1: and then I found out and was like, like what
Speaker 1: do we do? And it didn't affect me for a while,
Speaker 1: at least singing wise. It didn't affect me for a
Speaker 1: while until really like this last what they called the
Speaker 1: third trimester, so like that's sort of when it started
Speaker 1: really being like, whoa, this is different? Dumb, dumb? Yeah, no,
Speaker 1: I know. You know, it's funny because I think of
Speaker 1: it as you carrying two people along with you. You've
Speaker 1: got this baby inside that you're carrying, but you've been
Speaker 1: carrying and helping Mirabelle. Yeah to you know, so it's like,
Speaker 1: how interesting that you're doing both at the same time.
Speaker 1: It is really wild. You know, we should talk about
Speaker 1: Obviously there were new challenges singing, yes, as the pregnancy
Speaker 1: went on. Yes, So would you like to talk about
Speaker 1: some of them because you felt them. I was, you know,
Speaker 1: I was trying to be empathetic. Yeah, but I'm not
Speaker 1: feeling and I don't know what it feels like. So
Speaker 1: I would try to think if I ate a lot
Speaker 1: one day and I'd be really stuff to go. Maybe
Speaker 1: this is what feels like I'm having trouble breathing. This
Speaker 1: is what it must be like very similarity to tell me.
Speaker 1: I think one of the biggest things, and that was surprising,
Speaker 1: was breath. One of the things that we work on
Speaker 1: was like diaforumatic breathing, right like inhaling and then exhaling
Speaker 1: while you're saying to allow the breath to support the sound.
Speaker 1: At a certain point, it was holding the longer notes
Speaker 1: and like very quickly, it was like I would inhale
Speaker 1: and then when I would exhale and sing the note,
Speaker 1: I could feel where the baby was inside me, which
Speaker 1: was such a trip. I don't think I've ever heard
Speaker 1: anyone say that. Because you said I feel an elbow, Yes,
Speaker 1: I could feel like, oh, that's a shoulder, Like that's
Speaker 1: a shoulder and that's an elbow. And sometimes when we
Speaker 1: were doing those exercises, when we were holding those long breasts,
Speaker 1: the baby would let me know like I don't have
Speaker 1: enough space, and it would shove into a side or
Speaker 1: move a leg. That was like please give me more space,
Speaker 1: you know. Wow. So towards the beginning of singing the songs,
Speaker 1: for in Gonto, it was really fun to sing through
Speaker 1: the entire song during the recording session. You know, we
Speaker 1: would break it up obviously, like do smaller chunks and
Speaker 1: work on the smaller chunks and see what's going to
Speaker 1: be best for storytelling. But then at the end of
Speaker 1: the session we'll go through the whole song just for fun.
Speaker 1: There's actually no way at this point in the pregnancy,
Speaker 1: which is like quite late, there's actually no physical way
Speaker 1: for me to get through the entire song because I
Speaker 1: don't have enough breath to make it through the whole
Speaker 1: song in one chunk, which is like, sorry for my language,
Speaker 1: but it's a mind fuck because like you go, oh, Noah,
Speaker 1: does that mean that I'm not good? Am I failing people?
Speaker 1: Because I can't do the thing that I want to
Speaker 1: be able to do so badly, which is like sing
Speaker 1: this song from front to end and give the performance
Speaker 1: that I want to fully give. And the answer is
Speaker 1: like somewhere in the middle, which is no, it doesn't
Speaker 1: let me speak up about Yeah, let me give you
Speaker 1: the answer. No, it's ridiculous, But I'm glad you said that,
Speaker 1: because I think people think those kind of things about
Speaker 1: various things in their life, and the truth is it's
Speaker 1: been the opposite. Everybody has been so impressed that you
Speaker 1: have done such a great job. Well, I don't want
Speaker 1: to say despite being pregnant, because that's kind of a negative,
Speaker 1: but it's true. Everyone's so impressed that you were able
Speaker 1: to do what you did do so instead of anyone
Speaker 1: going out or disappointed, she's not saying it from top
Speaker 1: to bottom, which very rarely do people record that way. Anyway,
Speaker 1: you were doing big chunks of the song and it
Speaker 1: was great, and I think everybody was so thrilled and
Speaker 1: happy that you never you never canceled. You never said
Speaker 1: I can't do this. You never said I need to
Speaker 1: get a break. Oh what was me? I need to
Speaker 1: sit down? Oh I need a break. Someone massaged my feet.
Speaker 1: I mean, there was never a diva moment or anything.
Speaker 1: If people didn't know you were pregnant, nobody would be
Speaker 1: the wiser because you saying through it so beautiful, great
Speaker 1: to hear. So yeah, so let me just put an
Speaker 1: end in that game. I was amazed because I did
Speaker 1: get to see you getting a little larger time did yeah,
Speaker 1: And I was like, how is she? That's why I
Speaker 1: would ask you, like, can you bend over on this
Speaker 1: exercise because well, the truth was like toward toward the
Speaker 1: end there like I couldn't been but I didn't want
Speaker 1: to just take anything for granted, like, oh, she'll be
Speaker 1: fine with dad. I was like, well, can you do this?
Speaker 1: And yeah, and then we just worked around everything. I
Speaker 1: think the internet is helpful sometimes you learned a lot research. Yes,
Speaker 1: I sent you a study that I found. I found
Speaker 1: some exercises, and you know, I started going to physical
Speaker 1: therapy just like on the side for the pregnancy, and
Speaker 1: I asked the physical therapist. I was like, I'm worried
Speaker 1: about She was like, no, you're fine. Like I've been
Speaker 1: watching you. We've been working on stuff. Your abdominal muscles
Speaker 1: are strong, you can handle it. Go for it. Don't
Speaker 1: worry about like someone's gonna snap or break, you know,
Speaker 1: like it's not. Your body's built to do this. You're strong,
Speaker 1: you can do it. Yeah. Well, I kept saying I
Speaker 1: was convinced it was helping you. I thought it might be,
Speaker 1: but I certainly feel like way more connected to my body.
Speaker 1: I think that's the thing about singing lessons. They connect
Speaker 1: you to yourself, you know, they really do, Like some
Speaker 1: people connect in yoga. Some people connect through sports, but singing,
Speaker 1: I think, is like there's so many parts of your
Speaker 1: body that are working together in unison to create sound,
Speaker 1: and you become really aware of what your body is doing.
Speaker 1: Why are your shoulders up by your ears? Like? What's
Speaker 1: going on with your chest? You know? Like how come
Speaker 1: your neck is all tight? Like right? You know, it's
Speaker 1: like all of it starts to make you go like, oh,
Speaker 1: why am I doing that? Wow? I'm carrying tension in
Speaker 1: a lot of places. You know. Well, By the way,
Speaker 1: if you do feel like you're going into labor, I
Speaker 1: will drive you right now to the house quid. But
Speaker 1: I'm going to keep recording because fantastic with I was
Speaker 1: thinking this point, if she goes into labor, that'd be
Speaker 1: great for the podcast. Oh my god, that's so funny.
Speaker 1: That's what I was thinking. But so I don't want
Speaker 1: you to force it, but in case, just in case.
Speaker 1: So in end Conto, you played Mirabelle. She's fifteen years old.
Speaker 1: Now in real life you're not fifteen. You're correct woman,
Speaker 1: and you're pregnant and you're married. Yes. What was it
Speaker 1: like though, channeling or going back to your inner team
Speaker 1: for her? It was really fun. I mean, I think
Speaker 1: in true Disney tradition, she is like a combination of
Speaker 1: a lot of things that I love about Disney heroines
Speaker 1: and Disney sidekicks. It's almost like she's both at once.
Speaker 1: And I say that because a lot of times the
Speaker 1: heroines in Disney movies have not been written funny. The
Speaker 1: sidekicks are often the edic support, you know. I think
Speaker 1: that's changed in the last few years with films like
Speaker 1: Frozen and Mowana, where the actors are much more free
Speaker 1: to make fun and funny choices. And I'm so grateful
Speaker 1: to them for sort of paving that way, because I
Speaker 1: think that's the thing that I loved about helping create
Speaker 1: this character of Mirabelle is like, you know, in the
Speaker 1: world of Encanto, her entire family has magical powers except
Speaker 1: for her, and so she's in this space in which,
Speaker 1: like everyone in town knows them, everyone depends on them.
Speaker 1: Her grandmother is like this matriarch of this magical family.
Speaker 1: Nobody's paying attention to Mirabelle a lot of the time
Speaker 1: because people are focused on the magic and the familial
Speaker 1: performance that has to happen, because like, in a way,
Speaker 1: they're like the famous people in town, right, like they
Speaker 1: are the magic family, and so like, who cares about Mirabelle?
Speaker 1: You know, I'm not super strong like Louisa, but Donkey's
Speaker 1: gone out of your money or effortlessly perfect like Sabella.
Speaker 1: But Mama, why am I the only one that didn't
Speaker 1: get a gift? You're just as special as anyone else
Speaker 1: who is Mamma, you just heeled my hand with a
Speaker 1: nat I think for her, some of her comedy comes
Speaker 1: from covering that feeling, and some of it just comes
Speaker 1: from being allowed to be whoever she is because no
Speaker 1: one's paying attention. So what that allows me able to
Speaker 1: do is like kind of figure out maybe who she
Speaker 1: is or she's trying to And that to me is
Speaker 1: something that like I really deeply understand because like as
Speaker 1: a teenager and as a young person, I was really
Speaker 1: trying to figure out who I was. I didn't feel
Speaker 1: like I fit in. I didn't feel like I looked right,
Speaker 1: sounded right, was right. I didn't fit what I saw
Speaker 1: around me as like the standard of beauty, especially in
Speaker 1: Texas at that time, which was you know, white, blonde,
Speaker 1: beautiful that takes a toll on a kid. I think,
Speaker 1: and also I felt like, well, my family's different. My
Speaker 1: mom and dad speaks Spanish at home, and we don't
Speaker 1: have a lot of money, and I don't feel like
Speaker 1: I fit in, or I don't feel understood, or I
Speaker 1: feel like I'm in these like smart advanced classes and
Speaker 1: it makes me feel like a nerd and I just
Speaker 1: feel like I stick out. My parents were well, they
Speaker 1: were trying to get us to assimilate, and my sister
Speaker 1: and I they were really worried about us being accepted
Speaker 1: and assimilating quickly. And that was kind of the way
Speaker 1: that things were happening back then in the eighties and nineties.
Speaker 1: It was like, have your kid fit in, don't let
Speaker 1: them stick out so much so that my sister doesn't
Speaker 1: even speak Spanish. She can understand that, but she can't
Speaker 1: speak it with your dad being Colombian, right, Like, what
Speaker 1: does this role like mean to you? It's really I mean,
Speaker 1: and it's I have no words, really, I will say.
Speaker 1: My dad is on a WhatsApp chat with all of
Speaker 1: his family in Colombia and the day that the news broke,
Speaker 1: my phone was exploding, like they were all losing their minds.
Speaker 1: One of the things I think that they've done really
Speaker 1: beautifully is they've kind of created this world in which
Speaker 1: multiple regions of Columbia are represented in this film in
Speaker 1: the way that they can be in an hour and
Speaker 1: a half animated film. But I think visually, visually they've
Speaker 1: done something that I've never seen before in a Disney film.
Speaker 1: The visual style of this film is really really rooted
Speaker 1: in magical realism, which is a deeply Colombian literary thing,
Speaker 1: you know, And I think it pays homage and pays
Speaker 1: respect to Colombia, but also the people of Colombia and
Speaker 1: the myriad of different ways those people came to Colombia,
Speaker 1: what they've dealt with as Colombians, and the wave look,
Speaker 1: and I think all of those things are subtly layered
Speaker 1: into the film, but they're also really important. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: it's not just the visuals, it's the music too. It's
Speaker 1: so peppy and like welcome to the Family Madrigal, the
Speaker 1: home of the family Madriga. I know it sounds a
Speaker 1: bit fantastical, the magical, but I'm part of the family Mariga.
Speaker 1: One of the things I'm so excited about is seeing
Speaker 1: it with people, because like I've only seen little clips
Speaker 1: of it, so like, what's gonna happen when there's like
Speaker 1: little kids in their seats, like, are they gonna be
Speaker 1: moving around? What are they gonna do? Dancing? Yeah? I
Speaker 1: can't wait, I can't wait. God. So, my earliest memories
Speaker 1: of music actually were and it's funny because it's very
Speaker 1: full circle, but they were Disney. They were us with
Speaker 1: the VHS tapes, watching them over and over and connecting
Speaker 1: really deeply, really quickly to these Disney songs. I loved
Speaker 1: Sleeping Beauty, I loved Cinderella. I can remember standing in
Speaker 1: the bathroom with the door locked, acting out the solo
Speaker 1: from Mulan, Who's that girl? I see You're kidding? And
Speaker 1: then recently, when we were recording in Gunto, one of
Speaker 1: the things that Lin Manuel Miranda, who wrote the music
Speaker 1: for in Gunto, one of the things that he texted
Speaker 1: me was, you know, I'm really trying to write a
Speaker 1: song that little kids will want to sing to themselves
Speaker 1: alone in the mirror. And as soon as he sent
Speaker 1: that text, I started bawling because I thought, that's exactly
Speaker 1: what I did. That's exactly what I did. Do you
Speaker 1: have a piece of advice you would give to a
Speaker 1: younger Stephanie Beatriz. Oh ah, I would say, trust yourself,
Speaker 1: trust yourself way more than you are already. You can
Speaker 1: allow yourself to believe even more. And I think I
Speaker 1: wish I could just go back and sort of like
Speaker 1: stand her in front of a mirror and be like,
Speaker 1: look a she's so great, Like look at what she
Speaker 1: has to offer, Like, don't be so hard on yourself.
Speaker 1: You know it's like it's honestly the same conversation I'm
Speaker 1: having with myself all the time. Still, you know, That's
Speaker 1: what I would say. Trust, trust yourself, trust yourself, trust yourself,
Speaker 1: trust your instinct, and always trust your heart. That's what
Speaker 1: I did. I had a knowing deep down inside that
Speaker 1: this is what I was meant to do, despite all
Speaker 1: the negative comments my father had, I sold you it
Speaker 1: on and I'm so glad I did because I have
Speaker 1: a career, I truly love in treasure, and if I
Speaker 1: hadn't trusted myself, I would have missed out on all
Speaker 1: of it. Stay tuned, we'll be right back after the
Speaker 1: break with this week's vocal tip. Here's our vocal tip
Speaker 1: of the week. One aspect that sets apart a really
Speaker 1: fantastic performance from kind of a mediocre one is dynamics,
Speaker 1: the variations of volume from soft to loud. If someone
Speaker 1: sings with very little variation and the whole song is
Speaker 1: either just loud or just soft, it will usually be
Speaker 1: a bit boring. Of course, there are always exceptions, like
Speaker 1: a really soft, beautiful lullaby or a quiet, intimate love song.
Speaker 1: Dynamics can completely create or even destroy the mood of
Speaker 1: a song. I always have my students practice singing in
Speaker 1: a wide range of dynamics to prepare them for when
Speaker 1: they're performing or recording, to achieve the most compelling and
Speaker 1: powerful performance as possible. An easy way to start practicing
Speaker 1: dynamic exercises is to pick a musical pattern, for example,
Speaker 1: this one. Try singing it twice, first soft and then
Speaker 1: loud like this me me maybe me me me maybe
Speaker 1: mey me. Bases, baritones and tenors start on a sea
Speaker 1: below middle cea, transposing down by half steps and then
Speaker 1: back up by half steps to go to your lowest
Speaker 1: note and then to your highest note. Sopranos and altos,
Speaker 1: you try starting on a B flat below middle C,
Speaker 1: again transposing down by half steps and then back up
Speaker 1: by half steps to go to your lowest note and
Speaker 1: then to your highest note. For example, if that pattern
Speaker 1: seems too complicated and it is a little tricky, try
Speaker 1: a simpler one like this bases baritone antennas. You start
Speaker 1: on a C below middle C for you sopranos and alto's,
Speaker 1: try starting right on a middle C and there you go.
Speaker 1: If you want to share how you practice your vocal dynamics,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear you. Use the hashtag Backstage Pass
Speaker 1: pod on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or wherever you like to post.
Speaker 1: I can't wait to see your videos. I'll see you
Speaker 1: next week. Maybe maybe me maybe maybe me me, me,
Speaker 1: me me. Backstage Pass with Eric Vietro is written and
Speaker 1: hosted by me Eric Vietro and produced by Morgan Jaffee.
Speaker 1: Katherine Gerardou is our showrunner. Emily Rosstek is our associate producer.
Speaker 1: Kate Parkinson Morgan is our edit. The show is mixed
Speaker 1: and mastered by Ben Tolliday. Additional engineering help is from
Speaker 1: Jacob Gorski and Martin Gonzalez. Mia Lovell as our executive producer.
Speaker 1: Our development team Litl Mulat and Justine Lange helped create
Speaker 1: the show, thanks also to Jacob Weisberg. Heather Fame, John Schnarz,
Speaker 1: Carl Migliori, Christina Sullivan, Eric Sandler, Maggie Taylor, Nicole Morano,
Speaker 1: Daniela Lakan and Royston Basserve. The original theme music is
Speaker 1: by Jacob and Sita Steele for Premier Music Group. We
Speaker 1: record at Resonate Studios. Fred Talkson does our videography and
Speaker 1: the photography is by Ken Sawyer. A very special thanks
Speaker 1: to Michael Lewis for his inspiration and the best guidance
Speaker 1: anyone could ask for. Backstage passed with Eric Vitro as
Speaker 1: a production of Pushkin Industries. If you like the show,
Speaker 1: please remember to share, rate and review it. I mean
Speaker 1: that really share, rate, review it, and if you love
Speaker 1: the show and others from Pushkin Industry, consider subscribing to
Speaker 1: Pushkin Plus. Pushkin Plus as a podcast subscription that offers
Speaker 1: bonus content and uninterrupted listening for four ninety nine a month.
Speaker 1: Look for Pushkin Plus on Apple Podcasts subscriptions. To find
Speaker 1: more Pushkin podcasts, listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to podcasts.