SPEAKER_05 0:00

For five decades, Gloria Stefan's music has moved the world. This is Let It Loose, a Gloria Estefan podcast. The first fan-led show dedicated to her life, legacy, and impact. Lifelong Estefan, Carlos, Rob, and Wes explore the songs, moments, and stories that make Gloria an icon. If her music changed your life, then welcome home.

SPEAKER_06 0:26

Welcome back, everybody. We're back from spring break. Welcome back to another episode of Let It Loose. My name is Rob. I'm Wes.

SPEAKER_04 0:33

I'm Carlos, and we have a special guest co-host today. Go ahead and say who you are.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

Hi everyone. I'm Matt Hemley and I am from the UK. Woohoo! Woohoo! How was everyone's spring break?

SPEAKER_04 0:48

Short. Very short. But we're back. We're rested. I think.

SPEAKER_06 0:54

Yes, it's a day of firsts for us. Our first uh co-host, our first big interview. It's a major day for Let It Loose. I know.

SPEAKER_04 1:03

I'm I'm really, really excited. And so one thing about Mr. Matt Hemley, our co-host. I finally got to meet him last year for the first time in person. However, Matt, we've known each other for quite some time. It's been uh a few years. Yeah, don't stitch me up. I had I had no idea how much trouble he and I would get into. Yeah.

unknown 1:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Matt, share it. Oh, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

Let's hear, let's hear about this trouble.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Uh uh. Right, guys. Basically, I wanted to go on a cultural trip to a very special Madrid museum, and I was taking it very seriously. And Carlos would not pay attention to anything, he just wanted to ruin the fun for everyone, and I was so embarrassed. Is that how you record it?

SPEAKER_04 1:56

Such a lie. You're such a liar. That is not what happened. So I was the one that wanted to embrace the culture because I had never been to Spain before. So I booked us um a tour of the Palacio Real, right? So I'm taking this very, very seriously. Matt shows up and we were like two freaking kids. I mean, misbehaving. Everyone was they were all giving us dirty looks. It was just so bad, and all we could do was piss our pants laughing. I mean, I we almost got kicked out.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

You almost got kicked out. Oh, yeah. The tall guy, the tall guide hated us. You could absolutely see by the end she was. I mean, I mean, I'm not surprised. We were probably we were we were quite uh probably horrible people to have on the tour, right, Carlos? But I'm pretty sure we're not allowed in that palace anymore.

SPEAKER_04 2:55

I yeah, I definitely don't think we're allowed back, but my god, did we have fun that day? And the reason why we were in Madrid was for Gloria's concert that she did um back in October, which that was an amazing show. Matt, you had a blast.

SPEAKER_01 3:11

Yeah, so much fun. I can't believe that we managed to wangle the kind of front row, you know, after a lot of like um hustling back and forwards, like we finally got to the front. And um, and I and I remember seeing Gloria afterwards, she came to do the Graham Norton show over here, and she said to me, Oh, did you have fun? And I was like, Of course I did. Could you see me? And I forget I'm six foot five, and she just looks at me and she's like, Of course I can see you. And they're like, I stick out like a sore thumb. And in every picture I've got, honestly, in every picture I've got with me and Gloria, it's like I've got her in a headlock.

SPEAKER_06 3:46

It's true. It looks like she's sitting down in all the pictures that you take with her.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

I am sitting down, funny.

SPEAKER_04 3:53

That is awesome. Well, Matt, I know that you were just appointed the new editor of the British Entertainment magazine, The Stage, which is a monthly online magazine that's also considered the theatre bible. Now you've been with the stage for quite some time, correct?

SPEAKER_01 4:10

Yeah, this is my 20th year. Oh, congratulations. I can see your faces, and that can't be possible. He's only 25 or whatever. I've been there a long time. I absolutely love theatre, and um, that's why when Gloria announced on you know on your feet, it was like a match made in heaven. I was like, this can't be true. This can't be like my hero and musical theater merging into one. It was amazing. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 4:35

Matt, did you ever cross the pond when uh it premiered here in the in the US, whether it was in Chicago or in New York?

SPEAKER_01 4:43

Are you kidding? Yeah, so I came to Broadway um to see it. And the reason I came to Broadway, obviously, like because I love Gloria, but I this is gonna sound horrible. And if you're listening, Gloria, I'm very sorry. I didn't think it would ever come to London, if I'm completely honest. I thought it's gonna be a Broadway show, and that would be the kind of extent of it. Um, I've just lost my fan card. Um, but um so I was like, yeah, I'm gonna get you on the plane. I went to see it, and um, I met Gloria that week with loads of other like European fans who had flown over and we had the best time. And then when I got back, I remember I was in like a kind of uh a conference with loads of theatre people, and some one producer came up to me and kind of whispered in my ear and said, We've got something you're gonna like, and I was like, Oh my god, what is it? And it's like we're bringing on your feet over. And I was like, just flow Broadway, like it's fine. I mean, obviously, I'm not gonna complain going to Broadway, but um, and then we got it in the UK, which was a dream, and obviously Holland before that. I went to Holland too. I followed it around.

SPEAKER_06 5:43

Oh, so you've seen multiple productions of it, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

I Holland wasn't um it wasn't in the British language, so that was interesting.

SPEAKER_04 5:51

So, Matt, are you coming in as a professional or as a full-on Estefan today? Carlos, you know me by now. I'm never professional. Um yeah, but I don't know if Gloria knows this side of you. So that does she know this chaotic, unhinged side of Matt Hemley?

SPEAKER_01 6:10

I think she thinks I'm quite straight-laced and kind of like because my messages to her are always so respectful and nice. It's like, oh hi, how's things going? Like, I hope you know, you know, and I know you are much more kind of like wow crazy. Yeah, that's like the Carlos impression. So then she probably makes it fly for me.

SPEAKER_02 6:26

Um I always joke around that she they talk like family, but I'm I'm in your I'm I I understand where you're coming from, Matt. That's how I am.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

Yeah, I'm far too I'm very polite with Gloria.

SPEAKER_06 6:38

So yeah, me too. I completely understand that. But um, Matt, what was like your fandom growing up? Like, when did you discover Gloria? When were you did it hit for you?

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Yeah, so I was 11 years old, and uh my dad had loved this song Go Away. And you know, when you're a kid and you don't have loads of money, so I was like, What do you want for your birthday, Dad? He was like, if you just get me this single, just the single tape for like this go away, that'd be amazing. So I did, I bought that, and I was like, Whoa, this is a good song, and I basically stole it back off him, his birthday present. And then after that, I went and bought everything preceding that song, and then everything from that day I bought because I became obsessed with the sound that I hadn't experienced before. Um, and I just it it made me feel like I've said this in to other people like all the time, but it just made me feel like no music has made me feel like so kind of like alive um and happy. Um, so I yeah, I just became a little bit obsessed, and that was 36 years ago, and that's and I've followed her around ever since, literally followed her around ever since.

SPEAKER_04 7:47

So you know, well, not only you not only followed her around, not only followed her around, but interviewed her multiple times. So, what is something about her that surprised you the first time um you met her or interviewed her?

SPEAKER_01 8:03

I think I mean it shouldn't be a surprise, but you know, everybody always says never meet your heroes because they just let you down and they're like it's disappointing. Um it just that was from day one, that wasn't the case. And the first time I ever met her, I was working for another newspaper at the time. So this was going about 20 years. I was covering radio, and the press officer for the radio station said, We've got Gloria coming in. I know you're a fan. Do you want to come in and sit on this interview? Um, so I they they brought me into this interview, and Gloria was being interviewed about something, it was about a 45-minute slot, but they didn't introduce me. So I'm sat there, it's the DJ, Gloria, and me, and she's just like going, Who is this weirdo that's just shaking in the corner? And then at the end, I introduced myself and said, I'm a fan. And she was like, Oh my god, why didn't you say so? And then completely was like interested and chatting, and then and this is I tell this story all the time, but I bought her a Christmas pudding because I didn't think Cubans ate Christmas pudding. I still don't know if they do. So I got her a very traditional British Christmas pudding and said, I've got you a gift, and then from that day on, every time I met her, or if we went out into like groups of people, she would tell people that I was the guy that bought her a Christmas pudding. So I think I'm Christmas pudding man. You can call myself that.

SPEAKER_04 9:19

Why haven't I been offered this Christmas pudding? I'll get you one, Carlos. I'll get you one. At least something, at least do something nice for once.

SPEAKER_01 9:29

Is it is it something do you guys eat Christmas pudding? I have no idea.

SPEAKER_02 9:34

Uh yeah, I'm wondering what Christmas pudding is.

SPEAKER_06 9:36

Well, even Wes doesn't know, and he's no the least culturally Cuban of all of us.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

You can tell, you can ask Rory because she's had one. Is it like one of those things that's like super tough and hard? It's a fruitcake with uh but you you pour it in um like rum, and on Christmas Day you set fire to the rum and it and it goes up in flames. Wow, and then a rummy fruitcake.

SPEAKER_02 9:59

Yeah, I don't think uh that's an American thing that I'm aware of anyway. So that must be that sounds great, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 10:06

I found a new nickname for you, Carlos, rummy fruitcake. Don't you start your shit?

SPEAKER_04 10:13

That's not how we're gonna start this now. So, Matt, from your perspective at the stage, how significant was on your feet in bringing Gloria's story to Broadway or the the West End? Really significant.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

I mean, you know, an iconic musician um and her story on stage, and it was just it was brilliant. And also, what I think I loved about it from the UK perspective is like obviously there's always been a really steady fan base for Gloria in the UK, like a real kind of loyalty. But many people kind of it's the kind of person you say, Oh, I I used to love that song. Oh my god, she sang that. And I think what On Your Feet did was just bring it back into people's minds that she had this amazing back catalogue, and then at the same time introduce it to a whole new audience of people that I knew, a lot of younger people who were like, Oh, these songs are so good, and I'm like, Yeah, we've been saying this for years. Um, but that I that's what I I love about On Your Feet. I just think it brings uh it's nostalgic for so many people, but it also takes it forward for a whole new generation.

SPEAKER_04 11:13

Absolutely, and I love that they were able to showcase some songs that weren't familiar, like uh When Someone Comes Into Your Life, um Famous or Famous, you know, uh ones that as uh Esther fans we really enjoy very much, but not you know, uh the general public may not be familiar with them.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

Yeah, totally. And it was such a it was such a lovely, lively show. I thought the choreography was amazing, and like you know, I thought they told the story really well. I couldn't work out when it was first announced how they were gonna tell her story and what part of her life it would be, but it makes so much sense now that I've seen it that you would, you know, go all the way to the success of Conga in that one, and you know, that kind of reaching those heights, and then obviously the accident in that two. Um, I just didn't know where they were gonna stop it, but I think they chose they framed it perfectly, actually. Although I think we could have a part two, don't you? There's so many more that we could like oh my god, absolutely. Like maybe as she gets older, it could be like on your knees.

SPEAKER_04 12:14

Line you didn't different show, you see, you see what I'm telling you. Everyone thinks that Matt Emly is this sweet, soft spoken, quiet, shy guy. Nope, not at all. And that's why we get along so well.

SPEAKER_07 12:32

That's great.

SPEAKER_02 12:35

I'm I'm looking forward to meeting you in person.

SPEAKER_07 12:37

Oh, good. I hope it happens.

SPEAKER_04 12:39

I know. Speaking of looking forward, um, are you looking forward to Gloria and uh Emily's upcoming musical, Basura?

SPEAKER_01 12:48

Absolutely, and you know what I love, I think it's got such an amazing creative team. If you look at the people that are working on that show, the the pedigree of those people like uh I hope I get his surname, like Michael Grafe, who like or Michael Grief, who you know has directed so many amazing productions on Broadway, to have people like that, to have um the music director Alex Zakomoire um tell me if I'm saying these names wrong, but you know, and then of course Emily um Emily and Gloria writing the songs, it's it's on paper that can't go wrong. That's a that's a really successful show right there waiting to happen. And I just wishing them all the best with it because it's tough, it's tough launching new shows. You know, new musicals are notoriously hard. With On Your Feet, you've got the back catalogue of Gloria, which is like a you know great selling point. This is a brand new musical. So you're asking audiences to take a punt on something that they don't know, they don't know this necessarily know the story. I know it's based on something, so it's a bigger ask, but I think they've got all the right people in place to make that a hit.

SPEAKER_06 13:46

Well, we see why we brought him on because he legitimized our Broadway dog and pony show here with his expertise. Absolutely, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 13:54

You know, we have a friend of the show, um, our friend Luigi, that went to one of the and I'm not I know nothing about the uh theater to that extent and everything that happens beforehand, but um there recently there was uh a show for the investors, I believe. And he got to sit in and listen to the the music and he was blown away with what was uh um what was performed. So the music uh that Gloria and Emily worked on. Um I'm really excited based off of what he heard um and his message to to be there. So we're gonna go May 30th is is the premiere. I believe June 12th is when it um when it opens. Yep, in in Atlanta. So we're really excited to to be there, support and to to hear. Gloria keeps on mentioning how this is almost like you know, even though she's not the one singing the songs, but it this is almost like an album of of hers, you know. So it'll be interesting to see both Emily and Gloria, you know, together um what musical baby they come up with.

SPEAKER_06 15:04

You know, Elton John has released concept albums of his musicals that he records himself, and Sarah Borelis did too. I'm just saying, Gloria and Emily, if you want to release a concept album of Basura's music, I wouldn't hate it.

SPEAKER_02 15:17

Yeah, I didn't know that, Rob. But yeah, that would be great. That was what I was thinking before you even said that.

SPEAKER_04 15:21

So are you excited to to meet Anna today?

SPEAKER_01 15:24

I can't believe it. Absolutely. I can't wait. I love her. I love her to be it. So we've got a coming, I know we'll talk about this, but she's just about to come to the West E. So it's perfect timing. It's gonna be great to chat to her.

SPEAKER_04 15:36

All right, so today we're joined by an incredible talent who has made her mark on stage and screen. You may know her as the original Gloria Stefan in the Broadway hit On Your Feet, a performance that earned her a Theater World Award and widespread acclaim. From television to film to theater, Anna Via Fanyer continues to captivate audiences with her voice, presence, and authenticity. We're so excited to have her with us today. Anna, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_04 16:09

Thank you so much for being here. Thank you. We have been so over the moon, excited for the this entire week. Every day, I think we don't end the day without saying Anna's gonna be on the show.

SPEAKER_00 16:23

I'm I'm I'm so looking forward. So same. It's it's equally uh cool to to connect with you guys and talk about this specific version of just everything. So it's great. That's awesome. What part of the world are you in today? I'm in New York City, so I'm based in New York, I've been based in New York since on your feet, actually, which is wild because that's just not how it happens usually, and I'm like very aware of that. People don't usually like move to New York with like this incredible starring role in a broad in a new Broadway show that becomes this like worldwide hit, but it kind of tracks considering who they are and and considering the role I was playing. So so yeah, it's definitely it's definitely a fairy tale version of moving to New York.

SPEAKER_04 17:08

That's awesome. And so you moved to New York it was it in 2015.

SPEAKER_00 17:14

Technically, I mean, because I moved in October of 2014 when we were um doing the when we started rehearsals for the out of town in Chicago.

SPEAKER_04 17:23

Okay, and that's where I met you.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

Right, exactly. So it's it it goes it goes way back. Yeah, and then and then I guess full time was for 2015 when we opened on Broadway, or when we started rehearsals to open on Broadway.

SPEAKER_04 17:36

Now you weren't born in Miami, you were born in Atlanta?

SPEAKER_00 17:40

Yes, contrary to popular belief, because everyone thinks I was born in Miami, uh, which I'll happily allow people to be confused. Um, I was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and then moved to Miami when I was five. So like I would I did grow up in Miami, yeah, and then like would still go back and forth to Atlanta a lot for like holidays and stuff because I have family basically split in in both places.

SPEAKER_04 18:02

Okay. And then so let's let's talk about acting. So when did the acting bug uh hit you? Was it acting or singing? What or kind of both?

SPEAKER_00 18:11

Singing came first, which was when I was seven, and then acting came from that because what do you do with a little kid who can sing, you know, and and so my parents kind of didn't really know what to do with me and my energy. And so I would sing in choirs at school. I hated choirs.

SPEAKER_08 18:28

Really?

SPEAKER_00 18:29

I didn't love the concept of like, you know, because you the the blending in and all of that. And even though it's it's super important now looking back as like a professional, I'm like, okay, yeah, those are those are good things for kids to learn. But um, I was always a little bit rebellious, and you know, so I'd be like sneaking in like lizards and frogs to choir rehearsals, and I was always trying to like set myself apart in in different ways, and I'd get kicked out of the choir at school because of my behavior, and then I would get asked back when they had a big performance and needed me.

SPEAKER_04 19:02

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 19:03

No, I was kind of the black sheep, but did a lot of choirs, and then when I was nine, I did my first musical, which was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat at um Actors Playhouse in Miami, which is a professional theater and it was an equity show. It was a professional production. Um, I didn't realize that because I was in fourth grade. Um, but but I did realize it clicked when my school in fourth grade, as a fourth grader, my entire school came on a field trip to see the show. And I was like, this is cool to me. And so that's when it hit me that like that people did this for a job and that it was like legit. And I just kept going from there doing musicals and um it worked. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

I don't know. What was the role? What did you play in it?

SPEAKER_00 19:52

I was like one of the you know, like the children that are like red and yellow and green.

SPEAKER_07 19:58

Oh my god. So you have to do the kind of color.

SPEAKER_00 20:01

Yes, exactly. All of that. I was uh I was in an all I was a Soprano 2, I was in a teal t-shirt, and like my hair, like kind of like that, like in like two like ponytails, like half up, half down, and um and a really unfortunate pair of khaki pants.

SPEAKER_06 20:17

Can you still name all the colors from that song? Because there's a lot of colors in that song.

SPEAKER_00 20:20

No, no, no, but no, definitely not, definitely not. But it was, you know, it was a great experience. And I remember just falling in love with Angeloid Weber. I'm a huge people do not realize what a big Andrew Lid Weber fan I am. And I feel like there's multiple thoughts. You know, there's people who love and people who are like, and I am a diehard because of that, because the fact that my first show was AL Dubs, and so then, you know, every cast album I would pour over everything. And I mean, I mean like Starlight Express. Um, you know, I big, big huge fan.

SPEAKER_01 20:57

So I am buzzing here because like Joe's was the first show that I ever saw as a kid. No way introduced me to musical theater. It is the reason I do what I do. Um, and to hear you say that, and to hear you say that about Android Weber, because I know most US people like Stephen Sondheim, it's like we're all about Sondheim, but I'm the biggest Lloyd Weber fan.

SPEAKER_00 21:18

Absolutely, I mean, you credit where credit is due, right? And like the proof is kind of in the pudding, I feel, you know, like it works. Whatever his system is, it works. And all it's just like hit after hit after hit. And um, and I grew up learning those. So I remember I I grew up being trained on like I don't know how to love him, as if we never said goodbye. Uh Gethsemane. Uh I I I love Andrewid Wimer like a lot.

unknown 21:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:45

So Matt, you're you're over there cheesing because this is she's speaking to your soul right now.

SPEAKER_00 21:50

I want to play the narrator in Joseph. That's like one of my dream roles.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

When you're over here, we're gonna arrange a meeting with you and Android Weber. That's what we're gonna do.

SPEAKER_00 21:58

I first of all Say less, I'm there, but also the moment so I met Andrew Lloyd Weber for the first time in the most iconic setting. It was the White House. I was with Gloria and Emilio. I was performing Coming Out of the Dark at the White House when Michelle Obama, thankfully the Obama White House. And it was when Michelle Obama did a huge Broadway um the importance of theater event. And it was right when around when we opened. And I remember meeting Andrew Lloyd Weber in this like gorgeous room where we were all like kind of celebrating. I don't remember why, like what was oh, it the revival of cats was was the first, you know, not the first revival, but the revival of cats that happened in 2016 was happening or something like that. And so Andrew Lloyd Weber, Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber, was there. And I remember there were so many incredible people there, right? And the one person that I was starstruck about and freaking out about was Andrew Lloyd Weber. And he came up to me and we talked, and he said I reminded him of a young Catherine Zeta Jones, and I was like, Well, I can die happy today. And that was it. The next time I saw him was at the movie premiere of Cats, because since I'm such a diehard fan, everyone kind of knows this lore. And so, like, I always get invited to Andrew Lloyd Weber themed things. So I was at the movie premiere of cats, freaking out. And so we were like, oh my God, good to see you, blah, blah, blah. And then again, when he DJ's the after party for the Tonys at the Carlisle, and I think that was also 2016 or 2017. So, so I would love to see him when we're in London. That would be amazing. The show that got me signed when I was a senior in high school was Cats, and I played Grizzabella. I was 17 years old. So I'm obsessed with Andaler Weber.

SPEAKER_06 23:45

Have you gone to the Delicle Ball yet?

SPEAKER_00 23:47

Of course. I went to Broadway by myself and wept. Um, and I think it's gonna be what I do for my final night in New York before moving to make my West End debut.

SPEAKER_04 23:58

Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_00 23:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:00

And I'm just listening to you, and we just started. And I feel like over the past decade, you've had to have had so many pinch me now moments.

SPEAKER_00 24:10

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 24:11

What would you say? What would you say has been the ultimate holy crap, pinch me now in my dreaming?

SPEAKER_00 24:18

I mean, there's too many to name. I, you know, a lot of bucket list items have been checked off. For me, the opening the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade was a big one because I grew up watching the parade. And it was just like the family in pajamas every year, Thanksgiving morning. And and I always dreamt of being part of it. And I thought I would just be like holding a balloon. Like I was the the stand, I wasn't thinking that I would have to be, I don't know, like like singing a solo necessarily. Obviously, like you're you dream about it, but then when you're there, you're like, wow, wow, wow, I really have to um make sure that I take this all in. And I'm kind of glad that that I did that and so many things before social media was as present as it is now because I wasn't on my phone for it. You know, it was right when like I was posting about it on Instagram, but after the fact, you know, people weren't going live, people weren't doing stories. It was kind of the beginning of Instagram being part of our world for work. So, um, so I got to actually be present for a lot of these things. I was also 24, so I got to actually be there rather than be there and feel the pressure of needing to document it for myself. Um, and and when they even announced to us that we were going to be part of the parade, I was like, oh my God, how cool. And I was so new to this, you know, it was my first Broadway audition, so I was very green. And and then when we got to rehearsal for the parade, I'm there like, oh my God, we'll do like Gonga or something. Like it'll be like this huge group number. And Sergio Trujillo gets to the front of the room and was like, All right, gang, gang, here's what's gonna happen. The camera is just gonna go up and it's Anna's face. And then we zoom out from there and it and the parade starts. And I'm like, wait, what? I would have been happy to be like just in it in the back. So, so just you know, coming to all of these experiences and being at the forefront, especially when I felt like I didn't deserve to be, if I'm being super real, that would be the pinch me of it all, which is that like not only was I having these experiences, but like I was at zero or in the front. And that um, you know, I had to do a little bit of fake it till you make it type stuff because you know, you never expect that you're gonna get all of that and be the focal point. Um, so I think that took a lot of like getting used to, but I'm constantly just the pinch me moments don't end.

SPEAKER_06 26:56

The best cure for imposter syndrome is just to lean into it until you don't feel it anymore, you know.

SPEAKER_00 27:01

Well, right. And I had to kind of I would I, you know, and back then I was not as skilled at this as I am now, which it's taken me some recalibration um just because I was so young and thrown into it. I think I do, I have learned to lean into the fact that I'm that I that I'm there for a reason. And Gloria, for example, and Sergio and Jerry, the director of On Your Feet, and you know, and and subsequently all the directors ever since, the good ones, um, I have to believe that they see something, even if I don't at the moment, they see something, and and that gives me then the confidence to bring it out and to flourish in the way that I otherwise maybe wouldn't think that I can.

SPEAKER_01 27:48

You mentioned obviously all of this has come from on your feet. So, like that that parade that you were talking about, and I just wondered how it all started with On Your Feet. What what were the conversations that kicked it all off?

SPEAKER_00 27:58

You mean getting the job?

SPEAKER_01 28:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:00

Oof. Uh so I heard about the fact that they were casting for a girl to play Gloria Stefan in a Broadway show because my friend from high school was is a journalist and she was covering the open calls in Miami. And they had seen thousands of of young women for this at this point. And she calls me, she's like, Anna, and I was living in LA at the time because when I got signed off of Cats, I was taken immediately to LA to see if I would get an agent. I was signed on the spot and I moved to LA and I got a degree in opera while I was working as an actress. So, um, and you know, doing every job necessary in order to financially pay for the fact that I was trying to be an actress. And so I was living in LA and I get a phone call from my friend Laura, and she said, Anna, I'm covering these open calls. I'm seeing the people coming in for it. You need to tell your agents that you need to audition for this. So I tell my Venn team uh that I that you know that I would like to audition for this. And they're like, no, no, like, you know, you're you're really finally, I was in callbacks for everything at the time. I was screen testing for huge shows on ABC Family and on Disney and you know, doing like like I was, I was, there was momentum picking up in on the acting side, on the screen acting side. Um, and I was like, yeah, but something is really calling me to this project. And like it's so in line with with everything I've done. I I grew up doing musicals, like, trust me. And they're like, yeah, but you know, there's a formula. There are the girls who have been out in New York, you know, working in ensembles and building their names in the Broadway space that that that have resumes in that world, and they're that's that's who's that, you know, there's like a trajectory. Um, and I was like, I hear you, but that what they might not have is the authenticity. And what they might not have is whatever is keeping me up at night, telling me I need to audition for this role. I grew up a huge Gloria fan. Um, and I had a signed headshot of hers that said, Love, look, Gloria, um, that I kept in my room forever. Like the first song I ever sang in public was Reach by Gloria Stefan, because of the fact that it was the 1996 Olympic anthem. And when I was asked to sing for something in the year 2000, they asked, they said you could sing whatever you want. And I sang Reach. And I was nine, I was 10 or 9. Um, and so anyway, I get this phone call, I hear about this project, I hear about where they're at in the casting process, and I start fighting, fighting, fighting, and everyone's telling me no. So I take my managers out to a Cuban restaurant in Hollywood called Floridita on Fountain and Vine in a strip mall, and I get them a little drunk, and I'm like, get me in the room. Trust me, get me in the room. And I'm dancing with a bunch of, I used to go every Monday night to this salsa club. So I'm dancing salsa with all these randoms in Hollywood, trying to prove to my managers that like what they're not seeing is something that I just know that I have inside. Um and they, I had just done a show for Hulu called South Beach, where I played a super talk toxic pop star. And um they had all this footage of me from that TV series. So they sent it after the night at the club, they sent it to Gloria's lawyer, Rick DePico. They were in the final, it had narrowed down to three girls. Within two days, I was on a flight to New York. It was September 28th, 2014, when I landed in New York for the audition because it was my mom's birthday. I auditioned for Jerry Mitchell. The next day I get a call from Bernie Telsey who casts the show and who casts everything. And they're like, hey, everyone's talking about this random girl from LA who's in town to audition for On Your Feet, but Lynn Manuel Miranda would like to see you for this other show he's working on about like the founding fathers. And I was like, I don't have time. I was like, I don't have time. I did not know this. And they're and they're like, no, no, you should, you should come. So I go and I didn't have a book, I didn't have materials. I was only here for for you know the Gloria stuff. And I sang from In the Heights and meet Lynn Manuel Miranda, Tommy Cale, Alex Lack, like all these people that are now in my phone book as my friends, and they, you know, see me for Hamilton, but the the lore is that when I walked out, Lynn was like, well, we can't cast her in Hamilton because she's gonna be Gloria Stefan. And then I go to my I go to my callback for the Estefans and for the entire team, the Niederlanders, everybody for on your feet. And um, I was early. I was an hour early because I was so nervous.

SPEAKER_04 32:58

And I'm sitting there You weren't running on Cuban time?

SPEAKER_00 33:01

I know it's for the first time, thank God, conveniently. Um, and I and I'm listening to the music over and over, trying to get her like intonations down and just trying to sound more like her than like me. And I'm listening to the music, listening to the music, and and the casting director comes out, Justin Huff. He comes out and he's like, the the girl who was scheduled for right now is running late, but you're here. Are you ready? And my internal monologue is like, sir, no, I need this time to like get my heart rate down. But the other side of my brain was like, Yes, you were born ready. You have to say yes to this question. So I was like, of course. And I walk into the room and I'm like completely shaken and just a mess. Um, and it's this long table, and Gloria and Emilio are sitting at the center. It kind of looks like the painting of like The Last Supper, you know? And um, and I'm freaking out. My my I feel like I was watching from a different out of body, you know? Um and I was like, what are we starting with? And they're like, rhythm is gonna get you, because at the time, rhythm is gonna get you was the opening number. And I'm freaking out, the pianist starts and I literally miss the entrance. But then when I realize I missed the entrance, instead of making it really awkward and making it clear to the room that I missed the entrance, they just repeat the intro. And when I hear that, I was like, You got this. And so I had done a lot of research. I I had watched all these YouTube videos, and there was this one performance of rhythm is gonna get you in Vegas. You know the one where the alligator comes out? Do you know what I'm talking about?

SPEAKER_06 34:41

Yep, Caesar's Palace Classic.

SPEAKER_00 34:43

Oh, okay, classic. And so I there's this one random turn that I saw her do where her arms are outstretched like this, and she's just turning on herself and then lands. And so I just do it, and that moment kind of got me back into my body, and the moment I landed the turn, I looked straight at her and go, at night, and start the song, and the rest of it is a complete blacking out. I have no idea what else happened in the audition, but um it happened, and when I left 45 minutes later, I got the phone call that I had gotten the job. So wow, it's a weird so that's the story is I basically had to fight my way into the room, and then when I heard her talk about the audition, she says there was a moment where before a scene I put my hair up into a ponytail, and that I guess there was something about the way that I did it that that in that moment she was like, it's game over. Lesson fight for what you know is true to you, which I guess is also very on brand for Gloria. And number two, be early.

SPEAKER_06 36:01

Don't run on Cuban time, be early. Early is on time, on time is late. That's exactly.

SPEAKER_00 36:07

But that's that's literally that is how it happened.

SPEAKER_04 36:10

We're so glad that you persisted, that you just kept on going because I I remember when not only when the show was announced, but when we finally had these faces, right? Who was gonna be representing the Estefans. And the moment that I saw you, I just remember I was like, that's Gloria. That is her. And then when I saw you in Chicago for that very first show um when it was premiering, um, for what's it called? Because I'm not a theater person, so uh out of town, out of town, there you go. I just remember looking at you, watching you perform, and I kept on thinking the mannerisms. She she understands Gloria. She's not just taking on this role, she understands the assignment, like she knows exactly. So, from a fan's perspective, when we're watching you, I just remember there was one point where you messed me up, and I don't know if it was actually the scene where Gloria's on the stretcher. Was that actually you on the stretcher?

SPEAKER_00 37:14

Yeah, yes, with the when Dr. Beat used to be in the when Dr. Beat was in the production. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_04 37:23

I just remember I remember you seeing uh seeing you on that stretcher, and it was it looked like I was watching Gloria on the stretcher, and it killed me. Um, but yeah, you just uh you nailed it. There's there's been other glorias, and you know, of course, I've seen like nine of them in different countries, in different languages.

SPEAKER_00 37:43

I've seen I've seen so many, so many incredible yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 37:48

And it's beautiful to see the the interpretations, you know, Linady, you know, which by the way, she's you know, she's got her own podcast now, so super exciting. But of course you're the OG. You're the OG, you killed it with. I mean, what a way to kind of introduce this production to the world. I can't picture it having been with anyone else but you.

SPEAKER_00 38:12

Thank you. I was very, I'm very um uh uh detail oriented, and one of the things that I was really particular about, I think you know what I think what it is is that she they, but she is so important to me and was so important to me prior to even the idea of a musical uh ever even being um part of my like I don't know, like prior to that being a reality, she was so important to me, and I think that my responsibility because of how important she is to my culture, my community, the world, in my opinion, because it goes way beyond being Latin. Um everything she represents and represented to me before the concept of playing her was even in my mind was uh hugely helpful for then how I took myself out of it to become her because it could the the show could not be about me. Does that make sense? And obviously, you know, the it's a biographical piece, right? But I think it's a trap when you get your dream or a leading role in anything, really, and then and and you want to show your best self and all these things. And it was really immediate because even at the first audition, Lon Hoyt, our musical director, came up to me and was like, We get it. You're a super trained singer, you're a soprano, you have this like instrument. Everything you've learned about singing, throw it away and just sing the music and don't try to show us you can sing well, just sing like her and just try to be a little bit more casual about it because she's a rock star. She's not out there, you know, ethel mermining, she's not Barbara Streisanding, she's not uh, you know, it's it's a little bit more accessible to the masses, which is why it works. And that for a, I mean, I'm a I'm trained in opera, I'm a trained classical singer, I've been singing musical theater, which is a little show-off y, uh, my whole life. So I so you stripping away the ego and stripping away going into something saying, look at me, look at me, and allowing it to really be about her is I think the way that the show works. Because yes, it obviously shows off all your skills as an actor and as a singer and as an you know, as an artist yourself, but only when you disappear into the role is the sh is the show going to really work its magic, in my opinion. So the fact that I was so that I was able to get that even at that age, and to like in the in the rehearsal studios, I remember on the breaks is when I actually did so much work. Because when we would be on a break from rehearsing, and the cast is, you know, having a snack, going to the bathroom, checking their phones, whatever, I would be locked in on Gloria Stefan and watching how she spoke to people and how she spoke to the band and how her hands would move when she was expressing herself, or how she would little things that she would say that were so specific to her, that then later on I'd be like, hey, I heard her say this. Can we say this line? It's the same line or the same sentiment, but can we say it a little bit more, Gloria? You know, and like certain lines, such as um out of the clear blue sky, which eventually made its way into the script, which was actually just me hearing her say that in real life, and inserting a gloria-ism. The way when she's talking about music, especially, and and her brain is working, and she's so intelligent, her hand, her left hand, sorry, starts going like this weirdly. Like almost like she's like playing with something in her hand or like making some sort of magic. And it's just happening next to her. And I would see that, and I'd be like, Okay, I'm gonna put that in the show. And I would find or like her the hair when she's performing and like her hair toss, which mind you, those wigs were heavy, and I'd be like playing these hair tosses. My chiropractor was like, What are you doing? And I'm like, the Gloria hairography is severe. But I thought all of those details were important because it's what tie us together, for example, as fans. So I was I wanted people to be able to recognize the granular gloria isms that um that would also anchor her for me as the actor, because then every time I would put that in, it would take me away from whatever Anna was thinking or experiencing at the time and put me directly into Gloria.

SPEAKER_01 43:23

Yeah. And you nailed it. And I have to ask before we move on from one of it, this because there's so much we want to talk about, but is there any was there any particular moment in that show that meant more to you than others, or any particular song in it that meant more than others when you're performing it?

SPEAKER_00 43:37

Famous. Um famous because it's the only time in the show where she was by herself, and it was the only time in the show where she was, it was like recitative, you know, it was it was completely the inner monologue um being shared with the audience. And I think. I think a lot of her as an artist is sharing her inner self with the public, her songwriting, her style, her like way of preserving her like legitimacy and her essence as a human being. Um, and so famous was my opportunity to do that as an actor, and it's so vulnerable. And I was in a robe and I was like in flats, like there's you know, there's who we present when we're performing, and then there's who we are as people, and famous was my moment in the show to give the audience who she is as a person.

SPEAKER_04 44:41

It's interesting that it's interesting that you say that because whenever I find myself listening to the soundtrack, the one song that I will repeat over and over and over is famous. I because I love I love the lyrics, you know, Gloria's very cerebral, right? Um and it just really showcased her songwriting. But then there's your part of it where your interpretation of the song was just it it blew not only me, it blew so many people, you know, uh away with the way that you sang it and the way that you interpreted the the song. You understood it.

SPEAKER_00 45:19

And it's crazy, I I've understood it more and more as I've grown up as well, because the show obviously, like, you know, you see her become who she is. And so I was through coming to New York and doing the show, becoming who I am in so many ways. So it was such a parallel experience and dealing with fame and dealing with being uh dealing with that space between who we're presenting as and who we are, which anybody can relate to. You don't have to be a public figure to relate to that, but but I think that navigating that space, I was doing in real time on Broadway. Yeah and I and so it was my job to just be brave enough to expose that, I think, as her, if that makes sense. So it was it was a huge gift, I would say.

SPEAKER_06 46:12

No, totally. Um, and what was always always cool to me about Famous and even a song like Garelice Young, for example, is that the minute a song starts, you as a fan know it like the back of your hand, but there were new lyrics in it that like told all of us, hey, listen because you're watching something. You're not just listening to her songs at home.

SPEAKER_00 46:31

The records, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 46:31

Yeah. So the new the new lyrics in Famous, for example, um, tell the story from like where Gloria was at that point in her life, you know, as opposed to the album version that we all know.

SPEAKER_00 46:40

Um Absolutely. And the coolest thing is I got to watch her write those lyrics because we started initially with more the record versions of the songs. And then as we progressed in rehearsals, she would be like, wait, let's like tweak right here. Let's, you know, it's kind of like watching the the David get um sculpted, right? Like you're because because she would see that there was a the that there was an opportunity for deeper storytelling.

SPEAKER_06 47:08

So from one icon to another now, you're moving uh to the West End to start um the new Frank Sinatra musical.

SPEAKER_00 47:18

I am, and it's wild. And talk about pinch me moments. I was at the Savoy crying um two weeks ago, and after our presentation of like the last of this this new draft and with our new Frank and all this stuff, and and I was having a pinch me moment, and um and I was like, you know, the reality is on your feet and Sinatra, you you rarely get one of those opportunities. So to get it twice, where it's like the family is involved, the estates are producing, Universal Music Global are our producers for Sinatra. Like it's like these are really big universal commercial IPs and properties and icons. Icons. Like you go you walk down the street anywhere, and you you say Gloria Stefan, they know who you're talking about. You say Frank Sinatra, they know who you're talking about. Um, and so it's really impactful to be at the precipice of something like this again. And it's like I'm moving to a new place where I don't know anybody, check. I'm interpreting another like legendary person of the entertainment zeitgeist, check, and I'm involved with these like household name icons who changed some aspect of the industry and the world at large, check. That is wild, but I guess I have a brand or a type.

SPEAKER_06 48:48

And to be building the show from the ground up too must be exciting again.

SPEAKER_00 48:52

And you know, and and it is very exciting. Um, and I have been really, I've been very privileged to be able to be picky from the beginning of moving to New York, which is where like I really think like my career like started or launched in the way that that I've wanted it to, to now. I've been very lucky to be able to be picky about what I do because I've wanted to originate. I've wanted to be really, really careful about how I represent also, um, because it's important and because I've learned from the best. So Emilio's always been very, very much a mentor and a guidance in that aspect, where he'll I'll call him and be like, hey, should I do this? And he's like, I don't know. I don't know. Or, or yes, absolutely. And so if you notice the pattern is even if it's been a little bit more spaced out, I've been very particular, you know. Do I want to just throw myself into anything for fame or for, you know, the money or whatever? No. I've I want to be really, really specific about the the spaces that I'm that I'm taking up. So I'm really grateful to be originating again and at the level that I will be and making my West End debut because the the reality is I was offered to do the West End with on your feet. And when I couldn't do it because I was working with ABC at the time and I was working on something else uh in the TV space, I was devastated. I had bad dreams about it. I would wake up crying in the middle of the night, and I and I and I tried to make it work. Um, and I couldn't do it. And so, and it's okay. Now looking back, I'm like, oh, maybe that makes sense to make my West End debut originating again. And I don't know, it just all kind of falls into place in a way that you never would have expected. But at the time, I was like, this is horrible. What am I gonna do? And so so it's um, yeah, it's really, it's really surreal and really exciting because this has been on my bucket list for a very long time.

SPEAKER_04 51:01

What a bucket list you've you've had, and what a bucket list you've been able to check off. And and you know, going back to all these projects that that you've done, it just following your career since on your feet. I just feel like everything that you've done has has either had meaning or has it's been special, you know. From even your voiceovers for with Wanba as Ava 8, you know, yeah. Um, I was just recently watching uh a couple episodes. And you know, yeah, you know, and you've kind of done it all, you know. You've you've you have theater, film, which let's talk about film. Let's talk about film nice what's going on.

SPEAKER_00 51:39

It's like the deepest breath because it's what's going on there. I mean, a lot. It's very, it's very different than theater. There's such an immediate gratification to theater, right? And so, like, I feel like when Castro's daughter finally does come out, I'm gonna be like, oh yeah. That's right. That happened. Um, but it was an incredible experience. And talk about, you know, again, like embodying these incredible people. Like, it's like Gloria, Alina Fernandez, AOC, now Ava Gardner. Um, that that is a wild lineup of very powerful, impactful women with something really specific to say. Um, and I'm proud to get to even be a tiny piece of their legacies, right? Um, with Alina, she was on set the whole time, and everyone kept asking if it was okay, like if I was okay, because like they're like, Alina's like here and watching you play her. Is that fine? I'm like, I had Gloria Stefan watching me for years. I was like, this is fun, this is what I do, I guess, now. Um, but she's incredible and what a life, and you know, the repercussions of everything that she experienced, we're still seeing, right? Absolutely. Um it's a huge honor to get to even put her essence into my body, her words into my mouth, like all of that is really sacred to me. Um, so I'm very excited for the world to learn more about her. And the the film was made and a documentary was made at the same time. Um, the documentary is gonna be coming out first, and it's gonna premiere this year at the Miami Film Festival, uh, Miami International Film Festival. And so um, and Gloria is in it. So it's just wild. It's very full circle because Gloria Stefan talking about me playing Alina in the movie after I played Gloria Stefan in the musical about Gloria. Like it's just like it's all like very very inception. Yes, and so um, and I'm very proud because you know, that's like layers of cultural impact that, you know, at some point we're all gonna look back and I'm gonna be like, wait, how is it possible that to even know the two of them is enough, would have been enough. So to get to tell their stories and maybe bring more awareness to everything that they've accomplished and to who they are and everything that they've survived, honestly, because these women are like warriors, um, is is a huge source of pride for me and a huge source of pride for like the type of the body of work that I'm building.

SPEAKER_06 54:23

But you know, Anna, like culturally um very significant, but thinking even bigger than that, there are little girls in Florida who maybe see themselves in you, in your career, in your life, in the project you've chosen to take on. Um, what would your message be to those girls and how does that feel as like an undertaking?

SPEAKER_00 54:43

I think the message would be that you already have it all inside you and don't question it and go explore it because um that is what I needed to hear, I think, and I and I'm grateful that I get to provide some sort of formula for that now, to add myself to this lineup of like people who who have followed whatever inner compass, whatever true north it is that you have that that's telling you to like say that thing, write that thing, you know, make that music. Uh in Alina's case, leave, do whatever you need to do that is coming from that inner compass. I think like that's that's a cool, I don't know, that's a cool formula to have followed for myself that then now hopefully other people can see themselves reflected and and follow for themselves.

SPEAKER_06 55:38

It's a major thing. Um and uh my last question for you is unfortunately or not unfortunately, but much to my embarrassment, Gloria tends to listen to this podcast. Um, so we have to watch what we say or edit out what we say when we say stupid things. But Gloria's listening to you right now. Um, what would you want to say to her?

SPEAKER_00 55:58

I would say thank you. I would say, well, you know, I texted her the other day because when I was in London um 10 days ago or two weeks ago searching for my apartment, there was one of all the apartments that they're setting me up with or that they were that I was viewing, there was one that I couldn't get inside to the actual unit. And I'm very like, I have to feel everything. Like if I walk into the space, like if the vibes are off, it's not happening. And I walked into the building, I spoke to the doorman, and I was like kind of getting a sense of the neighborhood, but I wasn't able to walk into the unit, and I was like, oh, but this is the this was my favorite, and it's the closest to the theater. So when I walked out, I'm like taking a random right turn and I see a sign that says blame Gloria.

SPEAKER_07 56:42

No way. Oh, I know.

SPEAKER_00 56:43

Oh my god, yeah, it's a bar. It's a bar. Yes, and it's a bar called Blame Gloria, and I was like, shit. And I take a picture of it and I text it to her, and I was like, This is gonna, this is where I'm gonna live a hundred percent, because I do kind of blame Gloria for all of it. And so her response, she goes, she goes, I kind of want to know what you're blaming me for. And I was like, everything. And that's kind of how I would that that would be my message to her, is I blame her for everything. I mean, you know, when you when you see the potential in somebody and back them on that, um, which is how what I feel they did for me, that's the most empowering thing you could ever do. And I've tried ever since to do the same, right? It's who holds the door open behind them to let other people come through as well. And that's why they have the impact that they've had. I've felt it personally in my life, and it's affected everything that I've done because I've seen how to actually lead. I've seen how to actually be that girl, because Gloria is that girl. So um, so who would I, you know, I I I could never then become the alternative, which is some toxic version of like an impersonator, probably.

SPEAKER_09 58:02

Right.

SPEAKER_00 58:02

Uh so that's kind of been the best, is like just like lead by example, and that and they've been the perfect example. Yeah, lack of a better word. Also, I took this out of the archives today for you guys. This is a mug that I found in Chicago for the for the out of town of On Your Feet that says Make It Happen, which was from TJ Maxx. That you know, like when you're like looking for like candles at TJ Maxx and then there's like a million mugs, and so this was just like sitting there and it said make it happen. And I was like, Well, I need to have that. You have to have it.

SPEAKER_07 58:32

It's a sign.

SPEAKER_04 58:34

I love it. Anna, what would you uh and we're gonna go into a rapid fire uh little game, but before we do, that little girl, that fourth grader. Um if you could go back in time, what would you tell that fourth grader as she's preparing for her musicals and you know what's to come?

SPEAKER_00 58:56

Um, oh now I'm getting emotional. Um, I would tell her it's okay. I would tell her it's okay. I think you know, I was I was a kid who was I always felt really um scared and like alone. And I thought I was so I was so weird. I didn't feel like the other girls. I wasn't the pretty girl. I was not like anyone's first pick for kickball or whatever. Like I I just like I didn't know where I fit, you know? Um, so I would just tell her that it's that it's it is okay and it's gonna be okay. Because I think I was just in some form of a panic constantly. And I would say that that doesn't really go away, like you know, like it gets better. But um, but yeah, I I I I would just like give her a hug and talk okay.

SPEAKER_03 59:50

Can I give you a hug right now? Can I give you a virtual hug? Because now you have me all to your eye.

SPEAKER_00 59:55

Like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 59:57

All of a sudden it's like no, right?

SPEAKER_00 59:58

The emotions is the Mercury's in retrograde or something, you know.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:02

Again, yes, it is.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:04

Yeah, no, but I should I think you know, like I think it's the human experience, right? But um I I definitely I felt like a little bug, you know, like the magnifying glass, like that thing where like the sun is hitting the magnifying glass and there's a little bug squirming. I felt like that a lot, a lot as a kid and growing up, and and even as an older kid, like during on your feet, even. And so it's really beautiful now to feel like I'm on a very similar precipice in my life, but I know so much more now. Wow, and I have been hugging that little kid now, and I have even hugged the girl in On Your Feet who was freaking out and was carrying it beautifully, but what you know, I was a I was a little bit of a mess, and I think people don't know that. I didn't have the luxury of showing that, but now on the other side of it, I'm really proud, and I wouldn't change anything for the world. I'm really proud to have carried everything that I carried for them, really, and to have made it out and still had the the spine to say, okay, I need to I need to figure out Anna before I get lost. And so now it's really exciting to go into a similar process and to go into like the next chapter, empowered with all of that knowledge. Masabe Diablo, right? Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:23

You want to hear uh an English person try some uh Cuban words because I would love to. It's gonna be hopeless, Anna. I'm not gonna lie, but this is the quick fire round that we're supposed to that they've thrown at me. I think just to have a laugh at me. Um my god, this is like you. She's gonna unfollow me on every single social media platform. Um right, Anna, quick fire round. Are you ready?

SPEAKER_04 1:01:47

Oh, wait a second, wait a second. But the way that we're gonna play is you're gonna ask Rob and I the questions, and then we're gonna see if our answers match Anna's. Got it.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:59

All right, so I got my blue channel, we're good.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:02

All right, okay, do this. This is what you think Anna is gonna say, right? Okay, well, no, no, no. This is gonna be my answer.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:08

I just want to see, yeah. Okay, we want to see if our answers match.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:12

This is the Cuban match game. The Cuban match game. Okay, right. So croquetas or empenadas. I see no-brainer.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:22

Oh my god, croquetas from Illas Canarias.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:25

Oh, Illas Canarias, oh my god, you're killing me. You're killing me, small.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:31

Not all croquetas are created equal.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:33

No, they are not, and those are fire. Okay. Sorry, this is not gonna be rapid, is it?

SPEAKER_07 1:02:40

It never is, it never is. Okay, oh my god. Um, right, colada or cafecito? Am I saying that right? I'm so pretty. You're doing perfect, yeah. Rob uh cafecito, cafecito for me, cafecito cross the board.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:56

Okay, okay, we're doing good. Um, oh my god, not this one. Pastelito de guayaba. Oh my god. Okay, that's great or or queso e leche.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:08

Okay, so it's pastelito de guayaba y queso or the carne.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:12

All right, Carlos.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:17

So, what do you say, Rob?

SPEAKER_06 1:03:18

I hate the ones de carne. I I don't even like the ones but con queso. I like plain guayaba.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:23

Okay, so this is gonna be the true battle here. So I say de carne.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:28

Ugh. That's the only one I don't know. I have whichever what say you? Uh-oh.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:33

I'm gonna go with the carne. I know. As a kid, that was like my obsession.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:41

Oh my god, we would have them every Sunday and I would grimace.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:44

All right, I do make pastelitos de guayava at home.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:47

Me too. They're easy, though. They're fun to make and easy, and people go crazy because they're like, oh, this is so exotic.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:53

All right, you guys have to explain to us what those are. That's the only thing in the list I know because I I love Cuban food. But I I I don't know this one. What a pastelito is, yeah. What's the yeah, a pastelito?

SPEAKER_06 1:04:04

Is like puff pastry filled with guava guava paste or guava jam. Yeah, and then um cream cheese if you want, or the ones that got it are puff pastry again, and they have picadillo.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:17

But it's like sweeter, it's not picadillo that you eat like out. It's it's it's it's a really pastel that cadne, it's it feels sweeter, and then there's like this glaze, like there's a like a layer of I'm assuming sugar on top of the puff pastry, and that one's in a circle.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:33

Yes, yep, I have seen those. I'd never tried them, but now I know what you're talking about.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:37

You deserve it.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:38

Sounds amazing. How are you all so slim? I don't understand. You obviously don't eat them. I mean, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:45

I don't remember the last time I had a pastelito, to be clear. Ava Gardner's waist is like the size of my wrist, so it's gonna be a struggle.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:56

All right. Well, right, Cuban sandwich or medianoche? For me, it's medianoche.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:04

Oh, for me it's Cuban sandwich.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:06

Medianoche all day. Yes, all day.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:09

So I'm four for four right now. Look at you.

unknown 1:05:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:17

Oh, I've had a Maduro Renaissance lately. Um I didn't like them growing up, and I like them a lot more now. So I'm going with Maduros. Okay. For me, it's tostones.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:29

For me, it's Maduros. Oh no, Anna, don't do this to me. Always, always. In fact, I don't even need to look at a tostón.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:36

Fine, be like that. Okay, next one.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:41

Raca frita or ropa vieja? For me.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:44

Who's ropa vieja? Mine? Because then mine. Ropa vieja all the way.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:49

For me, ropa vieja all day, every day. I could eat that for the rest of my life.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:55

100% ropa vieja.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:57

Yes. Okay. No, vaca frita.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:00

A tostong with roba vieja.

SPEAKER_07 1:06:02

Ooh, so good.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:04

Interesting.

SPEAKER_07 1:06:04

That is nice.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:05

Roba vieja for sure. And my grandmother made I mean Rob, I'm interested. I am very interested. But um but yeah, Mimi's Mimi's Roba Vieja.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:15

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:16

Next one. Flan or Tresleches?

SPEAKER_04 1:06:20

I'm not a fan of Tresleches. I've never been a fan of Trejolches. I've gone to a Stefan kitchen and they do a decent treelche that I'll eat, but for me it's flawn all day long.

SPEAKER_06 1:06:33

I agree with you. I agree with you.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:36

Flan forever? Okay, okay. Alright.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:39

I think I can do the next one. Salsa or merengue.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:44

Salsa all day.

SPEAKER_07 1:06:46

Salsa.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:47

Salsa.

SPEAKER_07 1:06:48

Okay, all right. All right. We have three more. Noche buena or Thanksgiving. Come on. I'm a big buena. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:57

Noche buena. What are we talking about? How is that even about what is Thanksgiving? I know. Like who is she? Thanksgiving is a gateway drug to Noche Buena.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:09

Exactly. Okay, I like that. I like that.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:12

It just means it's getting closer.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:16

I love it. Okay, next one. English.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:20

Spanish.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:21

Or Spanglish. I only know one language, and that's Spanglish.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:30

Yeah, uh, I guess Spanish is you know got me my job, so that's important, but uh Spanglish is much easier to speak all day than Spanish is.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:45

I think Spanish. Um I I think more in Spanish. I grew up in a Spanish-speaking household, and it's very much my first language. Um it's also just so much more romantic, it's so much more like fluid and languid. Like there's just so much more English. There are so many rules that do not make sense to me in English. Um offense to the English. No, we have a Spanish. I'm gonna go with Spanish. I'm gonna go with Spanish.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:15

Okay, okay. And the last one, this one is so controversial.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:20

So controversial. Wes, take it away.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:24

You got ego with or without passas. So anyone that's been watching the show or listening to the show and following us on social media knows that Gloria and I have been battling it out and she will not let it go. I have never tried, nor am I interested in trying picadillo with pasas. So for me, picadillo without pasas all day, every day. But it seems like this is gonna change because once again, she's not letting it go. I will wake up to messages from her saying, When are you trying it? When are you trying? So for me, picadillo without pasas.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:04

Without, but I mean, just because she makes you try it doesn't mean you have to like it. You can take one spoonful. That is you've also never had a raisin in your life, which is I've never had, I know.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:13

Wait, I don't think she knows that I've never had a rain. You've never had a raisin? No. Is that not crazy?

SPEAKER_05 1:09:18

That's the thing.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:19

I don't like them, they look crazy. So disgusting. They look so I don't I don't understand the purpose of a raisin. You might like them then. That's true.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:27

I I have to tell you, I'm with Laura. No, no, no, no, also, it's like a perfect little burst of sweet, and it's a such a completely different texture to the picadillo.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:39

You've studied her way too much because that's the same thing that she told me.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:45

Wait, really? Yes. I've never, I've never asked her this. I've never, this is not this is actually outside of the scope of things I studied about her. So this is just genuinely I my actual thing. But I will say she's allergic to bananas and the entire from the moment I got the part to probably a solid couple months after, I did not have a single banana. Oh, fucking like a raw banana, like yeah. So so you know that is awesome.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:20

Okay, fine. Well, I have no other choice. She she's making the audacity that they're in there.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:26

It's just like so good.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:29

Okay, well, I think I wasn't keeping track, but I kind of was. But I think I won this. I think I got the most matches. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:39

I'm a little competitive. Go eat a raisin. I still can't believe you've never had a raisin. Oh, shut up. We're moving on.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:47

We're moving on. So, Anna, we're gonna wrap up. And one of the things that we do um right before we end our show is we let it loose, right? And you have the opportunity to let it loose on whatever it is. Is there anything that you want to let it loose on?

SPEAKER_00 1:11:06

Uh yes. I mean, I first of all, I'm I think I'm in a chronic state of wanting to let it loose. That's just how I live. Um, but no, I think right now, just everybody needs to come to the West End. Everybody needs to come to London and see Sinatra and see the absolute extreme opposite side of um of what you know, going from Gloria to Ava is really exciting. And so I feel like that that in and of itself is letting it loose. It's such a different dynamic and such a different role, and I'm really excited for people to like meet her through me. Um, I'm going to be this I will let loose for sure, which is that I'm releasing music for the first time. Ooh, and Gloria and Emilio have been heavily influential in that process and in telling me that I should and in um supporting me during it. So I'm very excited about that, and I will be recording everything, not everything, but at least the EP before London. And so that's gonna be really fun. And um, and I am doing a concert, a farewell concert in Miami on April 16th, right two days before I moved to London. So I'm going New York to Miami, doing a farewell show, farewell America, I guess, for the time being. Uh, and then from Miami on the 18th, I'll be flying to to London to move into my new apartment. So I'm very excited. Um, and we are letting it loose in all the ways. I'm I I feel like I'm like, wow, I'm I was about to say coming out.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:39

So I'm like, I have to say, Wait, is this a pride episode?

SPEAKER_00 1:12:43

No, I feel like I'm like coming out of the dark in so many ways. I feel like you know, there's been um a lot of things brewing for a long time and now they're finally happening, and so I'm just really, really excited to let it loose in that way.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:58

Oh, I love it, I love it. And and what a blessing for us that that little girl just kept on going, and because like we've said, we've been following your career for quite some time now, and you yourself have been so inspirational.

SPEAKER_08 1:13:18

Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:18

And we're so excited for everything that you've done, we're so excited for everything that's coming. Um, I'm doing my best to make it out to Miami to see you at that concert. So really excited. What are some things that we could expect from that concert?

SPEAKER_00 1:13:32

So different genres. Uh, one of the things I love about concerts and when I do like my stuff is kind of breaking people's brains. So, whether that's like mashups, the last show I did, I did a mashup of House of the Rising Sun with 20 años and like things like that because I exist in all of these different spaces. You know, I exist very heavily in musical theater, I exist very heavily in pop, I exist very heavily in Latin. Um, and and my experience is not one more than the other, it's where they all uh intersect, right? And so, like, you know, even looking at my set list, which is right next to me because I have rehearsal tomorrow, is like, you know, how does someone go from Celia Cruz to Wicked? How does somebody go from uh no scrubs to uh Selena, like, you know, and so like things like that, which are very much real to me, and then also uh releasing my original music for the first time and premiering it in Miami, which was highly important to me. It was gonna be a venue here in New York, which I've played before, which is very iconic and very New York, or taking it home. And I was like, you know what? It really makes sense to me to take it home, um, especially because through all of this, the idea of home has always been huge. And I think that especially is important right now for like kids of immigrants, grand grandchildren of immigrants, or immigrants themselves, and um keeping that authenticity and and keeping that idea that like we are still those little kids. You know, I don't know if you guys watched the Hannah Montana 20 year special thing, but like we are those little kids. And so we owe it to those little kids to like never forget, even as we continue to reinvent ourselves and to to to flourish in all these different new spaces, new countries. It's it's important to always like keep that sense of home and that sense of anchor and like nothing, there's nothing you can't put a price tag on that because that's the authenticity and that's what people see themselves reflected in.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:36

And one last question with um the your debut in uh on the West End. When can we expect that? I know it's this year, but do we have a date yet?

SPEAKER_00 1:15:46

Yes. So we open for previews June 3rd, which is two days before my birthday. And then we open officially press night is June 24th. So um, yeah, so it's very exciting. It's summer, it's it's the best time is what I've heard is London during the summer is just like ideal. So I'm very excited about that. And um, and it's you know, everything you know and love and did not know about Frank Sinatra and his life and and what got him to be the icon that he now is, and it's the women around him. So it's uh it's really, really a great piece, and it's a very brave piece. You are not gonna go see the squeaky clean image. Nobody wants a PG version of Sinatra's life because we all know that that's not what it was. Right. So um, so they're being really courageous about it. His daughter is our executive producer, Tina Sinatra, and she is incredible. Um, she's a force to be reckoned with, and she's not afraid to show that her dad was not perfect, and not afraid to show the women who were instrumental in making him the icon that he is. And for me, Ava Gardner was beautiful, and yes, that's great, but like she was absolutely ahead of her time. Um, I'm really, really proud of the character that I get to play, and and it's gonna be very fun. The music is also just incredible, so it's great.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:18

Anna, just to manage your expectations, it will rain at some point while you're there. Yes, for sure. And I'll tell you what, we're gonna go and drink and blame Gloria after the show and then like raise a glass to her. That's what we're gonna do.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:34

Absolutely done and done.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:35

Well, damn, now I need to book my flight because I'm not I suffer from major FOMO. So if I see you two together, you know, blaming Gloria, no, no, I I will be right there with you.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:48

You should come. Everybody's invited. We're we're it's happening, and I get the feeling it's gonna happen more than once, and I also get the feeling that Gloria will be at Blame Gloria with us.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:57

So let's do it, but with no pasas, please.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:02

I'll bring the raisins.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:03

Oh, fine, Anna. Thank you so much. This has been so wonderful, and once again, it's been a blessing for us. Everything that you've done and watching you grow. And we can't wait to see you. And I can't wait to be partying with you in Miami.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:21

Yes, I can't wait. Thank you so much for having me. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:24

Thank you. Yes, thank you so much. This is awesome.

SPEAKER_06 1:18:27

What a special episode that was. What a thrill. We survived our first interview. I think we did pretty well. I think we did. I hope so. Thank you to Anna Via Fany for giving us the time, for being so generous with her time, with her answers, being so open and honest. And also, special thanks to our co-host for doing all the heavy lifting, for giving our little our little dog and pony show some street cred, you know, with West End Theater, right? So thank you so much to Matt for also being super generous with his time from his office. And you know, editor-in-chief is a is a needed guy. We could see a bunch of people like trying to get his attention while he was on the Zoom. So we appreciate so much to Matt and to Anna for spending time with us today. I just can't, I can't believe it. I'm I'm floored.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:14

Yeah, I'm gonna be on Cloud Nine for the next week.

SPEAKER_06 1:19:16

If you too are on Cloud9, please feel free to like, share, review, and subscribe uh to our podcast. Don't forget to email us with any ideas or opinions that you might have. We will see you again next time for another episode of Let It Loose. Thanks everybody.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:31

Thank you for listening to Let It Loose, a Gloria Est of Fan podcast. Let It Loose was produced by Carlos, Rob, and Wes with graphic design by Lara. Thank you to Gloria for bringing us all together. Subscribe, rate, and share the love. And join us next week for a brand new episode.