- [Narrator] Funding for this episode of "Que Pasa New Jersey with Carlos Medina" has been provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, the Engineers Labor Employer Cooperative 825, Hackensack Meridian Health, PSE&G, ROI NJ Business Magazine.

- Welcome to "Que Pasa" with me, Carlos Medina, where we celebrate cultura comida and the inspirational power of Latino voices.

We begin in Fort Lee, New Jersey with a tribute to La Reina de la Salsa, Celia Cruz.

Her music lit up the world, and now her legacy shines even brighter with a star on the Barrymore Film Center's Walk of Fame.

Then we head to Broadway, where the musical "Real Women Have Curves" is making waves.

Joining us today is Jersey Girl and cast member, Florencia Cuenca, who is making her Broadway debut as Esther Garcia.

She's the first Mexican American immigrant to originate a co-leading role in a Broadway musical.

And she's here to share what that milestone means to her.

Let's begin.

(upbeat music) - You're one of those people that should have had a show for a long time.

(upbeat music continues) - [Carlos] It's amazing!

- It's amazing!

- [Carlos] It's amazing.

(upbeat music continues) - Celia Cruz called New Jersey home for over 40 years, and in May, her legacy was honored in an unforgettable celebration in Fort Lee, New Jersey, at the Barrymore Film Center.

It was a day filmed with music, memories, oguyo, and of course, azucar!

We now take you to that powerful moment when La Reina de la Salsa received her star on the Barrymore Film Center's Walk of Fame.

- [Speaker] There we go.

(people cheering) - [Carlos] This year in October, Celia Cruz would've celebrated her 100th birthday.

Celia Cruz, as a son of a Cuban immigrant, she meant so much to familias in not only the tri-state area and the whole United States, she was somebody who broke barriers as an Afro-Latina.

Just try to think of somebody today in the music industry, female, Latina, black, and all the barriers that she broke, and she lived in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

She chose Bergen County, New Jersey to be her home for many years.

And of course, the event was highlighted by Latin Grammy and Grammy Award winner, Omar Pardillo-Cid and her niece, Linda Pritchett, who came all the way from Georgia to witness the amazing unveiling of her star.

We were graced with a presence of Teresa Ruiz, who's a senator here in the state of New Jersey, assemblyman Clinton Calabrese, and everybody just showing up to really pay tribute to somebody who really has moved us, who's been a role model for the Hispanic community.

Music is often used by Cuban Americans and all Hispanics as a way to overcome adversity and talk about the stories that empower us.

So it's great to recognize somebody who was a role model, really an icon in the Hispanic community.

Azucar, which is her famous phrase, that's also a phrase that embodies resilience for the immigrant community as an immigrant who really succeeded beyond anybody's expectations, and to all the over 100 guests that graced us at the Barrymore Theater where we had music, dance.

It was really a great time had by all.

So again, we're grateful to Celia Cruz, a New Jersey resident for over 40 years, a member of the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

So thank you to the event.

Thank you to all the media.

We had all the major stations from New York come to cover, really this milestone for the state of New Jersey.

And now we're gonna share some reflections of Celia.

Some of our dignitaries shared their thoughts on what Celia's means and meant in their life.

- Great.

What a better place to celebrate Celia.

Celia belongs to everybody.

Celia is a Nicaraguan, Colombian, a Chilean.

So Celia belongs to all Latinos, and she was very proud being an Afro-Latina.

So what a better way to celebrate Cecilia's legacy and celebrate her birthday.

Hundred years coming up.

- Exactly, right.

- Our kids, grandkids will know about the music, the heritage, and how proud we are of being where we came from.

- Happy birthday, Celia.

And I tell you, as we recognize your hundred years, I'll tell you this, Jersey is so proud to celebrate you.

And Fort Lee, my district in New Jersey, is even prouder to say that you lived here.

You brought so much here to not just Fort Lee, but to Jersey and to our country.

Your Afro cue music lives on, but your personality and Celia Cruz's personality lives on larger than life, and her legacy will continue to live on in Fort Lee and our state.

And I love looking at all these images because her personality, what she brought to this state, and reminding us always about our strong diversity here and it's who we are in Jersey, and she's such a big part of it.

So Celia, happy birthday to all who are celebrating her.

- Hello everyone.

This is Assemblywoman Carmen Theresa Morales here at the Barrymore Theater, honoring a legend, a true legend for the Afro-Latino community, Celia Cruz.

And just a reflection on who she is and how I remember her, I remember her as a young child, growing up in a Latina household where music was really what motivated us to get up and clean the house.

And Celia Cruz has one of those memorable moments in her music and her rhythm and the beats, you know, music like oye como va, and azucar, and just her movements.

And that was something that growing up, I remembered, you know, as a Latina, as a Puerto Rican, growing up in Jersey City.

(upbeat music) - Our next guest commends the stage and brings stories to life behind the scenes.

Mexican actress, singer, writer, and director Florencia Cuenca began performing at the age of three, alongside her father.

She starred in tele novellas and hit musicals across Mexico, and now she's making her Broadway debut as Estella in "Real Women Have Curves."

Florencia is breaking barriers as the first Mexican immigrant to originate a co-leading role in a Broadway musical.

Please welcome Florencia to "Que Pasa."

- Ole!

Thank you for having me.

- I heard through the grapevine you've been performing on stage since the age of three with dad.

Tell me about performing with dad.

I mean, obviously that's very special, but how has that shaped your career?

You got that early start on everybody.

- Yes, everyone asked me, "When did you know you wanted to be an actor?"

And I'm like, well, I don't know.

Like at three years old, I was like, okay, my dad is doing that, I wanna do that, you know?

It was like, part of the family, part of the blood.

So I started acting with him and his shows and his programs on TV in Mexico, back in Mexico.

And this has always been my life.

I started doing TV and then I got into musical theater.

I was like, "Oh wait, you can dance and you can act and you can sing at the same time?

That's my jam!"

So I started doing musical theater back in Mexico, and since I was, well, 10 years old, I used to dream about coming to New York and being on Broadway, but it felt really far away, right?

It was like an impossible dream.

It was like, okay, that's not possible for me, but I would love to.

And then look at me.

I'm 32 years old, making my Broadway debut, finally.

And it feels crazy, but I feel like every single step in my career brought me here, every single decision.

And I've been here in New York, New Jersey now for 10 years.

I moved 10 years ago with my husband, with Jaime, and it's been a crazy journey, but I'm happy that I'm living this moment in my career, right now.

- You say you used the word journey.

Tell me about that journey.

What brought you to Union City, New Jersey?

I was born in Union City, by the way.

Yeah.

(laughs) - Well, 10 years ago, we came for our honeymoon.

Jaime and I, we both love Broadway.

We are in the business, so we were like, okay, for our honeymoon, we wanna go to Broadway, see shows.

And once we work here, Jaime was like, "I think we should stay."

And I was like, "What?"

And he said, "We're never gonna be ready to come here.

So once we're here, let's just like overstay and try to make it."

And that's what we did.

We took a leap of faith and at the beginning, we were living at a friend's apartment in South Bronx, and one of my best friends lived here in New Jersey and she was like, "Come to New Jersey, you're gonna love it.

It's gonna be so chill, so beautiful."

And I was like, "I'm not sure because we're working in the city."

And she's like, "The commute is easy."

And we moved here five years ago.

- You did a lot in Mexico, as you mentioned earlier, including a play, "Selena," a musical, "Selena."

- [Florencia] Yes!

- Tell me about that experience, and how you've used that experience to bring to New York and Broadway.

- Well, I feel like my culture, my language, everything that I am, it's what I bring to my work.

And right now in "Real Women Have Curves," I'm originating the role of that curvy Mexican immigrant, and I am a curvy Mexican immigrant.

So it's like a full circle.

I'm bringing everything that I am to this work.

And I feel one of the beautiful things about being on Broadway is representing my community that now more than ever, I feel like we have to put a spotlight in our community and just be loud about how beautiful our people are.

You know?

- Music and I would even argue food play a huge role in Latino, Hispanic culture.

Tell me how music from three years old on stage with dad has influenced you, not only on your Broadway career, but how has music influenced your family?

- Well, I grew up listening a lot of, of course, mariachi and rancheras, antrios in Mexico, but I also grew up listening to musical theater and to jazz and Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder.

So I'm like a mix of all those things.

And I feel like as a singer, even like to grow up listening to all those kind of genres, it was ingrained in in my voice, in my body.

And a lot of the ways that I sing or their choices that I make when I'm singing, I don't know, where are they from, you know, it can be like from mariachi or it can be like a jazz thing.

I'm very into jazz too.

I released a jazz album like 10 years ago before moving here.

So I feel music change lives.

Like music is another language, and it's a language that we all speak.

And sometimes it doesn't matter if it's in Spanish, French, English, like just by listening to the music, you can communicate so many things, so many feelings, stories.

And that's why I love musical theater.

- And now you're on "Real Women Have Curves."

- [Florencia] Yes.

- [Carlos] Estella, tell me how you brought that and how's it feel to be the person who's originated a role on Broadway?

- [Florencia] Oh my god.

- [Carlos] Are you pinching yourself?

- [Florencia] Yes, of course.

Every day, every single night, when we start the play, it opens and the people goes crazy and they're always like, "Oh!"

And I'm like, oh my god, I feel like a rock star.

I feel like I'm in Madison Square Garden and people are cheering for me.

I love Estella, the role that I play.

She is the big sister and, Florencia in real life, I'm a big sister too, so I feel very related to that.

And I've learned so much about Estella and I've been working in this musical for two years and a half, like from the very beginning, from the very first reading, workshop, out of town and now Broadway.

So it's been a journey of like, knowing another person and falling in love with that person.

And at the beginning of the musical, it's not spoiler, but Estella gets this big opportunity and she has two choices, right?

Like, do I take it or say no, I can't?

And she says, "Yes, of course, of course we can do it."

And I feel like the immigrant community, we are like that.

Every time an opportunity comes, we're like, "Yes, of course I can, of course I know how to do that and we'll figure it out."

And I feel like my life here in the States has been like that sometimes with auditions.

"Do you know how to play the banjo?"

"Of course, yep.

I love the banjo."

And then I'm like, okay, banjo classes, you know?

And I love that about our community.

We make it work.

One of the songs of the musical, it's called "Make It Work."

And I feel like that's what we do as Latinos as community.

- So many of our viewers have seen the movie, but perhaps haven't had the good fortune to see the play yet.

Tell us how you feel it differs, you know, the movie from the play.

- I think it's a different medium.

There's a different way to tell the story on a screen, on a play, on a musical.

And of course, it's in foreign, one by the other.

But here in the musical, we have more time, first of all, so you can get to know the characters better and know more about them.

Of course, the music always helps.

Music, it makes you like dance on your seat, you know, and we have a couple of changes in the storyline, like more like add-ons on the storyline.

But I feel like people will fall in love with these characters.

That's the most important.

And they are so relatable and everyone can relate to a story that talks about dreams, talks about family dynamics, talks about having like a mom and a dad.

It's like everyone can relate to the, Anna, let me go back.

Anna, who is the principal character, she's the lead, she wants to go to Columbia, right?

But at the same time, she needs to stay at home and the obligations that you need to do when you have undocumented family.

And I feel, when she learns about her community, she gets powerful.

And I feel like this musical talks about community too, which is very important and how the community makes you better and how the community is the one who helps you to follow your dreams.

- You got to work with Tony Award-winning choreographer and director Sergio Trujillo.

Tell me about working with Sergio.

He's a legend in the industry.

- [Florencia] He is a legend.

This is his director debut.

So it's amazing, he's a choreographer and he has been a choreographer for so many years, but now it's his first time directing.

And I feel like, what a way to make his directorial debut, right?

With this beautiful work.

I think he was so wise in choosing this amazing musical to do his directorial debut.

He knows what he wants.

Something about Sergio is that he knows what he wants.

I think musical theater is about teamwork.

So it's not just Sergio, right?

It's the music team.

It's the writers, it is everything, all the creative team, the projection design, it's everything that makes... - We use, at the chamber, at the Statewide Hispanic Chamber.

we use the phrase a lot, familia 'cause I think it's a great definition of the vibe and how we help each other.

And you and Jaime have la familia, which is really, I guess, would it be fair to call it your philanthropic arm?

- Yes!

- To help the community, music.

Tell me about what you're doing with that and what was the motivation to start this nonprofit organization?

- When we first moved here, I realized that I needed community.

Like community is a thing that saves you.

So since we moved, I was like, "Jaime, I wanna launch an organization like, just to foster community and opportunities for immigrants and LatinX."

And now finally, after so many years of thinking about it, thinking about it, thinking about it, we were like, you know, this is the year when we can do a soft launch and start this organization.

Right now what we are doing is that right now with our own paychecks and some patrons, we are providing free tickets to "Real Women Have Curves" to people who have never come to the theater, because I think art saves lives and art is so important, and sometimes our community, because it's really expensive to go to Broadway and they don't have that opportunity.

And I'm like, I need to provide that.

And especially if we are doing a work so important, like "Real Women Have Curves," I want my people to see themselves on stage.

So I was like, you know what, we should start this right now.

And it's been amazing.

And the people come and I put them on the list and backstage and they have never been, one, to a Broadway theater or to a Broadway backstage.

And they are like, "Oh my god, I can't believe it."

A lot of them, they are immigrants.

So from Ecuador, from Colombia, Mexico, we have had like, so many people and just to see their faces and feel represented, it fills my heart.

So this is just the beginning.

This is just the beginning for the familia.

- So on the topic of familia, tell me, wife, mother, Broadway performer, living in New Jersey, commuting to New York, tell me how you balance all of this.

- I do not balance it.

(laughs) Sometimes it's 80% and 20% here.

You know, that's life.

It's impossible.

But thanks to Jaime and my familia, my chosen family, my friends, it's that I can do what I can do, right?

The power of the community.

Sometimes I'm like, Jaime is busy, I'm busy.

"Hey," I call my best friend.

"Can you take Alonzo to his soccer class?"

And they do it.

And I love that about being an immigrant, because you get to choose your own familia.

Your friends are like, your tios, your abuelas.

It's crazy.

It's hard, but I can do it, thanks to mi familia.

- What advice would you give young folks looking to pursue a career in musical theater and in music?

- I would say, be yourself.

Be yourself, your authentic self, because that's the only way you're gonna get things done.

And when you go into an audition room, they wanna see you.

They don't wanna see Mandy Gonzalez, they don't wanna see Florencia Cuenca, they don't wanna see (indistinct).

They already have those people.

They wanna see who you are.

Shine with your heart, and don't apologize for being yourself.

- Florencia, what is your next project?

What are you working on, currently?

- Well, right now, I'm very focused on "Real Women Have Curves."

We just released the album.

You can listen to it in every digital platform and hopefully, I don't know, I wanna do TV, I wanna shoot a movie in Hollywood.

I dunno.

I wanna keep doing musicals.

I wanna keep writing my own musicals, my community and mi gente, I think my, my goal in life as a Mexican immigrant here is to represent my community in an authentic way.

So I wanna telling our stories.

- I love it.

Well, keep telling your stories.

You're making us all very proud.

Gracia.

- Gracias.

- Thank you for joining us, celebrating legacy, elevating representation, and showing that Latino stories are human stories that resonate with everyone.

Watch full episodes anytime at pbs.org, and don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Until next time, no juemo, familia.

- [Narrator] Funding for this episode of "Que Pasa New Jersey with Carlos Medina" has been provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, the Engineers Labor Employer Cooperative 825, Hackensack Meridian Health, PSE&G, ROI NJ Business Magazine.

(upbeat music) Thanks to the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey.

Find out more about our familia at shccnj.org.

This has been a production of the Modesto Educational Foundation.