Conversation with Jesse Sanchez, the writer of the new musical, “Sueños, Our American Musical”

Broadway ReFocused is in conversation with Jesse Sanchez, the writer of the new Latinx musical Sueños, Our American Musical. Based in Watsonville, California, the strawberry capital of the world, Sueños tells a contemporary journey about interrelationships, and the dynamics of three generations of a Mexican-American family as they confront challenges, make sacrifices, break cycles, and celebrate community in their pursuit of the American Dream. Sanchez is a San Jose native who is a playwright, composer, and music director who works at Oregon Shakespeare Festival as the Producing Music Supervisor. In this podcast we talk about why different Latinx experiences are important to tell in musical theatre. We listen to the 11 o'clock number, “Set Me Free” in this podcast. You can follow Jesse on Instagram @jessejsanchezmusic and www.jessejsanchez.com

MWI - Episode 6, Sueños: Our American Musical

Spencer Williams: Welcome to Musicals with Impact. I'm really excited for our guest today, not only are we Bay Area natives but I was just so impressed with the presentation that was recently on the New York Theater Barn's New Work Series that I just had to bring Jesse Sanchez to Musicals with Impact. So, welcome Jesse.

Jesse Sanchez: Hello. Good to be here.

Spencer Williams: Thank you so much. Today we're going to talk a little bit about your new show called Sueños, our American musical.  Tell me three main things that happened in your life that directed you to creating Sueños.

Jesse Sanchez: There's three things that happened. I'll start with the first, I don't think these are really in order. I'll just start with the first one though. About, it was like in 2017, I worked with the Hamilton national tour in San Francisco.

And so I was talking to the assistant director on the show and she suggested  that I start writing this musical. I told her a story. I was just telling her about it. And she said, why don't you write a treatment? And I was like, Okay what's the treatment? So, I said, sure. So, I wrote a treatment and then a month later, we met for lunch in San Francisco and I presented this treatment to her and she read it and she said, this is great, now go write a book. I said, perfect. So, that was like the big event that was like, Okay. But before that, another event that happened is that I've always wanted to write a musical just because, I felt like there wasn't enough Latinx representation on the stage. And so I saw Rent with one character, the story is not Latinx, but that one character is and then I saw In the Heights.

And then after that, I was like, Ooh, there's not very many things. Sure, West Side Story, but we can get into that in another day.  And then On Your Feet, of course happened while I was starting to write mine. So, I thought wow, there's no stories out there for, by, written by LatinX people.

So I said, I should really do this because I feel like I have stories that I want to tell, and I know that, our culture and our people want to tell our stories too, which are just, pretty universal stories just with us on them. And then, the other thing that kind of led up to it was just me finding my love for theater in high school and, college  I remember when I was in high school, I did band and then started really loving jazz choir. And then I was like, "Wow, this is really cool." So, then I started doing theater because I realized that it combined, both singing and playing.

And I was like, Oh, this is really cool. I love this. It's not just one. It's actually all of the aspects. And then I started studying it and I was like, wow, there's so many genres now, it's not just like band music. You can have like hip hop and you can have different kinds of styles in theater.

Spencer Williams: That's great. I love whenever I hear anyone is I got inspired by my high school music teacher. I always loved that. I am a high school music teacher. That's like what I do in my day job. So, I love that. But I wanted to go back a little bit. So, for listeners who don't know what a treatment is, can you describe a little bit about what that process is?

Jesse Sanchez: Yeah. So, I didn't, I didn't actually go to school for playwriting. So, a lot of it was me learning on the fly and reading examples online but I music directed a lot. So, I was always in theater and that kind of stuff. So, a treatment is basically just like a sketch of plot points and kind of things that you want to include in this musical.

 To me it's very basic. There's no like pivotal moments or anything. It's just like the basic plot points on piece of paper and seeing like what would this trajectory be, what would the story arc be? Yeah, it was more of just like, why aren't you writing this? And I was like you're right. Why am I not writing this? So, you know, having that voice where she's super respected and she does this for a living to think like a story like that should be down on paper, which was really, it was like the one pivotal moment where I was like, I could do this, totally. And then it began this crazy long journey that I'm on now.

Spencer Williams: That's awesome. Yeah and I think with the conversation around a Latinx musical theater. This is part of the reason why I was so excited to talk to you, growing up in the Bay Area, like this is a big part of our life and experience. And when you look at some of those shows that you mentioned, even In the Heights, it's a very location-based experience, even though it's a Latinx experience, it's very New York. It's very In the Heights, like it's that world, which is different.

I mean, there's so many. We could go like really deep into this, but like the Latinx experience across America is very different in different locations and culture and how and where all of those different types of Latinx people are. I just, part of the reason why I loved kind of like inviting you to this podcast is because  I understand that San Jose world a little bit, like living there and having that experience. And I wanted to know more. I want to know, and I want to see that on the stage. So, why don't you tell us a little bit about the show?

Jesse Sanchez: Yeah. So, Sueños is about a guy named Allie short for Alejandro. And him and his family just moved to a town called Watsonville, which is a real place in California, right outside Santa Cruz. And they are there because his mother can't find work and they're in Los Angeles.  They moved back home and live with her sister in the family home.

And then we just take this journey with Allie and he wants to be a composer. And he wants to write music and he's this prodigy violinist, and he wants to go to college for it. He wants to study it. He wants to, do all the things that he knows that he actually can't because his family doesn't have the money to.

But he has an opportunity. He has an audition that will help him get some scholarships and different kinds of things. And location is important in the story because it's a lesser known area of California and the Bay Area. And so we just see his journey and it continues on. And then Act Two we have some surprises that I always try to shy away from telling people just because I want them to be surprised. But basically it continues his journey, which has been halted by a few things that he has encountered along the way. And then, eventually we, see all of the family members having their dreams come true, which is, Sueños: dreams.

Spencer Williams: I would love to characterize Watsonville or maybe you want to, because for a lot of people they don't know about Watsonville, but it's part of their daily life. So, do you want to characterize that a little bit?

Jesse Sanchez: Yeah. I also wanted to comment back on what you had said about how In the Heights is very New York and Sueños is very, you're totally correct, when you say that the Latinx experience can be different. Cause under that umbrella of Latinx, you have Mexican American, you have Puerto Rican's, an we aren't all the same. Like we all have our various things that make us who we are. And even by region, right?

Like the Mexican Bay Area native, it has a very different experience than the Mexican, Texas native. And so I really wanted to pinpoint a place in the Bay Area besides like an East San Jose or an East, just because I felt like that if you are from the Bay Area and you hear that somebody is from East San Jose, there's like a stigma with it.  Oh, I know you have to be from East San Jose. I could also be from the bougie parts of San Jose, but I'm not anyways. I wanted to set a place where it wasn't as known, all the places around it. And so Watsonville is one of those places where, you know, a few miles down the road there's Santa Cruz, and then the other way there's Gilroy and Monterey.

And so it's this really unique little town that I spent some time there and, lots of farm workers live there, lots of migrants workers live there. But it's really known for the strawberry picking and there's a lot of fields. But it's such a beautiful town.

There's so much old architecture that's there. Yeah, so that's, that's Watsonville.

Spencer Williams: I love that. And yeah, it's basically the top of the Central Valley, which is where all of our food comes from. And I live out in Monterey now. And basically you just drive by and you see the migrant workers and you see how hard they work.

And that experience is such an integral part of that life out in the central coast. And it's so much a part of the culture and it is like a- I think it's an often forgotten place. And yet it is something that when you look at your food, I lived in Boston for awhile, and I would still look at my food and it came from Watsonville.

Jesse Sanchez: Yeah.

Spencer Williams: So, I love that there's so much story in life and culture inside of that. I love that that's where Sueños is located. Tell us a little bit of why you feel, I mean, this is you given an answer to this in regards to the Latinx experience, but tell me a little bit of why this story is so important to 2021.

Why does this need to be told?

Jesse Sanchez: There's a lot of themes within Sueños there's the theme of racism, there's the theme of, just the experience that a Mexican-American goes through. Working at a strawberry stand and those kinds of things. There's also, the coming of age aspect of it.

There's just a lot of universal themes that still translate to today. I think it's important because like I said before we don't have enough stories represented on Broadway, in the various stages, regional theaters, we just don't have enough representation.

And that's one of those things that I think that we are still at least myself, we're, gonna, we're gonna hammer it all the way down. We're going to keep making sure that, this is not my last musical I'm going to write for Latinx people. And even when we just have a concert at the green room in New York City, It sold out instantly, right?

Like it's just something that, it's needed and we just need accurate representation onstage.

Spencer Williams: Can you tell us a little bit about the familial ties and how that plays into the characters in the story inside of Sueños?

Jesse Sanchez: Yeah, it's a traditional Mexican family, if you will. Where the mom has the last say, but the dad is still hard-headed and has his own ways.

 The story's based in the nineties and by the end of act two, we're in 2016, right? Like President Obama in the beginning, hasn't been elected president, but by the time we get to the second act, President Obama has been. And so the, the family, I wanted to show the old way of thinking. And by that, like the machismo that comes along with it. How it can evolve, how people can learn and how people can break out of those things. Particularly the father he starts off really, closed off and he makes comments about Allie's sexuality. And by the end, he has realized like, this is still my child and I love him regardless of who he is. And so that's in there. And then, the mother Lupez, she's the one that makes the house run smoothly. And so I just feel like some of these characters and these familial ties can be translated to whatever ethnicity you are, or background you come from.

She's the, heartwarming, the one that always roots on Allie. And even if the dad doesn't agree with it, she's always there. And then you have the aunt who is, the one that's always drinking wine and tequila and she's the loud one, the one who, is honest about everything. And I think we all have an aunt that's loud or, you know, that says everything that's on her mind when we all know that. Oh, why did you say that out loud?  And then of course like the sibling relationship between Allie and his sister and how they navigate that in high school being in the same school.

I have a sister and it was always interesting having the same friends because she is 18 months younger than me. And so going to the same high school and then showing up to a party and being like wait, why are you here? Oh, you're friends. Sort of exploring like sibling relationships and how they deal with, secrets as siblings.

Spencer Williams: And yet that experience hasn't really been seen on the Broadway stage for sure. And I would even say there's, there is a couple, like one that comes to mind right off the bat is Next to Normal, but that's like a very specific familial issue. And then even just recently with Jagged Little Pill, it's so white it's so upper-class, it's so specific that I'm, I'm really excited with Sueños that, there's different types of families being shown on stage because they think we all have that we all have that connection in that, but I think could be just so powerful to see.

Jesse Sanchez: And another one that comes to mind is a Dear Evan Hansen. I wonder if the original had, an African-American mother. Why, why couldn't it be that right?

All kids go through that kind of stress. But it's a different lens, it would be a different experience. And I know if it was a Latinx lens, that that would be like something interesting to explore. And how, the, how, how was a loop or a Linda from Sueños would react to something like that, right?

Spencer Williams: Yeah. Now I'm interested in seeing that version.

Jesse Sanchez: These are the things I think about all the time. Footloose, I wonder if Ren was,  Filipino wouldn't that be interesting. And his mom and, industrial and yeah, I think about all these fun, little, like what ifs?

Spencer Williams: No, I love that. And I think, I think more people should be thinking that way. At least we used to gatekeepers on Broadway because I think it would just only, we've seen this, it would only diversify the audience and the people who are seeing shows and the people who. want to see themselves on stage, right?

Like we have completely forgotten about so many different types of people where like, at some point, if they never see themselves on stage, I mean, you mentioned Rent, right? Like one, right? There's one character. And what a difference that would bring to audiences and people and understanding, and empathy and all these different things that I think the theater's for.

Jesse Sanchez: Well even In the Heights, right? Like it was the one show and look how well it did and how well it continues to do, right. Like every high school is doing it or trying to do it.  It's like obvious that we should have more of these kinds of stories.

Spencer Williams: Absolutely. Every high school is doing it and how cool is it for those kids? At least, the LatinX kids to see Oh my God, there's actually a role for me. There's actually a story that I can relate to. Instead of doing, The Music Man or South Pacific or some of these older shows or even some of the new shows that are out to be honest.

Jesse Sanchez: And it's fun because, I mentioned Watsonville, the high school that I worked at, I walked into day one of rehearsal and all the kids knew the soundtrack of In the Heights by memory. I was like, Oh, we got to learn some things because you're singing it a little wrong. But they, but they listened to it, right? Like that's the thing like and unfortunately, that's the one, the one album that I would say besides Hamilton now, because of Lin and that, where he comes with. A lot of the Latinx kids, at least, my experience is that they can recite In the Heights, but can they recite like My Fair Lady. Probably not right -- they're not going to be listening to that. That's because they associate with the this because they can see themselves in it. Even if they are Mexican in this migrant town, on the other coast. They can still, they might not know the New York/Puerto Rican/Dominican experience, but they know the Brown experience. Completely, something that we're missing in theater.

Spencer Williams: Absolutely. I'm really excited to listen to one of the songs. So, will you set that up? Will you tell us a little bit about the song and where it's at in the show shows so that we can get into it?

Jesse Sanchez: Sure. Yeah. So, the song is called "Set me Free" and it's the song that you, hear motifs of it throughout the entire show. And the song is set in the end of Act Two. Allie struggles with finding endings to songs. He has a ton of songs that he writes and composes, but he can't finish the songs because he doesn't have that inspiration.

This was one of the first songs that he finished because he found his inspiration, his best friend, Francesca, who you meet, in Act One. And they go through a relationship type of thing. And they never figured out what all that means to them and the experience that they had in Act One.

And so he, distanced himself from her and he finally is able to tell her what he's wanted to tell her all along. So, this song is like a, what he felt 20 years before or 15 years before. And so he finally sings it.

 Spencer Williams: So, here is "Set me Free" from Sueños.

Awesome. Is that an 11 o'clock number for him in the Act 2? Love it.

Jesse Sanchez: Totally.

Spencer Williams: I love it.

Jesse Sanchez: Totally.

Spencer Williams: It's such a great 11 o'clock. I could start seeing it and I'm like, I have no idea what the, like I don't have all the details, but I could start seeing him on stage. That's really cool.

What does that feel like hearing it back, taking pause and listening.

Jesse Sanchez: Well, it's interesting cause I, can hear all of my influences, right? Like that one is totally like my GooGoo Dolls days. Cause that's what I, you know, that's what that's the other part about Sueños is, like I mentioned this earlier you take like a, like a, My Fair Lady or typical white pieces.

And I always thought like, why couldn't, why couldn't we sing? Like the requiem from Dear Evan Hansen, why couldn't we sing something like that? So, the score of the musical is, really like, here's the showstopper Broadway number or here's the salsa number, or here's the mariachi number, or here's the R&B number, you know? And so it's like lots of different genres within the piece. But also I can think back to like my, what I have listened to and, I've listened to Sarah Bareilles, I've listened to Ingrid Michaelson. I'm a huge fan. I listen to all these other things. And when I'm sitting here listening to it, I'm like, Oh yeah, that's that, Goo Goo Doll's part right there.

Spencer Williams: Very cool. I love the explanation of kind of all of these different types of musics that blends into who you are. I totally relate to that experience, but I think what is really interesting is that like also then culturally you have all these different other sounds that kind of come into the world as your writer. I think that's why it's so important to hear from different people because your experience is so different in that musical way, not even just like life it's like there's actual sound that is different for you than when I grew up. Tell us a little bit about the development process. I mentioned that and you can tell us a little bit about it, but it was a really cool experience that you all had with the New York Theater Barn just recently with their choreography lab.

But tell us a little bit about where you're at with the development and what's your next steps.

Jesse Sanchez: Yeah. it's been a few years that we've been doing lots of, table reads. We haven't had a 29 hour reading yet. We were actually scheduled to do a development with the Arizona Theater Company, but then the pandemic happened and Sean Daniels over there, he, totally is all about the piece and it's a great, and I think it's just a great piece for Arizona in general, right?  So yeah, we, have our biggest cheerleader besides Arizona Theatre Company has really been Joe Barros and the New York Theatre Barn. They've really taken us under their wing. They've given us a few spotlights on their  New Work Series. We did one about a year and a half ago now at the Daryl Roth Theater in New York, presented a couple of the songs and it was fantastic. It was amazing. Then we did another one, right when the pandemic started, we did another New Work Series their digital version. And then we were selected to participate in their choreography lab, which was really amazing.

We got to finally see all of these things up on its feet. We had a couple choreographers in the room. they had a few hours to work with. A few hours, like they had a few days and three hours each day to put one of the songs on its feet.

And it was of course, like the big salsa number. And that was really cool. And so we got to see that. And then the next steps are, you know, we have lots of - I have lots of rewrites, lots of things I want to add. The script has been updated quite a few times over the last year. And now we're hoping to get a grant.

We've applied for a couple of grants with New York Theater Barn and potentially do a demo of six songs that we can release with hopefully a pretty well-known record company. So, that way we can really get the story out there further. We have these demos that are homemade by myself and my collaborator and, a bunch of, great artists that we get into a living room and we record that. So that's basically where we are right now in terms of the process for just, we want to keep striving for more and the more that we can get the better and, hopefully we can put this to a full production at some point in the near future. Cause that would be great. That'd be fantastic.

 If you haven't seen the New York Theater Barn's choreography lab, that Sueños was in I'm definitely going to throw that out there because not only were they doing that, like inside a pandemic, but I think there was a choreographer that's worked on Broadway and then there was like, assisting or like mentoring the choreography in the room.

  Maria Torres, she's this well-known Broadway choreographer/director. Amazing. Like I've been such a fan for years. And she agreed to come in a mentor, the choreographer for Sueños, which was the choreographers were selected by a audition process slash turning in a bunch of their work and stuff.

So there was a lot of people who wanted to choreograph for the choreography lab.  But we chose Christina Yancy. Who's amazing. she was mentored by Maria, and, we have lots of emails about what do you think about this? And how do we, should we tell the story? And what does this mean? I even did a rewrite in the middle because I got so excited and we started talking and I was able to have that other element in the room, which was movement. And, even the staging of it all and what works and what doesn't work. And that's really exciting for me because I have all these pictures in my head, but I don't actually know if they work until we see them on its feet.

 That's where the musical is. That's where we need. What I feel like we need right now is I feel like we have all the puzzle pieces in place. It just needs to be fit together now, like we just need to see if they actually fit and make a pretty picture. Right?

Spencer Williams: Yeah, absolutely. Definitely check that out because it was such an exciting moment. I feel like for new musicals, in a pandemic, and navigating that. And it's a really beautiful video. I was like, so impressed with it.

Jesse Sanchez: It was really cool because there was the version of the actual choreography. What did it look like for it staged on the stage. And then they also do an element of how it would look for film. So I thought that was really cool too. To have those two unique perspectives. Yeah, it was really cool.

Spencer Williams: Tell me, the last thing that I always want to ask is your dream of dreams for the show.

Like what is that for you as the composer and writer. Tell us about that.

Jesse Sanchez: Yeah. I think my dream for the show is to one day see a full production in Watsonville. Wouldn't that be really cool?

Spencer Williams: That would be amazing.

Jesse Sanchez: Yeah, I think that would probably have to be like, after a show, after the show opened somewhere else. But I think if, one day somebody picks up the licensing and then you see Watsonville doing the musical in their hometown at that same high school. And I think it would be so cool. So unique, to have that.

Spencer Williams: Yeah. Now I'm like thinking why not let's do this? And, even in the surrounding area as well . Salinas has a wonderful theater downtown and just, I teach students that live in Salinas and I have one particular student in mind that I think this would be so amazing for her to see the people in her community around her, like onstage, like she wants to go into musical theater and how powerful would that be?

That'd be so cool. Yeah. Oh, I love that dream.

Jesse Sanchez: Yep. That's my sueños.

I think

Spencer Williams: a lot of times people think, "Oh Broadway's the only dream." Of course Broadway is a great dream. And we love that, but I think it's been interesting as I've asked this question to every writer, the first answer is never that it's  Oh yeah, of course I want that to happen, but there's always something else that's connected to the show. As a writer, too, my dream would be like for my show would be very specific as well. That's like out doors and a castle and it connects to my show, but like to hear yours, I think that's perfect.

And why not? And yeah. That community needs to see it too.

Jesse Sanchez: Totally. Because how many times would that community get to go, not only to Broadway, but to San Francisco or to Monterey to watch the show?  Even if Cabrio college, which is super close nearby, like what the majority of them go? I don't know, because the, most of the theaters don't program things that are like this often. And so if they did, it's  why would I, I don't know, but they don't see themselves in that theater company. That's why I think Arizona is a great place. Because Arizona is one of the few regionals that I work with, that I know of that is always looking at what their demographics are and what do those people, what kind of stories did they want to see?

They did like a premiere of American mariachi, which is like a play with music and it was a huge hit. Because people can identify. So...

Spencer Williams: Well, and I even think as you were talking it would be really great if Cabrio, then they have a really great summer program. But doing it outside of their space, going into the community to find out how to wait, like more of a site specific place where that, yes, they're producing, but it's out of that norm. If we get more people doing that type of stuff, I think we're just going to find equitability, accessibility, all of these things that like, they're always, I'm going on a soapbox. Sorry. I think it's good. Yeah, but you hear so much "Oh, our audience is,"  it's always they're complaining about like how their, their audience is dying, or like they don't have enough subscription. And dah, dah, dah, dah. And I'm like are you doing anything to engage beyond these very basic things that so many theater companies have been doing . Go produce the show. Produce it in Watsonville, engage that audience. And it's a lot of work. But I think that's how things are going to change.

Jesse Sanchez: Yeah. And, I think about the one example that I'm affiliated with. And that's the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. And I think about it, we're in Ashland, Oregon, and the demographic is, predominantly white. That's what we have, but the stuff that OSF programs is just amazing, like we have Cambodian rock band. We have all these different shows that are so diverse. And we sell them out, right? Like those same, those same subscribers stay and they watch this stuff. Then you just have an opportunity to open it up to the brown community or the black community that are here.  And then now they can see themselves on stage. So now they're going to want to go to the theater. It seems like it would be almost easy to,  almost feels like that. But I don't know what it is. I do know what it is, but I, yeah.

Spencer Williams: You highlight OSF. It's interesting because part of  Broadway Refocused, the project, like in my other podcasts, we brought in two people who worked at OSF and, and they're just doing the right work. They're doing it.

And they're making it where it's obvious, but they're making it obvious. And I love that about OSF. And they're not including just one community. Their version of Oklahoma was so inclusive in so many different ; they're really good at intersectionality around it as well. So, it's not just one community; they're not just looking at the brown community or whatever. And I think that's so key and it's so American in its experience, not white. That is not synonymous with white.

Jesse Sanchez: Yeah, no, I, I, I work with MItaki and everyone who are the artists director and associate artistic director. And, that's just In the DNA of OSF now, is we have to not just highlight one community. We have to highlight all of these communities because this is, this is what actually American theater should be. And so to be able to sit here and commission between two knees, or something that's like the native American experience.

Because it's such a huge, there's a lot of tribes around here that we need to honor and it's, it's just really, it's a really cool place to be, but that's, that's another thing. That's why that's what brought me here. And then, I almost credit Sueños. For having me come on board at OSF because of the previous producers. And her and I had talked a ton and she interviewed me and she wanted to know more about Sueños and what my mission was. And she was like, you're going to be perfect here, because you stand up for the Latin X community so much, like you need to be here. And so I thought that that's where that went for.

That's why I'm here.

Spencer Williams: Oh, that's awesome.  I think there is a lot of work to be done. And I love the fact that a simple question is what brought us this new musical that I'm so excited to learn more about and watch the journey and your development process. And hopefully soon I'm crossing my fingers for you. Cause I, I know how important a demo is, but I'm really looking forward to when that comes out. And so that we can start hearing that and more people can learn about Sueños.

Jesse Sanchez: Thank you.

Spencer Williams: Yeah. Thanks for being here today.

Jesse Sanchez: Thanks for having me.  I appreciate it.