Priscilla Lopez: From the Line to the Heights

As In the Heights prepares to move from off-Broadway to Broadway this fall, it's the perfect time to ask Tony winner Priscilla Lopez to share her thoughts on this lively new musical—and to reflect on the return to Broadway of her most famous show, A Chorus Line. After all, how often does an actress get to create a role on the New York stage in the same season that her most iconic part is revived for a new audience? Lopez, of course, became the first actress to sing "What I Did for Love" and "Nothing" when A Chorus Line began life at the Public Theater, transferring quickly to Broadway in 1975. Now she's playing Camila, the loving, down-to-earth maternal presence in Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical valentine to life in Manhattan's Washington Heights neighborhood. Here, Lopez looks back—and forward.

When I was asked to be part of the off-Broadway production of In the Heights, producer Jill Furman sent me a CD and script of the show. When I heard the music, I knew I had to do it. It really struck a chord with me, because it's so good and so different. Lin-Manuel Miranda manages to combine three genres: You've got the beat of rap, the mambos and meringues of Latin music, and the ballads of Broadway. I said, "This is going to pull in young kids, it's going to pull in a Latin audience and it's going to pull in a musical theater audience. I smell a hit!"

Although Lin-Manuel starts the show with a rap, he does it in a way that's very listenable. Instantly, you're drawn in; it's narrative storytelling set to an exciting sound. Andrea Burns, who plays Daniela, has a three-year-old son who can sing every lyric and repeat every line. He's probably the youngest person who's seen the show, but I have an 80-year-old friend who was weeping afterward because In the Heights has so much heart.

As a Latina, I was thrilled to see such positive images onstage. We're not playing pimps and prostitutes and drug dealers; we're people who have families and dreams and care about the future. It's so beautifully presented that I knew I wanted to be a part of it. Audiences are hungry for something fresh and different. That's what A Chorus Line was 30 years ago—different—and that's why everybody loved it.

On opening night of the Broadway revival of Chorus Line last fall, I felt as if I had double vision: I was watching the present cast performing, but at the same time I kept seeing the company from 1975 up there. It was a wonderful night because a lot of the original company gathered to celebrate. We hadn't seen each other for a long time. We were all nervous, but it was exciting to see the craft of the lighting and the staging and the dance patterns—to be able to just sit and watch the performance. I had actually worked on a project with Natalie Cortez, who plays Diana, a few years back and was very happy she had gotten the role. It's always nice to like the person who is playing "your" part!

A Chorus Line was a show of many firsts: It was the first Broadway musical not to have an overture, the first not to have a set, the first to be based on the actors' personal lives. Now, of course, the whole world is into reality TV shows, but it was very unusual at the time to have characters stepping forward and telling true stories. It also started the whole workshop trend. I've done many workshops since, but A Chorus Line was the only one in which the show was created and shaped in the process. Workshops these days are glorified backers' auditions as opposed to a true exploration of the material.

One special thing about being in A Chorus Line was the fact that's a landmark show for so many people. I've been told that it was the show that marked someone's move to New York or their marriage; that it made them want to be in the theater or broke taboos in talking about homosexuality. And it holds its own today because of the craft that went into it. It's still viable.

Now In the Heights is poised to make the jump from off-Broadway. I think Broadway will be a great place for it. It's certainly one of the better shows that have come along in a long time, with an unbelievably talented company. Our cast of 22 is very tight—having spent the past nine months sharing two dressing rooms!—and we would all love to be in a Broadway hit.