Krysta Rodriguez
There have been Latinos on Broadway for years, from Rita Moreno and Chita Rivera to Raul Esparza and Karen Olivo, among many many others. And though they’ve never been wholly ignored, their influence–even when they’ve been at the center of Latino-centric musicals like In the Heights–has always been underestimated.
We saw the same thing happen in the pseudo-Broadway world of the NBC TV series Smash, now limping to the end of its second, and almost certainly last, season on Saturday nights on NBC. When it first began last year, this high-drama singin’-and-dancin’ series about the launch of a brand new Broadway musical starred very few actual Broadway stars (Megan Hilty, who played Glinda in Wicked on Broadway and elsewhere). But when the ratings didn’t hold up and they turned to actual musical stars to bolster the energy and authenticity of the show, where did they turn?
To next-generation Latina wonder Krysta Rodriguez, fresh from Broadway by way of Orange County, California.
L-r: Krysta Rodriguez and Katharine McPhee in Smash
Krysta made it to Broadway at the tender age of 22, in the short-lived Beach Boys musical Good Vibrations. By 2007, she found herself in the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line, and later in Spring Awakening and In the Heights. And she really hit the big time when she originated the role of Wednesday in the musical version of The Addams Family, first in Chicago, and then on the Great White Way.
Now, not yet 30, she’s starring in Smash as the young Latina sensation at the center of a struggling off-Broadway show. She’s gotten at least one number a week in the episodes where she’s appeared, and some of them (like the one below) have been pretty stunning.
It’s most likely way too good and way too late. The last episodes of Smash’s second season are being ‘burned off’ on Saturday nights, but Krysta’s work remains a standout. Almost all of her episodes are available on NBC.com, and hopefully will remain here for a while longer. Take a look here, and catch more of Krysta online. It’s certainly not the last you’ll be seeing of her…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2Qp-OQeehU
