Of course, you want to book this job but none of that will help you. “Don’t worry about, you need to book this job. “And what was so similar about Blue’s Big City Adventure was that I didn’t have time to second guess myself and that it was just do the best you can.” On what he remembers about auditioning for Aladdin – he began in the ensemble, covering the title role and Iago until he took over as Aladdin in 2017 (he spent five years on the Broadway show) – the cheerful actor answered, “I remember what was so different about my audition for Aladdin than any other audition that I had.” It’s about finding out who you are and finding the community that means more to you than that job.” It’s not about getting the Broadway dream job. “And when we couldn’t pay or when they knew like, ‘Oh, this is getting expensive.’ And for everyone who gave me advice or just lent an ear, I’m so thankful to them.” “And I found that to be very true in my life, that I could not get to Broadway if it had not been for my parents and sisters sacrificing and imparting their knowledge, for all the teachers who went out on a limb and vouched for me so that I could study musical theater and all the free lessons.” “You can’t do it by yourself,” he pointed out. Ali Stroker is among Broadway talents, including BD Wong, Phillipa Soo, Alex Winter, and Steven Pasquale, who joins Joshua dela Cruz in ‘Blue’s Big City Adventure.’ Nickelodeon/Paramount+ Josh stressed the importance of community, which is also a major theme in his show and movie. It wasn’t working for me until I found that community. “Because after I graduated college, all I wanted to do was just blend in and be like everybody else. “There’s no way that I could have found out who I am as a Fil-Am actor if it hadn’t been for them, if it hadn’t been for Broadway Barkada, if it hadn’t been for the Asian American theater community out there supporting each other.” Finding a Filipino community, an Asian American community, in the theater community was huge.” “I was so happy and excited about the possibility of being on Broadway and working hard. I would leave for ballet at…I think I left at 6:30 in the morning and then I didn’t come home until 11 o’clock at night, five, six days a week. “I would make sure that my schedule was packed. So instead of taking 18 credits, I would take 23 credits.” The multi-talented actor – he acts, sings, dances, and plays musical instruments – added, “And so, when I went to college (Montclair State University in New Jersey), the goal was to be on Broadway and to work hard. “Ever since I found out that Lea Salonga was on Broadway, that a Filipino was out there doing it, that BD Wong was out there representing Asians, that’s what I wanted to do.” “That’s all that I ever wanted to do,” enthused Josh. The young immigrants’ son has always wanted to perform. It was a major decision for Josh, who moved with his parents of Ilocano and Bicolano heritage from Dubai to the US. But the nice trade-off is that Josh became the first Filipino host of a mainstream US children’s TV show. The opportunity to be the next host of Blue’s Clues & You! required that he stay most of the time in Toronto, where the show is filmed. “I never thought that I would be a film or TV actor, let alone the host of Blue’s Clues & You!” exclaimed Josh, in a somber blue shirt instead of his character’s bright blue tee in our Zoom chat. His other musical theater credits include the original off-Broadway production of Here Lies Love, the David Byrne-Fatboy Slim’s musical on the rise and fall of Imelda Marcos, which debuts on Broadway this year, and Merrily We Roll Along. Josh confirmed that he was ecstatic to shoot Blue’s Big City Adventure on Broadway, where he starred in the title role of Aladdin. In ‘Blue’s Big City Adventure,’ the three ‘Blues Clues’ hosts – Joshua dela Cruz, Donovan Patton, and Steve Burns – are together for the first time in New York. Two former Blue’s Clues & You! hosts, Steve Burns (Steve) and Donovan Patton (Joe), also star, so all three hosts are together for the first time in the Big Apple. Broadway talents, including BD Wong, Phillipa Soo, Ali Stroker, Alex Winter, and Steven Pasquale, show up in the family movie directed by Koyalee Chanda and Matt Stawski.
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