Broadway dresses in pace and Latin heart with the arrival of the Spanish actor and dancer Pepe Muñoz to the cast of Moulin Rouge! The musical, the acclaimed spectacle winner of the Tony Prize. In his expected debut in the Mecca of musical theater, Muñoz plays ‘Santiago’, an explosive character of Argentine origin who combines intensity, sensuality and vulnerability, and has become one of the public’s favorites.
The musical, inspired by the iconic Baz Luhrmann film, is a visual and sound whirlwind that mixes pop, cabaret and drama, set in the vibrant Paris Bohemian of the nineteenth century. Within this universe, the character of Santiago offers a powerful dose of Latin flavor, something that Muñoz delivers with authenticity, charisma and deep pride.
For Muñoz, getting to Broadway has not been an easy or short path. Raised in Spain, he fell in love with musical theater since the age of 11, when he saw Cats for the first time in New York. That moment lit a dream that led him to explore multiple stages: from professional dance, television and fashion, to becoming a choreographer and near Céline Dion. Today, that children’s dream materializes in one of the most emblematic theaters in the world.
In an era where cultural representation matters more than ever, Muñoz joins a wave of Hispanic artists who are redefining the theater panorama of New York. Works such as Real Women Have Curves and Buena Vista Social Club are gaining space, and surnames such as Gutiérrez, Martínez, Muñoz, González and López appear more and more in creative casts and teams.
For Pepe Muñoz, Broadway is more than a personal achievement: it is a platform to open roads and inspire new generations of Latin artists. In this sincere and passionate conversation, he tells us about the surpassed challenges, the dreams fulfilled and the strength of staying faithful to oneself over one of the most demanding scenarios in the world. Don’t miss it!
Your career covers dance, television and fashion. What specifically attracted you to musical theater?
When I was little, we came to New York and saw Cats on Broadway, and I was in love! I did not understand how people could dance, sing and act at the same time, and from that moment it was like an obsession that I had in my head: say “I have to do musical theater.” Dancing was not enough, and singing was not enough. It seemed to me to do the three things at the same time was so magical … In fact, my first musical was Cats in Madrid.
Tell us about your work at Moulin Rouge. What does it mean to interpret a character as passionate and complex as Santiago?
I love it, but what I like most of all is that I don’t have to think about putting an English or American accent. I don’t have to pretend to be someone I am not. In addition, I had never realized that the Hispanics were so passionate and so to stop until I went to live outside of Spain. I didn’t understand it because I was surrounded by so many people with such passion all the time … you don’t realize. Now I realize, especially when you see someone who is not Hispanic. I am very lucky to be able to make Hispanic, being Latin, Hispanic, Mediterranean, in a stage in New York … and talking in Spanish is a luxury.
How was your experience adapting to Broadway, both artistic and personally?
Broadway is wonderful and divine, but very hard. Having eight shows every week, you have to concentrate a lot and think: “This week you can’t go out at night or drink because you have to sing, and the voice has to be ready; the energy has to be there.” But that is what I have always wanted in life, so very happy.
Although you are Spanish, you speak with pride of Hispanic identity as something collective. What does it mean to be part of that community in a global scenario?
It is not that I forget that I am Spanish, but I see all Hispanity as if we were cousins. So, to be able to represent all my cousins - be from Guatemala, El Salvador, Caribbeans, Argentines – in the end, we all speak the same language, with those wonderful accents that everyone has. We are all one.
You have mentioned that your accent is part of your story. What advice would you give to other artists who fight with that insecurity?
I would tell you that I also thought it was an insecurity and something that was going to stop my career, but to my forty, the accent has helped me to get this character in a Broadway theater … This is life.
Do you feel that Broadway is advancing in terms of Hispanic diversity and representation? What to do?
There is always something to do. The work is never done, and you have to take it into account and continue working. But you look, suddenly, and is a good view Social Club and Real Women Have Curves, who have just opened, and everything is Hispanic. And you’re going to see shows, and there are more and more surnames that end in Z, and I love that! Gutiérrez, Martínez, Muñoz, González, López … and you see all that more and more. What needs to be done is to continue working and continue dreaming that everything is possible.
You say that Broadway is “more than a dream; it is a responsibility.” How do you use that platform to inspire others?
Being on Broadway is something that I have dreamed all my life, and I have to take it very seriously because there may be someone out there, in the armchair, as I was, to which life will change. Cliché sounds, but I have to take it very seriously and say: “Pepe, from the moment you leave there, you have to give everything.”
Do you have any ritual before going on stage?
I don’t have a ritual, I had never thought about it … I just drink a lot of coffee and listen to more music in Spanish to get more in the character. I like to listen to the language.
Finally, what has surprised you most to live and work in New York?
That everything is very expensive, but it is divine! New York is a magnet, and you can’t go. It has a magic that cannot be explained.
