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KARA FINNSTROM. CBS. L.A. WELL, IT IS THE AWARD WINNING OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL EXODUS. THE SHOW IS NOW PLAYING AT THE PASADENA PLAYHOUSE, AND THIS MUSICAL TELLS THE STORY OF A UNIQUE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD. AND JOINING ME NOW ARE BRIAN QUIJADA AND NIGEL D ROBINSON. THEY ARE THE CREATORS AND STARS. IT'S WONDERFUL TO HAVE YOU BOTH HERE. IT'S SO GREAT TO BE HERE. SO, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU HEAR ABOUT UNDERGROUND RAILROAD, YOU DON'T TYPICALLY THINK OF MEXICO. SO TELL ME ABOUT THE STORY AND WHY YOU ALL FELT LIKE IT WAS IMPORTANT TO TELL IT. WELL, GO AHEAD PLEASE. WELL, I, YOU KNOW, IN OUR HISTORY BOOKS AND IN GRADE SCHOOL, WE ALWAYS LEARN ABOUT HARRIET TUBMAN. AND IT GOING NORTH. AND, UM, WHEN BRIAN APPROACHED ME
ABOUT THIS SIX YEARS AGO, UM, HE WAS LIKE, HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF IT GOING SOUTH? AND I WAS LIKE, NO. AND I WAS LIKE, BUT OF COURSE, BECAUSE WHAT WERE YOU GOING TO DO IN TEXAS? YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? SO LIKE THERE'S LIKE A LIKE ESTIMATED 4 TO 10,000 ESCAPED SLAVES WHO CROSSED THE RIO GRANDE INTO MEXICO, IN MEXICO, HAD ABOLISHED SLAVERY LIKE 30 YEARS PRIOR TO THE UNITED STATES. AND THEY WERE LIKE, IF YOU COME HERE AND IF YOU GET HERE, WE WILL MAKE YOU A CITIZEN AND TRY TO PROTECT YOU FROM BOUNTY HUNTERS, FROM, YOU KNOW, FROM PLANTATIONS. IT'S A REMARKABLE HISTORY. YEAH, YEAH, YEAH. I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT IT. AND SO YOU ALL DECIDED TO TELL IT KIND OF FROM THE EYES OF A FARMER AND A SLAVE THAT CROSSED OVER. YEAH. TELL ME
ABOUT WHAT? THE SHOW. YEAH. SO WE, WE ACTUALLY HAD TO DO A LITTLE BIT OF DETECTIVE WORK. IT FELT LIKE TO COMPILE ALL THIS RESEARCH BECAUSE IT WASN'T AS WELL DOCUMENTED AS THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD THAT LED NORTH. UM, AND SO WE WERE ABLE TO, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS THIS FOLK TALE ABOUT A RUNAWAY SLAVE FLOATING ON A BALE OF COTTON ACROSS THE RIO GRANDE. WE WERE LIKE, OH MY GOD, THAT'S THAT'S SO BEAUTIFULLY DRAMATIC AND THEATRICAL. AND SO WE DECIDED TO, TO, TO KIND OF USE THAT AS A, AS A JUMPING OFF POINT. BUT I THINK THE, THE, THE SEED OF WANTING TO TELL THIS STORY, AT LEAST FOR ME, WAS THAT MY PARENTS CROSSED THAT EXACT SAME BORDER, UM, COMING TO THE UNITED STATES FOR A BETTER LIFE AND HAD US, THEIR CHILDREN AND, UM, IT'S KIND OF LIKE A REVERSE
BORDER STORY IN THE WAY THAT WE KNOW THAT. UM, AND SO WHEN I FIRST, NIGEL, I WAS JUST LIKE, DO YOU WANT TO DO THIS AND TELL A STORY OF BLACK AND BROWN SOLIDARITY, THIS INCREDIBLE UN FORGOTTEN HISTORY? YES. BUT WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT THIS VIDEO OF THE. YEAH, IT LOOKS LIT. THIS DOES NOT LIKE I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT. NOW WHERE IS THE FARMER? WHERE'S THE TELL ME. WHAT DO YOU MEAN? THEY WERE PLAYING DRUMS ON THE FARM IN 1851. YEAH. SO THIS IS ABOUT I MEAN, REALLY BLENDING HIP HOP AND LIVE LOOPING.
YES. YEAH. WELL, UM, I DO LIKE TO QUOTE LYNN WITH THIS ONE. HE HAD A REALLY, REALLY GREAT QUOTE YEARS AGO WHEN HAMILTON FIRST HIT AND HE WAS LIKE, HIP HOP IS THE LANGUAGE OF REVOLUTION. MHM. SO WHEN YOU'RE APPROACHING SOMETHING THAT'S THAT IS STEEPED IN REVOLUTION AND STEEPED IN ABOLITION AND ALL THESE THINGS LIKE THAT IS A BEAUTIFUL ART FORM BECAUSE YOU CAN GET A LOT OF WORDS OUT VERY QUICKLY IN A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME. BUT AND ALSO HIP HOP WAS CREATED BY BLACK AND BROWN PEOPLE IN THE BRONX. AND SO IT MAKES IT KIND OF SEEMS APPROPRIATE THAT MUSIC IS ALSO THE MUSIC OF HIP EXODUS. RIGHT. AND IT'S OUR LIKE THE VENN DIAGRAM OF NIGEL AND BRYANT. IT IS THE MIDDLE. IT'S WHERE WE MEET IN THE MIDDLE.
LIKE I HAVE DIFFERENT TASTES OF DIFFERENT THINGS. BRIAN HAS DIFFERENT TASTES, LIKE HOW WE GREW UP WITH. BUT WE COME IN THE MIDDLE WITH HIP HOP AND THAT IS OUR SHARED MUSICAL LANGUAGE. SO OF COURSE WE HAD TO LET THAT BE THE FOREFRONT OF THE SHOW. AND WHAT ARE YOU HEARING FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE SEEING THE SHOW, THE AUDIENCES? HOW ARE THEY REACTING TO THIS? OH, IT'S BEEN THE JOY OF OUR LIVES, TRULY. IT'S A THRILL. SO IT IS LIVE LOOP, MEANING THAT IT IS LAYERED MUSIC MAKING, MEANING THAT NIGEL WILL GO TO A BASS PLUNK A AN AMAZING BASS LICK, AND THEN LET GO OF IT. AND IT WILL CONTINUE TO PLAY. WE RECORD IT. AND SO IT'S ALL KIND OF LAYERED MUSIC MAKING. WE PAY PLAY, I DON'T KNOW, 34IN. THAT'S NOT TRUE. THERE'S SO MANY INSTRUMENTS.
WE CALL IT 34. YEAH. THAT'S WHAT IT FEELS LIKE AT LEAST. YEAH. UM, AND SO WHAT'S REALLY COOL IS THAT PEOPLE ARE COMING NOT ONLY TO LIKE GET A HISTORY LESSON, I SUPPOSE, BUT SEE THEATER, BUT ALSO IT'S KIND OF LIKE A CONCERT. YEAH. IT SOUNDS. LIKE EXPLOSIVE. AND WE PLAY A BUNCH OF INSTRUMENTS AND IT'S, IT'S LIKE MAGIC TRICKS, RIGHT? LIKE WE'RE JUST WHIPPING UP DIFFERENT INSTRUMENTS THAT ARE ALREADY SCATTERED ALL OVER THE STAGE. UM, IT'S KIND OF LIKE THOSE OLD I SPY BOOKS. YOU'RE LIKE, YOU'RE LIKE, WHERE, WHERE'S THE ACCORDION? WHERE IS THE, YOU KNOW, THE RIGHT, THE TRUMPET. UM, AND SO IT'S, IT'S A JOY FOR US TO, TO MAKE EVERY SINGLE NIGHT.
WELL, SPEAKING OF THE WORD JOY, I JUST DO WANT TO GO BACK TO SOMETHING THAT YOU SAID BECAUSE YOU WERE LIKE ALL THE DANCING AND LIKE, THAT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE A FARMER AND AN ENSLAVED MAN. UM, WE TRY TO APPROACH THIS WITH JOY. LIKE, THIS IS A VERY HARD SUBJECT TO TALK ABOUT. IT IS A LOT OF TRAUMA. LIKE I JUST DID MY A LOT OF ANCESTRY STUFF. LIKE MY FAMILY HAS BEEN IN THE SAME TOWN IN NORTH CAROLINA FOR LIKE AT LEAST 250 YEARS FROM ENSLAVED TO SHARECROPPING TO WHERE WE ARE NOW. SO LIKE WE'RE DEALING WITH THIS REALLY HEAVY SUBJECT MATTER. BUT I THINK THE ONLY WAY THAT WE CAN SUCCESSFULLY GET THROUGH IT IS TO DANCE IS TO SHAKE A LITTLE. BUT YEAH.
GET A LITTLE FUN. YOU KNOW, IT'S TRUE THOUGH, AND LIKE ACTUALLY HAVE FUN BECAUSE THAT IS THE MOST LIBERATING THING WE CAN POSSIBLY. TWERKING, TWERKING, LIBERATION. IS LIBERATION. ARE WE GOING TO SEE THAT IN THE SHOW? MAYBE. WILL YOU. OH MY GOD. OKAY, WELL SEE, YOU MIGHT HAVE JUST SOLD MORE TICKETS NOW. THANK YOU BOTH FOR JOINING US. THANK YOU. FOR HAVING ME. APPRECIATE IT AGAIN. EXODUS IS NOW PLAYING AT THE PASADENA PLAYHOUSE THROUGH AUGUST 2nd, AND YOU CAN
