Interview: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Star VINCENT RODRIGUEZ III Brings His Magic to Joe's Pub
On 10/28 at 9:30 pm, the actor will take the stage for song, dance, and a little bit of magic
This Monday October 28th at 9:30 pm, DMH Mendoza Productions presents Vincent Rodriguez III (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, With Love, Christmas on Cherry Lane), for an intimate cabaret evening in New York City packed with songs, dance, stories, and a bit of magic! The star, who played lovable Josh Chan in the CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, shared a little bit about the upcoming concert, how excited he is to be back at Joe’s Pub, and what’s coming up next for him. Read our conversation below.
What are you most looking forward to about your upcoming show at Joe's Pub?
What I’m looking most forward to about my upcoming show with Joe’s pub is the fact I’m back where my hopes and dreams started… New York City! Spending the first 11 years of my adult life pursuing a career in musical theatre plus my recent 9 years in LA doing TV, film and voice-over has helped shape me into the performer and person I am today. I feel particularly honored to be back at The Public Theater after having been in the second year run of Here Lies Love, getting to be the understudy for the leading men of the show and a partial swing for the male ensemble. And funny enough, getting to do my cabaret show at Joe’s Pub a few hundred feet away from The Public Theatre where backstage during the 15 minutes of Here Lies Love, I got the phone call that I booked the starring role of Josh Chan in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. It feels like a musical theater kid’s dream come true.
What types of music are you planning to include in the setlist? Is there anything in particular you're excited about singing?
The setlist for my show includes, of course, some of my favorite Broadway tunes, as well as songs and dances I got to help create and co-choreograph on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Rachel Bloom, our star/co-creator/head of our music writing team, made sure that like in a musical, all the songs we did (over 150) were character-driven and pushed the plot forward.
I fell in love with so many songs on the show to the point where I can never pick just one as a favorite. But there is one in my show from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend that I’d never get to sing. Which is one of the many reasons why I’m including it in my show.
Is there a message that you hope audiences will take away from your show?
I hope the audience feels a connection to not only me, but to this show, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, that really changed my life in positive ways I never expected and opened me up to being more curious about my mental health and having more compassion and understanding of others. This evening is about a bunch of strangers coming together to get lost in some of the most joyful forms of entertainment… Musicals, magic & storytelling. Up until now I’ve never been brave enough to do a solo show and deliver these things to an audience on my own so I’m particularly excited for this opportunity.
What have you been filling your time with lately?
Lately I’ve been filling my time a lot of training as an actor, dancer and singer, taking one to two lessons a week in each discipline, aside from my multiple morning weight training, teaching and mentoring, both private lessons and at studios in and outside of LA.
Aside from auditioning for what auditions I’m able to get during a very big lull in the TV/Film industry, I find myself being an active passionate educator, speaker, mentor and student of neurodiversity.
Besides this upcoming Joe's Pub concert, what other projects or shows are you working on right now?
Three days after my solo cabaret debut at Joe’s Pub, I’ll be in playing a lead role in a new musical presentation of Salem the Musical on Halloween night, October 31 at Green Room 42. I hope to see more familiar faces in that audience for such a fun, catchy and comedic story about the witches of Salem. I’ll also be appearing in “Seasons Greetings on Cherry Lane,” one of three sequels for a Hallmark movie I starred in last year called “Christmas On Cherry Lane” opposite Jonathan Bennet.
After that I’ll be doing more cabaret performances and teaching performing arts workshops in Las Vegas & San Francisco along with plans in the first month of 2025 to perform internationally, as well as in Los Angeles.
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
During my 11 years in NYC pursuing a career on Broadway, I feel fortunate that I got to work with so many of my heroes who created and performed in my favorite shows. I would listen to and watch these performances on the Tony Awards as a young actor, which inspired me to be in this business. The last 9 years living in LA after starring as Josh Chan in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, I find myself gravitating towards getting back to my roots of performing live, except now, instead of being part of an ensemble cast (which I prefer and just love so much), I’m finally for the first time stepping onstage alone to tell my own stories, sing songs and do dances that changed my life and share my love, appreciation and skills as a magician of 30 years.
I love connecting with people and performing live gives me the space and freedom to explore that with my fans, colleagues and fellow artists. It’s like I’m coming out all over again, and I’m having a blast.
Tickets to see Vincent Rodriguez III at Joe’s Pub are available here.
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