Why is it so important to be telling this story right now with this company?

You know, I think this is a play about communication.

I think we're living in a time where people that don't agree aren't talking to each other.

This is a play about people in a family that don't always agree, but they're desperately trying to communicate.

And I think there's something to that that feels quite relevant.

And to have some folks who are so known for their screen work making their Broadway debuts in such a powerful show, what has it been like working together?

it's been a joy I mean these are folks that have been doing theater in other places they just haven't done it on these particular blocks in New York City so their chops are real and to see them you know fit in as seamlessly as they have with Jin and Kara and it just it's a wonderful company and it's been a real it's been a real pleasure watching them work

Director and executive producer is Thomas Kail.

Well, you know, by having flesh and blood, by having two people look at each other eye to eye, soul to soul, there's an emotionality that we knew we could access that we were really excited about.

And also, by having Catherine in the m- in the middle of water, it feels different.

That sense of danger and adventure is much more heightened, I think.

And I think that that makes all the payoffs for the, the sort of epicness of the story payoff.

And, and then of course, you know, you wanna be able to release the tension with the comedy, right? Like, so-

Yeah

... there's a lot of hey hey in this movie.

Mm

... to put something in a different order, to have different language, new jokes, new moments throughout.

And I think that the, the film is evidence of that.

And also, a- again, because I come from the theater where revivals are pretty common, and your, your hope, even if you make a play that doesn't, you know, transfer to something, that someone else does it somewhere, right? Like, it, it's going to be interpreted.

It's going to be taken and, and kind of lifted up in that way.

So those early conversations, my first was with Dwayne.

We're just, "How can we honor the culture? How can we celebrate the Polynesian people? How can we take this story and, by putting it and, you know, and standing it up on its feet with flesh and blood, what's gonna, what's gonna come from that?" And so it breathes differently.

Mm.

And now you're working with his score, this Disney magic, and actually making your feature film debut.

You know, the chance to be back with Lin, Lin and I met in 2002, and I was 25 and he was 22, and we just started making stuff in a basement.

So when we were sitting in the village of Montanui, right next to each other with his kid running next to the dolly track.

I mean, you sort of can't believe it.

So those are the things that are indelible.

It feels like you're carving it into something that will be around for a long while.

And we knew we had that opportunity and we didn't want to miss it.

And your Moana is magic.

[laughs]

But eventually it all goes away.

And there was something about this opportunity to make something that was lasting and could endure with this story, with human beings, that really made me sit up straight.

I, I just, I, I was very interested in that idea and the, the notion that we could, you know, have this kind of transposition.

A-again, because I work in the theater, the, the idea of doing a revival where text is the same or, or similar, but the interpretation of it is what allows it to be new and fresh.

It was really...

You know, it's how I grew up.

Mm-hmm.

So I would love to know, with Moana, the live action film, what did you learn and what did you feel that you taught to all of these wonderful people who have worked on the film?

film?I, I learned a lot.

There's a, there's, uh, there's a couple things that c- come to mind.

One is feeling the presence of ancestors everywhere I go-

Oh, yeah.

Every one of those, every one of those artisans made this movie.

And so the, the, the opportunity to celebrate that passion-

Yes

... that we were memorializing the culture.

Starting the movie that way gives you an opportunity to then go to the m- fantastical places and know that you're grounded.

Now, it was 111, so let's call it, I don't know, is that 30, 48, 57 degrees Celsius?

Mm-hmm.

But we weren't ever afraid to, uh, you know, have a different scene, to try this a- approach slightly differently, to have things, you know, that, that, that felt like they were ours.

And the same thing with all the, you know, all of the musical numbers.

You know, I come from the theater where-

Did you have sort of a creative household? Did you put on plays in the living room for the parents? How was it at a young age?

Well, I'm sure I was incredibly aggravating and annoying when growing up.

I'm in the middle of two sisters, which is one of the most defining things about me.

So having two sisters was, A, indicative of these things.

One, I could only watch the movie Grease.

It was the only thing I was allowed to watch.

And two, I grew up in a family where I was playing sports mostly and was obsessed with you know, like listening to like the skins games or, you know, and I wanted to be a sports broadcaster and, you know, John Miller.

Like Leslie Odom Jr., first time or you're like, boom, Aaron Burr?

Thomas, what did you wanna honor about the original play? And what was something that you wanted to change about it for a modern audience?

You know, uh, one of the things that I, uh, adore about the theater is that by doing a work that has existed, you stand shoulder to shoulder and in line with all of the productions that have already existed, and then all that, that will come after you.

And so there's, there's something about being a link in a chain that I found very moving.

Uh, the, you know, the last time the production was done was in the early '90s.

Um, before that it was in the late '70s, and then there was one in the, the '50s.

So...

And then there was the original production in 1921.

Mm-hmm.