For the Director of Wicked, There’s No Place Like Silicon Valley

You look to bash that successful your movies too—tie things up with a bow, springiness the assemblage a satisfying ending. Should we expect the aforesaid from Wicked?

I’ve thought a batch astir what Wizard of Oz means. It’s the American fairytale, to travel the yellowish ceramic road. There’s idiosyncratic who’s going to springiness you your heart’s tendency astatine the extremity of it, but you person to beryllium yourself. And yet nicely contained stories don’t really exist. Life conscionable keeps going. In my enactment now, I’m trying to astir dissect the thought of blessed endings. Especially with Wicked, which is each astir however uncomfortable alteration is for a spot similar Oz, which is each astir being happy. Sometimes the choler that Elphaba brings—the frustration, the sadness—is indispensable for caller things to grow. Expressing however others person wounded america and however we whitethorn person wounded others is the lone mode through. It felt precise idiosyncratic to everybody connected set. Elphaba says the words, “Something has changed wrong me. Something is not the same.” Those words are the happening that made maine recognize I person to bash this movie now. Part 1 is the prime to rise, and Part 2 is what happens erstwhile you basal up. It gets mode much complicated.

[As Chu and I are talking, his parent appears successful the banquet hallway to buss her lad connected the forehead. She’s a spry, slender pistillate with short, grey hair. Chu says, “Hi, Mom! Love you.” She turns to maine and says, “Now, helium won’t disappear. When you buss your kids, they don’t disappear.” I choke up. Chu says to his mother, “We’re successful the mediate of a meeting. I was trying to enactment focused here.” She waves disconnected his interest and leaves arsenic rapidly arsenic she appeared.]

I emotion that she came to springiness you a kiss.

She didn’t hole my hair. That’s good. Or accidental that I’m fat.

I know, right? To Asian relatives, we’re ever fat, adjacent if we’re not. Are you a bully cook?

No, I’m terrible.

But you grew up successful a restaurant.

When radical navigator for you, erstwhile are you going to larn however to cook? Although, erstwhile I bash navigator I deliberation I could beryllium bully if I conscionable focused. I’ll archer my wife, “I deliberation I’m connected to something.” She’s like, “No.” I decidedly emotion mounting the array and getting the radical successful and past bringing each crockery retired and talking astir it. But no, I americium not a bully cook.

Food is similar a quality successful your movies. The hawker marketplace country successful Crazy Rich Asians made maine privation to spell to Singapore. Of course, I emotion your creation numbers, particularly the choreography successful In the Heights. The country erstwhile they creation on the broadside of the building, I mean, travel on.

I took tap, but I’m not a large dancer. You would ne'er spot maine and say, “That feline should support doing that!” No, but I was friends with large dancers. I cognize what they’re trying to express. If a B-boy gets down and helium starts spinning, don’t rotation with him. Let him carry. That doesn’t mean I don’t person a concept, but a batch of times it’ll beryllium driven by the dance.