At night, I'll do coconut oil or almond oil on my face as a mask to replenish my skin. I've found those are so simple but work better than any other product. Coconut oil is so good, but if you don't want to smell like a cookie, sweet almond oil isn't as pungent.
I find it's nice when I can be a listener and absorb things coming at me. It's important, especially for me, when so much of my job is about putting things out into the world. So those quiet moments are rejuvenating.
My mom always told me to follow my bliss. And I remember specifically with my father, when I was out of school and not knowing how I'd get a job or make money - should I take some classes? What do I do? He said as long as I was working - to enrich myself in some way - that I was on the right path.
I think as a young person, leaving high school or college, you're like, 'All right, all right, enough already.' But now there's a part of me that would like to go back and relish those moments when you could sit down and just... read a book.
I went through a phase when I was watching a lot of foreign films, just itching to get out of the suburbs and explore.
As a woman, it's nice to hear people at the stage door say, 'I didn't even know! She's a woman, and that's the most amazing thing'.
I relate to that idea of not necessarily seeking out 'interesting female roles,' but 'this character, this role, who happens to be a woman, is interesting to me, and I relate to it in some way, so I'm just gonna go with my gut and see where it leads me.'
'Hamilton' just asks us all to go a little bit deeper: whether you're a hip-hop fan seeing musical theater for the first time, or if you were thinking you were gonna see some reprise of 1776, and now it's this? And you're thinking, 'Wait a minute, these people aren't white!' It asks you just take a step and go a little deeper.
There is a certain vulnerability to creating art and putting it out in the world for the first time, but again, there's a kind of thrill to that as well.
You are carving out a story. You and your colleagues are trying to make something that is bigger than yourself. Although it can be a scary experience because you're putting your work out on the line, it's also incredibly rewarding because a lot of it comes from you.
I came to New York for school, and then I did this amazing show that was received very well, with a great group of people, and I felt like I was creating something that I was really proud of, and then 'Hamilton' was my next big thing in New York.
I would put on shows for my family.
I decided one day to put on my tutu and jump on the coffee table and sing Aretha Franklin songs for the painters that were painting the house.
There was a saying going around the theatre: It's a train, and you can jump on at any point whether you're a lover of musical theatre or a lover of theatre or a lover of hip-hop or a lover of history - there was a way to jump on the train.
I feel like 'Amelie' is very much an extension of me. She's a contemporary woman who sees the world through her imagination.
You're able to get into somebody's brain through song.
I like that Amelie is strange, just like me. I'm happy I've gotten to be on this journey following my 'Hamilton' journey because they're so different.
I hope they're reminded that joy is very easy to access if you just put down your phone, look at another person, and make a human connection. You'll find a new experience that you wouldn't have had otherwise.