California

[Distant dog barking] [Shoes tapping] ♪ Dulé Hill: California... Man: ♪ Dare ♪ [Tapping continues] ♪ To do what you want to do... ♪ Hill: a place where people come to expand themselves... Man: ♪ Do what you want to do, do, do... ♪ Hill: reach further, reach higher... Man: ♪ Dare ♪ Hill: and when they get here, they realize they can rewrite their story.

Woman, voice-over: I want people to see the world is still ours.

It's not just the young people's.

Hill: But it's not just their story.

It's the story of an entire community.

Man 2: This music isn't just for the cis straight man.

Hill: Really has nothing to do with what somebody else said you were, who somebody else said you were, who they say you're supposed to be.

Hill: When you get here, you get to say, "This is who I am."

Man: ♪ Dare ♪ Hill: I'm Dulé Hill.

As a lifelong dancer, actor, and singer, the arts are what drive me.

Art builds bridges.

Art creates change.

Art is powerful.

Man: ♪ Dare ♪ [Shoes tapping] [Birds chirping] ♪ Woman: Hey.

♪ Hill: I'm in an area they call the Fairfax District.

I'm getting ready to meet a phenomenal dancer, a gifted artist by the name of Shaheem Sanchez.

I first got hip to Shaheem through his amazing TikTok videos.

♪ Shaheem is also an actor, appearing in the Oscar-nominated "Sound of Metal," and a choreographer and an activist fighting for the inclusion of deaf and disabled people.

As a lifelong dancer, I'm curious to know how Shaheem connects to the music that he can't hear.

♪ Shaheem Sanchez.

What's up?

All is well, man.

You know, at some point, we gonna have to dance.

You see?

You see?

Oh... Ha ha ha!

Oh, man, it's wonderful to meet you.

Yeah.

You started dancing at what age?

11.

OK. How did you find...dance?

OK.

Loud.

Hey!

[Hip-hop music blaring] ♪ ♪ [Music muffled] ♪ Woman: Shaheem lost his hearing at 4 years old because of the bad nerve.

Was kinda hard when we knew because he didn't know sign language, of course, not yet.

We had to write things down just so he can understand what I was saying.

Hunter, voice-over: But he always danced.

He'd be like, "I want to be a famous dancer."

♪ ♪ [Cheering and applause] ♪ Hill: Can you walk me through how you explore music?

Mm-hmm.

Hill: Say, like on the speaker right there.

OK. Uh-huh.

♪ I want to learn how you do it.

Yes.

Yeah, how you do it.

Yeah.

OK. Mm-hmm...

Right.

[Distant siren] [Distant car horn honking] ♪ Hunter, voice-over: Shaheem was a class clown.

He was always dancing at school.

"Oh, Shaheem, he's always dancing on the corner.

Shaheem gets on my nerves.

He's always dancing in class."

He wanted to connect, and he wasn't gonna give up.

♪ ♪ ♪ Hunter, voice-over: He learned sign language in two months.

You know he was gonna learn it quick because he was determined to.

He wanted to know what was going on.

♪ ♪ Singer: ♪ Whoo!

♪ [Shoes tapping] Hill, voice-over: Dance exudes joy.

Singer: ♪ Whoo!

♪ Hill, voice-over: If you walk into dance in pain, if you walk into dance in hurt, you exit out on the other side in euphoria, in delight, in joy, but what happens when the world tells you that you should stop dancing, that your time has passed?

♪ [Gulls squawking] ♪ [Lighter ignites] ♪ Woman, voice-over: The first time that I stepped on stage to be a dancer at the Forbidden City, I was really nervous, but also very happy because this was something I always dreamed about.

And, being only 17, I was underage, so they snuck me behind the bar to go up to the dressing room.

The glamor swept me away.

I just loved the colorful costumes and music.

I just loved everything about it...

and...I would do it all over again.

You're still doing it.

♪ Hill: San Francisco, Chinatown, one of the great historical Chinatowns here in this country.

I'm getting ready to meet Cynthia Yee, aka Empress Yee, and Clara Hsu of the Grant Avenue Follies.

The Follies are a magnificent cabaret troupe that's out to encourage other seniors to live their third act to the fullest.

They dance, sing, recite poetry, even rap, all while preserving the rich culture of Chinatown.

Yee: ♪ They called us Grant Avenue Follies ♪ ♪ We are precious as the S.F.

trolleys... ♪ [Trolley bell ringing] [Knock on door] Yee on recording: ♪ They called us ♪ ♪ Grant Avenue Follies... ♪ Dulé!

Hello, Empress Yee.

Welcome.

Welcome.

How are you?

Ha ha!

I'm well.

I'm well.

Thank you so much for having me.

Thank you.

Come on in.

Yes!

I want to offer you a cup of tea.

Hill: Oh, I will love it.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Jasmine tea, and we're gonna offer the tea to the gods.

All right.

We have a house altar, and so we put 3 cups of tea.

This is the god that protects all the performers... Ah.

so I always light incense to this god.

It's called Guan Gong.

Well, if you can help me out, I'd appreciate it.

Heh!

Ha ha!

That's right.

You know, we performers, we always need help.

Ha ha ha!

Ha ha ha!

And I've been doing it for many, many years.

Many years?

I have no complaint.

Ha ha ha!

This one, my first promo shot... Mm.

when I was a dancer at the Chinese Sky Room.

I know they had the different clubs, but was the Sky Room really a place where most of the performers went through?

Most of the performers were either at the Chinese Sky Room... Mm-hmm?

or the Forbidden City.

[Piano playing] Yee: The Chinatown nightclubs were very, very popular during the forties, fifties, and sixties.

During World War II, San Francisco was a place where all the soldiers would stop before going overseas.

Chinatown became known that it was a place to see beautiful women and have a good time.

[Drum roll] [Swing music playing] Yee: We lived in the same building with the dance team of Toy & Wing, and they were known as the Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire of Chinatown.

I was 10 years old, and I was always playing in the lobby, and I used to see Dorothy Toy run up and down the steps with her makeup kit and luggage because she was traveling the world at that time, and I said, "Wow, that's so glamorous.

I want to do something like that when I grow up."

And at the age of 17, right after high school graduation, Dorothy explained that she needed a dancer to go on the road for a couple of months... [Hsu chuckles] so I got a job.

Yee: Here I am, 17 years old.

Oh, wow.

So this is when you were going on tour.

Yes.

We had so much fun.

We were very, very popular up in Quebec City and Montreal.

Your mind must have been blown to have been in Chinatown for 17 years... Uh-huh, yes.

and now you're traveling all over the place.

The world.

Oh, yes.

Yes, mm-hmm.

See, this is only a sliver of this whole story.

Right, right.

So, Grant Avenue Follies, here we come.

♪ Hello, hello, hello.

Yee: Hi!

How are you?

Hsu: Hi!

Hello.

How we doing?

Yes.

Clara Hsu, very nice to meet you.

Clara.

Very nice to meet you.

Empress, how are you?

[Both laugh] Thank you.

Fine.

Heh heh!

This place is phenomenal.

Hsu: This is our theater.

Come on in.

Oh, yeah.

Both: Yes.

How did Grant Avenue's come to life?

In the year 2003... Mm-hmm.

I was the president of a nonprofit organization... OK. and they asked me to put on a performance for their gala.

I had the gals dress up in fishnet stockings and feather headdresses, and out we came, and everyone just... Heh!

They dropped their chopsticks.

Ha ha!

That's right.

Ha ha ha!

We had a standing ovation.

And started to grow from there.

Yee: Yes, yes.

Ha ha ha!

We know where the fun is.

You have a show tonight.

Yee: Yes.

So what is the story that you're going to be saying?

The inspiration was the birthday of the first Miss Chinatown in San Francisco.

Yee: Her name is Penny Wong.

She had a cardboard crown, and so I said we should give her a brand-new crystal crown... Hill: Mm-hmm.

so this is a sort of whodunit 'cause we're looking for a missing crown in the play.

Ah!

And it was written by Clara, and-- But you're the star.

Who's the star?

You.

Hill and Yee: Ha ha ha!

You're gonna be right here in the stage center.

Hill: Ha ha ha ha!

Oh, OK. [All laugh] I would love to meet the rest of the Follies.

OK. OK, let's do it.

Heh!

Hsu: OK.

There you are.

Hill: Hey!

Yee: Ah!

[Laughter] Hey!

Ha ha ha!

Hello, hello, hello.

It's so wonderful to meet all of you beautiful ladies.

This is phenomenal.

Ha ha ha!

It is a joy to be in your presence.

Woman: This is the time of our lives.

All right, now.

Come on, now.

Yee: Come on out, ladies.

Let's go onto the stage.

♪ Hill: And some of y'all are tap dancers, right?

Hsu: She's a tapper.

Well, then you have to come out here, and then we're gonna do a little something, OK, OK?

So I'm gonna do something, then you do something, OK?

See-Tho: Oh, dear.

All right?

♪ [All cheering] ♪ [Laughter] ♪ That's what I heard.

OK, hey, well, I'll look forward to it.

Did you bring your shoes?

I always have my shoes.

All: Oh!

so now, you see-- Hsu: I wrote the play because I want people to see this group of women who are very vibrant, just full of energy.

Hey, come on now.

Ha ha!

Woman: Do you like that?

I did.

Yes.

I did.

Yes.

Ha ha ha ha!

Hsu: A lot of the times, when someone has retired, they don't know what to do with themselves.

Suddenly, there's no office to go to.

There's nothing to do.

You lose purpose, and then, when you do that, a lot of people get into depression, but you are still here.

[Singing in Cantonese] Yee, voice-over: It's time that you enjoy yourself, learn something.

Hsu: Try to find new friends.

Follies: ♪ We do the Glammas Wrap ♪ Hsu: I feel that it saved lives.

[Women singing in Cantonese] Hsu: When I was 44 years old, my marriage was very difficult.

One night, I couldn't sleep.

I got up, and I started writing.

I don't even remember what I wrote, but the next morning when I woke up, I saw something that looked like a poem, and what I realized, I didn't have a voice to tell you who I am.

♪ I grew up in a traditional environment in Hong Kong.

When your environment is restricted, your mind is also restricted.

You don't even know what freedom is.

My dad said, "Play the piano," I play the piano.

Someone said, "Sing," I sing.

And by writing it out, then it give me a chance to look for that voice.

But there was nobody to do it with until I met the Follies, and then suddenly, the world opened.

♪ Waxing moon in a greasy wok simmers over black coal.

Fertility blessings, reddened walls in chamber of draped bed.

Tighten the bindings on your breast, your feet.

Ignore the winds, the fluttering of wings.

In a thousand days, you will become a proper woman.

Come, sisters.

Strike your drums.

Over waves we glide, skip a frenzied dance on freezing water.

Rush as your rains splatter on rice paper sky.

Spill stardust.

Stir dreams.

Lilt with winking fireflies.

Emerge from silver light... aglow.

♪ Hill, voice-over: Oftentimes, we get complacent in the status quo of life, saying, "This is what it is."

To stay true to who you are, to create space for yourself and for others, it takes so much courage.

Every day can feel like a battle, but every day, you're changing the world.

♪ [Car engine starts] ♪ Man: Hey, guys.

♪ ¿Qué tal?

Buenas tardes.

Mariachi music is empowering to me.

I've been hearing it since before I was born.

That means my grandfather was a mariachi, and I've been singing it since I was a little boy.

My father taught me to sing when I was 6 years old, and I started singing publicly at that time.

But I never felt that I was... allowed to be 100% authentic, like I was posing or faking it, and so I started Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Angeles.

[Mariachi music playing] Hill, voice-over: I'm here in East Hollywood, getting ready to go to Club Tempo.

Now, from my understanding, Club Tempo is a gay Latin cowboy club.

Singer: Whoa!

Ha ha!

Hill: I've been to a gay club, I've been to a Latin club, and I've even been to a cowboy club.

What I've not done is been to a place that is all 3 in one.

Mariachis: ♪ Son sus colores que resaltan nuestros cielos ♪ Hill: I'm here to meet Carlos Samaniego, who is the founder of the first LGBTQ+ mariachi group named Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Angeles.

Mariachis: ♪ Que llevo en el corazón ♪ [Whooping] Samaniego: ¡Muchas gracias!

Somos el mariachi Arcoíris de los Angeles.

Thank you so much.

Muchas gracias, que Dios los bendiga.

Thank you very much.

[Cheering and applause] [Distant music playing] ♪ Samaniego: Hello.

Hi.

Carlos Samaniego.

What's happening, man?

Ha ha!

Dulé.

Very nice to meet you, brother.

Likewise.

Oh, you all were fabulous out there...

Thank you.

seriously and truly.

Really digging the musicality of what you all were doing.

Thank you so much for saying that because it's what I strive for.

Right.

You know, I created this group 'cause I was sick of the bullying and the homophobia and all that crap that I have had to endure while performing mariachi professionally.

But I knew that in starting this group, there may be haters or whatever, but it's the professionalism, the musicality that we're gonna use to shut them up.

That's right.

[Chuckles] And to show them that we're just as professional as anybody else can be and sometimes even more.

♪ Samaniego: Mariachi comes from the people from the State of Jalisco, and these are people who worked on the lands of the rich European owners.

This music came from the need to be happy, but this genre of music is supposed to be only sung and performed by men-- oh, and not only just men, but cis straight men.

And with that comes this machista umbrella, English equivalent being, you know, toxic masculinity.

Those are the things that we are definitely fighting against in creating this group.

The paradox is, we're playing and representing a tradition... ♪ but at the same time, we are breaking with the tradition.

♪ How do I help preserve this tradition, but also, how do I combat this tradition?

Because there are some things that need to change in order for us to be able to lead happy lives.

Mariachis: ¡Viva México!

[Cheering and applause] Samaniego: Thank you.

[Cheering fades] [Birds chirping] [Doorbell rings, mariachi music playing] Hill, voice-over: Preserving a tradition, while also breaking with it... [Cheering and applause] how does Carlos grapple with that paradox?

[Door opens] Hill: How you doing, sir?

I'm good.

Dulé's my name.

I'm Victor.

Victor, nice to meet you.

Hill, voice-over: This is Carlos' husband Victor... Carlos: How are you?

Good to see you.

Hill, voice-over: and right-hand woman Natalia...

Very nice to meet you.

Blessings, too, yeah.

...the first openly trans woman in professional mariachi.

♪ Hill: You and Carlos go way back.

Decades.

Heh heh!

Decades.

Being musicians, playing in a mariachi group, that's how we met.

Carlos: I have a picture I can show him.

Is that OK?

Yeah.

Carlos: I was a little, chunky monkey, and Natalia was boobless.

[Both laugh] Melendez: I'd like to see this picture.

Carlos: You know this picture.

Hill: Oh, wow.

Yeah.

Melendez: We look like two brown brothers.

Ha ha ha!

Hill: Can you see?

Carlos: Natalia and I met when we were teenagers because we were in the same youth mariachi at the time.

I remember that first rehearsal, meeting Natalia.

I don't think I had been exposed to a boy that was so...feminine, but also, like, owning it.

Ha ha ha!

Melendez: ♪ Vivan sus hembras de temple ♪ ♪ Y sus muxes de valor ♪ Mariachis: ♪ Vivan sus hembras de temple ♪ ♪ Y sus muxes de valor ♪ Melendez: [Whoops] Melendez: I knew Carlos was gay.

He was very closeted.

He wasn't secure with himself.

That's not having anything to do with the music, but playing the music is what kind of brought us together... and we kind of just grew on each other and we have this love for one another, and I helped him little by little, he helped me, and Carlos is like my brother from another world.

This guy's special for me.

Mariachis: ♪ De valor, Ay, ay, ay ♪ ♪ Melendez, voice-over: I always knew I was a trans person.

I didn't know what the title was back then.

I just knew I was a girl.

I started my transition medically in my...20s.

♪ There was so much excitement, made me feel like, "Ah, natural," like if I had a load took off of my chest, but I come from a really hardcore Hispanic family, and they were not on board with that.

My mother and my sister, they were telling me, "You know, your father's dying, and you need to go see him before he dies," but I had already transitioned.

He didn't know his daughter.

I didn't have a relationship with my father.

He left my mother at a very young age, so when he was in the hospital, I showed up, and he was in shock, but he didn't shoo me away, so God blessed me with some time with him.

One of the last things that he was telling me was, um-- Heh.

He goes like this 'cause he was in his bed, and he tells me, "Mija, don't tell your sisters this, but you're my prettiest daughter."

[Voice shaking] And that always stayed with me, and I said, "Thank you, Dad," because, you know, he didn't accept me at one time, but, um, that's just wonderful, you know?

I am prettier than my other sisters.

I know that.

Ha ha ha!

Well, like, as the years went on and I started professionally playing, I wasn't freelancing too much, being who I am.

There was discrimination, laughing... talking.

It was too much.

You formed Mariachi Arcoiris to really have a safe haven... Carlos: Mm-hmm.

Hill: so what were some of the things that were going on before that really brought it to the forefront, to say, "You know what, enough is enough"?

Carlos: When I started to work with other professional groups and I started getting bullied by other musicians.

Right.

"You're gay, you're not a real mariachi musician."

Hill: Mm.

You know, "You're not man enough, literally, to play this music."

Closed-minded men.

Carlos: It piles up.

You know, all of these negative experiences pile up over the years, and I don't want to be in an environment that's unhealthy and that I'm being bullied.

"I'm going to do Mariachi Arcoiris "because I need this safe space, and there are other people who need it as well."

We're the first LGBTQ+ mariachi to exist and to be... open about that fact, and so, there wasn't... you know, an example for us to say, "Oh, "there's that queer mariachi musician that I want to be just like"... Hill: Right.

Carlos: that I feel I find power in that person.

There wasn't that for us.

We're that example for other people, and so I reached out to Natalia and I said, "I'm gonna make Mariachi Arcoiris," and she's like, "Let's do it."

I told her, "I'm gonna make you sing a lot more than you used to.

"You're gonna get a lot of the spotlight, "and it has to be that way because you will set a path for other people."

Have you met another trans woman who's in the mariachi music?

Melendez: Yeah.

Some musicians that have been in our group... Mm.

started their transition.

That's beautiful, like, "You can do it.

"If I helped you to get there, good.

"You're gonna pass that torch on to the next person"... Hill: That's right.

"and to the next person.

That's the way it has to go.

It's the way it has to be."

[Railroad crossing bell ringing] [Gulls squawking] Hsu: That is so good.

[Indistinct conversation] Yum.

Ooh.

Yee: Our favorite.

Hill: Now, this is what I'm talking about 'cause I love to eat, you know?

They call me the hungry belly.

What does this place mean to you all?

Yee: Our first performance was upstairs.

Really?

Hsu: Yes.

Yes, and the restaurant is over a hundred years old.

How long have you all been coming here?

Have you been coming here since you were-- For the whole hundred years.

Oh, yeah?

[Laughter] Hill: Oh, that's funny.

Eating all this delicious food, which I love, it reminds me of this mural that I saw.

It said, "Love our people like you love our food."

Yee: Oh.

Hmm.

I can definitely relate to that, the break between loving certain parts of our culture, but not loving us.

Hsu: Yeah.

It's a great point.

OK, you love chow mein... Hill: Mm-hmm.

and yet, you look down upon us.

Right.

See-Tho: People should see us as people, not just good cooks.

Mm-hmm.

There's more to us than our food.

Can't help but equate that to all of the violence and hate that has been focused towards AAPI people.

Yee, voice-over: 3 years ago, COVID hit, and then there was a lot of assault on Asian people... Woman: ...as a wave of Asian American hate crimes are sweeping America.

Yee: so I said to Clara, "Let's create a number."

♪ Hsu: I said, "How do we reach the young people?"

and then I said, "Well, everybody likes rap," but I've never written a rap before, but then that night, the lyrics was in my mind.

Yee: So we were born as rappers.

["Gai Mou Sou Rap" playing] ♪ [Rapping in Cantonese] Hsu, voice-over: In Chinese culture, everybody knows what the gai mou sou is, the chicken feather duster.

[Singing in Cantonese] Hsu, voice-over: Most parents have used this as an instrument of authority to punish kids who are misbehaving.

Hsu: ♪ Drop the violence, drop the hate ♪ ♪ Be smart and cool, don't take the bait ♪ I didn't even like rap.

Ha ha!

I didn't even know what it is, so I went on YouTube.

I go, "How to write a rap"... [Both laugh] and it went viral.

Steve Harvey: Please welcome the Grant Avenue Follies.

All right.

That's it.

Hsu, voice-over: We were at Steve Harvey's show.

Harvey: Where did all this sexiness come from, though?

That's what I want to know.

I see you.

Got your lashes on and everything.

Yee: How many grandmas do you know that rap?

♪ Who's the virus that perpetuate the hate?

♪ ♪ His mouthpiece is warped, and his tongue is forked ♪ ♪ When you listen long enough, he'll make you hork ♪ ♪ Would you rather be a dork, or would you balk?

♪ Follies: ♪ Da da da, da da da ♪ [Insects trilling] Carlos: All right, folks.

Winnie, can I get the A, please?

[Tuning] Carlos, voice-over: A few months back, Lincoln Center said, "We'd like to have you perform during our summer series."

Of course, jumped at the idea.

It's Lincoln Center.

"Um, anything."

All right, so we're gonna do "Ella," folks.

♪ And 1, 2, 3, 1... ♪ Carlos, voice-over: So here's our chance to introduce this audience to beautiful mariachi music, but a lot of the music resembles this machista mentality, so there's a song called "Ella," which is "her" or "she."

The singer, he's lamenting how she's not reciprocating his love and how he's burying his sorrow in liquor.

That song, it really has to talk about the love of a woman.

How am I gonna do it, like, still giving the audience what they want, but I want to make sure that the group express ourselves authentically?

Well, I'm gonna have one of lesbian women in the group sing it.

She's going to be able to talk about the love for another woman.

Woman: ♪ Y brindé con ella ♪ ♪ No podría despreciarme ♪ Carlos: That's how we keep it authentic.

Ah.

Sorry.

Sorry, sorry.

[Music stops] We have to wait a little bit longer, right, so... ♪ Bum ba da dum ba da da, ba da ba ba... ♪ Carlos, voice-over: Art has historically been a method to change society.

Through music, they change the views of the people who are listening.

♪ ...1, 1, 2, 3, 1 ♪ We have that power, and it's how we can get our message across.

♪ [Birds chirping] ♪ Where are we going?

OK. [Chuckling] Oh, yeah.

Heh.

What's up?

Hey, hey!

Ha ha ha!

Hello.

It's so nice to meet you all.

How do you all know each other?

Woman: I'm the founder of Infinite Flow.

I guess I brought everyone together.

We're a dance company that employs disabled and nondisabled dancers.

Our mission is to create a more inclusive world, and we're just here to say, "Hey, like, everyone can dance."

Hill: What was the impetus to start Infinite Flow?

Hamamoto: I'm a stroke survivor, so at one point in my life, I was paralyzed from the neck down... Hill: Mm.

but I also grew up aspiring to be a dancer.

We know that dance is a universal language that belongs to everyone, yet society thinks that dancers have to be a certain way, and out of all types of people, disabled people are the most stigmatized... Hill: Right.

when it comes to dance, and I just didn't think that was right.

Right.

We think our disabilities actually make us capable and more of who we're supposed to be in this world, and I think that's a beautiful thing, so we celebrate that.

Right.

Hamamoto: And that's why one of our favorite projects is performing at elementary schools, 'cause we believe that if we can educate kids from a young age... Hill: Yes.

Hamamoto: kids would grow up in a very different way.

Shaheem played a very integral part in our youth programs.

Hunter: Shaheem was on a teaching mission.

Hunter: He's teaching a lot of deaf people.

Sanchez: One...

Girl: Shaheem is, like, a really good dancer.

I like the way he moves.

I was looking through his Instagram, and I just liked how he was very confident, and he looks like a role model to me.

Hunter: He's teaching sign language with choreography, putting the words to the song with his hand.

It's making people want to-- even us hearing people, we want to learn that because it's a different style of dance.

Hill: It seems like you are using your gifts to rewrite the story, to take away the stigma that is there and say, "This is really who we are," really normalizing what, to many folks, has seemed abnormal.

Hamamoto: You want to be my spokesperson?

Ha ha!

[Laughter] Hamamoto: So are we gonna dance, or what?

Hill: Ah, yeah.

OK. By the way, there's pizza, so-- Yes!

Man 2: Wow!

Yes!

Man: Yes!

♪ Hill: Art is a thing where you open up yourself and share what you have inside of you with the world.

[Laughter] You affect the world around you in a positive way, in a joyous way.

That's the beauty of expression.

That is the magnificence of art.

♪ Carlos: Pues, le vas a poner la piedrería, ¿no?

Víctor: Sí.

Carlos: ¿Crees que vas a poder terminar antes-- todo esto antes de que nos vayamos a Nueva York?

Victor: Ah, si no pasa algo extraordinario, sí.

OK.

I remember my mother once saying when I was a little boy that gay people, there's something not quite right mentally, so that's why I always thought, "Well, I can't be gay because I'm pretty sane."

I was about 19, 20 years old.

Came out to my mom.

Her reaction was, "I love you.

I just don't want to talk about it," and at that moment, that was good enough for me.

Oh, and then we both decided at that moment when I came out to her that it was probably best not to tell my dad.

[Bell over door rings] Hello.

My father's very, very conservative, born-again Christian.

The youngest, I'm the boy.

I'm the apple of his eye... ♪ and he taught me the mariachi music.

On one of the trips that we made to Sonora, which is where my dad's from, we bought this cheap violin, which, for me, was like... a gift from the gods, and I was so happy.

♪ And so I was afraid to let my dad down.

Carlos: ¿Y qué pensaste cuando te toqué el violín?

[Chuckles] Victor: Pues... Yo no sé.

Yo creo que, en ese momento, era como más los nervios de que fueran a llegar tus papás.

Pues a mí me sonó muy bonito.

Carlos, voice-over: Victor and I met in 2000.

It was love at first sight.

I saw him, and that was it.

When Victor and I decided that we're going to get married, I thought, "Well, I probably want my parents there."

Ha ha ha!

I said, "OK, well, I'm gonna call my dad.

"I'm gonna invite him, and I'll-- gonna have to come out to him that way."

I said, "Hey, Dad, uh, you know, "I just wanted to tell you something.

"I'm gonna get married... and I'm gonna get married to a man, and I'd like for you to come."

♪ He said, "Thank you for...letting me know, "and thank you for... allowing me to be a part of this."

♪ Mom: Hola.

Carlos: ¿Cómo están?

Mom: Estamos bien.

¿Y ustedes cómo están?

Carlos: Bien.

They came to our wedding, and they met Victor, and I think at first, there may have been some apprehension, and then they realized that Victor just loves me and we just want to live our lives together, and they more than see that now.

Dad: Orgulloso de que hayas tú independizado tu mariachi con-- con ese nombre de Arcoíris, retando al grupo.

Carlos: ♪ 1, 2, 3 ♪ ♪ Victor and I have been married 12 years now, and they love him so much, so now, when my dad goes to church, the moment that he hears something negative against the LGBTQ community, he and my mother step out, and they look for another church.

♪ Si me preguntan que quién soy ♪ ♪ Yo les diré ♪ ♪ ♪ Que soy criatura nacida de mujer ♪ ♪ ♪ No me pregunten cómo, cuándo, y qué y por qué ♪ ♪ Esa pregunta no me toca responder ♪ ♪ ♪ Si me preguntan si así soy ♪ ♪ ♪ Esa respuesta ♪ ♪ Esa respuesta se las dejo en mi canción ♪ ♪ ♪ Hill: I have black, shiny shoes, patent leathers, and I have purple... Oh.

tap shoes.

Which ones should I wear?

Mm!

I think it would be cool to have purple... All right.

Well, there it is.

That's what I'm wearing tonight.

Heh!

Because we have a lot of-- you know, everybody's all dressed in black.

Be cool.

Ha ha ha!

So we're gonna walk out... Uh-huh.

and we're gonna turn around... Gonna turn around, look at each other slowly, and then start on one.

[Both humming] Yeah, yeah, and that should be the end of the music... Music.

and then we just melt into our...

Both: Poses.

Right.

[Both chuckle] I love it.

We got it.

Do I know any other grandmas as funky as the Grant Avenue Follies grandmas?

I would say no, besides my own mama.

You see, my mama's funky.

Yes, she is.

Yeah.

Love it.

Woman: OK, coming in.

OK.

Here we go.

♪ [Cheering, applause, and whistling] ♪ Yee: But I'd like to welcome you to Chinatown's most intimate performing arts center.

Yee: A lot of my friends, their whole life is devoted to babysitting their grandchildren... [Distant cheering and applause] but they forget about themselves and don't realize that it's time to live a little.

♪ [Jazz music playing] ♪ Yee on recording: ♪ They called us Grant Avenue Follies ♪ ♪ 'Cause we are the ultimate jollies ♪ ♪ We dance, and we sing ♪ ♪ And know how to entertain them ♪ ♪ Dressed to kill with our ♪ ♪ Fatal social skills ♪ ♪ We are Chinatown's original ♪ ♪ Glam Bang Gangsters ♪ ♪ And Glamping Bang Gangsters ♪ ♪ We've been the Glam Bang Gangsters ♪ ♪ [Cheering, applause, and whistling] ♪ Follies: ♪ And with big resound ♪ ♪ We crown our sister ♪ ♪ We crown our friend ♪ ♪ We crown the Queen of San Francisco Chinatown ♪ [Cheering and applause] [Hill chuckles] Yeah.

Yeah.

[Cheering and applause] Hill: Oh, wow, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Ha!

Yee: This is Dulé Hill.

I'm the newest member of the Grant Avenue Follies.

Yes.

Ha ha ha!

I don't think there is another group out there that is doing it like Grant Avenue Follies.

They really are inspiring people to keep on running your race, keep on living life to the fullest.

[Audience laughter and applause] They are maintaining and holding on to this magnificent, beautiful, magical history that exists in these streets.

They're really making sure that that same power carries over into their tomorrow, the tomorrow of those coming after them, and the tomorrow of this community.

Hill: Nice to see you.

I'm with them.

I'm with them, all right?

Hsu: Dulé Hill.

Ha ha ha!

Thank you.

Thank you.

[Distant foghorn blowing] ♪ Carlos, voice-over: I've been doing mariachi for a long time, but for my guys, being brought to New York for the first time and to perform for pride, it's a big deal.

Man: So Brian, Sammi, and I decided to check out Times Square at, like, midnight, Times Square tonight and then Lincoln Center tomorrow.

♪ Carlos: Guys, I've heated up some water if you guys want to make instant coffee.

We are performing at Lincoln Center today.

Man: Are you nervous?

Carlos: I think everyone's excited.

My goal has always been to have the group perform at the highest possible level, and so, for an institution like Lincoln Center to recognize us means a lot.

♪ [Car horns honk] [Cheering, applause, and whistling] ♪ Carlos: We are Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Rainbow Mariachi, and we are the world's first LGBTQ+ mariachi.

[Cheering and applause] Carlos: Muchas gracias.

Thank you so much.

♪ [Carlos whoops] ¡Eso mero!

Mariachis: ♪ Son sus colores que resaltan nuestros cielos ♪ ♪ El arcoíris y el amor pintan el viento ♪ Carlos: Mariachi music is magical, and to fulfill my dream of performing mariachi music at Lincoln Center and having Natalia, who's my right hand, to live these experiences together, it's beyond words.

Melendez: How we doing, New York City?

♪ Mariachis: ♪ Ay ay la la ♪ ♪ Ay la la la la la la ee la la la ♪ ♪ Melendez: ♪ Ay la la la ♪ ♪ Ay la la la la la la la la ♪ I want to say to the musicians in our group, I'm so proud of each and every one of them and to be here in New York City in this moment in time, being a trans woman, to be singing in Lincoln Center.

You know, we were just a small group in Los Angeles that started out with just two of us, Carlos and myself, and it's our baby that has formed and took on its own life force, and it's brought us here to this place.

And it's very emotional.

I have no words.

I'm grateful for everything that has been given to us.

♪ A mi tierra mexicana a mi raza tricolor♪ ♪ Gente hispana Sangre llana ♪ ♪ Pueblo noble de valor y de grande corazón ♪ Hill, voice-over: I believe that anything of value, anything that's worth anything in your life is going to have to cost you something.

Melendez: ♪ Viste su traje de charro ♪ ♪ Enagua de lentejuelas ♪ Hill: Really, when I look at Natalia and I look at Carlos, that's what came to my head.

It's something that you're doing now that matters and is of value, is going to change the world, but it has cost you something.

It's cost you pain, and you've had to really find that fortitude inside of yourself to keep on pressing forward.

It's really inspiring.

Mariachis: ♪ Ay ay ay ♪ Carlos: Muchas gracias.

We are Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Rainbow Mariachi.

[Cheering, applause, and whistling] ♪ Hill: The journey that I've gone on has only reinvigorated my belief of infinite possibilities, the power of the human spirit, and how we can overcome great adversity with great courage, with great persistence.

Do not let somebody else tell you who you are.

Do not let somebody else write your story.

You have the pen, you have the paper to write the story of your life, and until you are finished writing your story, the story is not done.

Carlos: All right, folks.

Here we go.

Hey.

And it's... ♪ Un, dos, tres ♪ ♪ Hill: I can only hope that as I go further along my journey, that I will have that same strength and that same courage, that same boldness... to keep saying, "There's still more to do."

Carlos: ♪ Respuesta ♪ ♪ Esa respuesta se las dejo en mi canción ♪ Hey!

¡Eso!

All right.

Heh!

Carlos: Very good, bruh.

[Tapping rapidly] Man: Hey, bravo.

All right, y'all.

Ha ha ha!

Whoo!

Melendez: Oh, my goodness.

3, 4.

Ah, yeah.

Uh-huh.

1, 2, 3, 4.

[Both tapping] Ah, yeah.

Oh.

5, 6, 7, 8.

1, 2, 3, 4.

5, 6, 7, and 8.

Agh!

[Both laugh]