A pair of high heels and jumping over Jesse L. Martin’s head helped win Wilson Jermaine Heredia the Tony for playing Angel in Rent. His journey with the show started Off-Broadway and led him to eventually starring in the film version. He gives Behind the Awards a deep dive into the creation of this iconic show. Who would have thought this Tony winner would have to be convinced to even audition for this show?!

We also discuss a medical emergency at a performance of The Outsiders, as well as the show's chances of getting a Tony nomination for Best Musical. 

Also included is a throwback to Elaine’s Stritch’s Emmy win in 2004 for Elaine Stritch at Liberty.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Wilson J Heredia was always surrounded by music. His mother was a seamstress and his father was a super. But they were both very musical. He studied medicine, and thought about advertising, but he realized he had to express himself, so he got into acting. He worked at a railway station in NY before he auditioned for the musical, RENT. He said he needed the $300 a week. Unbeknownst to him, his stint with the hit-musical would bring him popularity as a singer, dancer and actor, fans from all over the world and both the 1996 Tony award and Drama Desk award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. He has appeared in several films, including his portrayal of Cha-Cha, the drag queen, in 1999's Flawless, where he worked opposite former Rent castmate Daphne Rubin-Vega. The film also stars Robert De Niro and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Heredia also appeared in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode “Nocturne".

Along with five other principal members of the original Broadway cast, Heredia appeared in the film release of Rent, directed by Chris Columbus.

On January 9, 2006, he presented an a\ward at the Critics' Choice Awards with Rosario Dawson, Taye Diggs, and Tracie Thoms, his costars from the Rent motion picture. He appeared along with Dawson and Thoms on the 2007 film Descent, playing the character of Diego. Heredia has also guest starred on Medium and Without a Trace, and in 2009 he filmed a pilot called Three Chris’s. He made his return to Broadway in La Cage aux Folles on February 15, 2011, in the role of Jacob (replacing Robin de Jesús). He starred alongside Harvey Fierstein (who won a Tony Award for writing the Book of the musical) as Albin/Zaza and Broadway veteran Christopher Sieber as Georges. As of 2013, Heredia lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. He starred in San Francisco Playhouse's production of Camelot, as Sir Lancelot, and Berkeley Playhouse's production of A Little Princess as Pasko. He made an appearance in the 2021 film Tick, Tick ...BOOM!, which was based on the musical of the same name by Rent creator Jonathan Larson. In 2022, Heredia was cast as the lead in Syracuse Stage's world premiere of the musical How to Dance in Ohio, based on the award winning documentary of the same name by Alexandra Shiva.

Make sure to check out Eila's book, "The Tony Awards", and all her other amazing books: https://amzn.to/43WMu5Y.

Connect with Eila and Bruce:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices