This week we speak with triple threat star and Tony nominee **Ariana DeBose** who is currently one of the three stars of *Summer: The Donna Summer Musical* on Broadway. We discuss the intense vocal preparation in becoming The Queen of Disco, why the show cast women in male roles, equal pay, pansexuality, and Hispanic identity on Broadway.
## Zetna Fuentes: Latina TV Director
Then I chat with **Zetna Fuentes**, a Latina TV director who has directed some of the biggest shows currently on television—Marvel’s *Jessica Jones*, NBC’s *This Is Us*, ABC’s *Scandal*, and Amazon’s *BOSCH* to mention just a few. We discuss why there are so few Latina directors in TV and film and what can be done to fix it, plus, how she uses her Hispanic heritage to influence her TV work.
## 2026 Update
In 2022, **Ariana DeBose** made history by winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s *West Side Story*, becoming the first Afro-Latina and openly queer woman of color to win an acting Oscar. In 2025, she starred as Calypso in the Marvel film *Kraven the Hunter*. Most recently, she began starring in the Amazon Prime series *Scarpetta* alongside Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis, and she led the 2025–2026 Off-Broadway revival of *The Baker’s Wife*. Director **Zetna Fuentes** has since directed episodes of Netflix’s *Cursed* and *The Gilded Age* on HBO.
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**Related:**
– [More Episodes of Highly Relevant with Jack Rico](https://showbizcafe.com/category/podcast/)
