Interview: Javier Muñoz Talks WONDER of American Repertory Theater's New Musical

Javier Muñoz has starred in the Broadway productions of both “In the Heights” and “Hamilton,” so it’s safe to say he knows his way around leading roles in high-profile projects.

Indeed, he just embarked on his latest, playing Nate, father of Augie Pullman, a middle schooler with a facial difference navigating a world of cruelty and kindness when he moves from being homeschooled to private school, in the American Repertory Theater’s world-premiere production of “Wonder,” now in previews at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge where it is set to run through February 8, 2026.

Based on the best-selling 2012 R.J. Palacio children’s novel, “Wonder” was also made into a 2017 feature film starring Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson. The uplifting and ultimately triumphant story has now been adapted into a stage musical featuring music and lyrics by the Grammy Award-winning duo A Great Big World (Ian Axel and Chad King) – known for pop hits like “Say Something” and “This Is the New Year” – a book by Tony nominee and Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl (“Eurydice,” “In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play),” and the memoir “Smile: The Story of a Face”), direction by Taibi Magar (“Night Side Songs,” “We Live in Cairo”), and choreography by Katie Spelman (“The Notebook”).

Joining Muñoz in the cast are Alison Luff – whose Broadway credits include “& Juliet,” “The Who’s Tommy,” “Waitress,” and “Matilda the Musical” – as Nate’s wife, Isabel, and Garrett McNally and Max Voehl, who share the role of Auggie.

Muñoz was on his way to becoming a Broadway name when he replaced Lin-Manuel Miranda as bodega owner Usnavi de la Vega in “In the Heights,” the 2008 Tony Award-winning Best Musical. In 2015, Muñoz was serving as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s alternate in the title role of the then-new Broadway production of “Hamilton.” Miranda referred to Muñoz, who filled in for him on Sundays and at other select performances, as “the most famous understudy in the business.” The following year, Muñoz moved from understudy to star when he replaced Miranda as Alexander Hamilton for a two-year run in the Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical.

Since leaving “Hamilton,” Muñoz has appeared as Nigel in the 2022 Broadway production of “The Devil Wears Prada,” as Doc Lopez in this past winter’s world premiere of “Schmigadoon!” at the Eisenhower Theatre in Washington, D.C., and as Robert Baker in this spring’s New York City Center Encore Series concert staging of “Wonderful Town.”

Puerto Rican by birth, the performer was brought up in Brooklyn and earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from New York University. On Zoom recently from New 42 Studios rehearsal space in New York, Muñoz spoke about his latest assignment and more.

What first attracted you to “Wonder” and the part of Nate, Augie’s father?

I remember getting the script, an offer came in, and then they sent the music. I was maybe about a third of the way through the script and I was already getting teary-eyed over what I was reading on the page. So, I just stopped where I was and started looking at what the songs that Nate sings are, and they were wonderful, too. The moment I heard “Moon Boy,” I started tearing up again, and I immediately wrote to my reps and said I haven’t even finished the script, but it’s gorgeous. I told them, “The answer is yes. I want to do this show.”

Were you familiar with the book or the movie, before taking on this project?

I have not read the Palacio novel yet, but I have seen the movie because of Daveed Diggs, who plays Mr. Thomas Browne, Auggie’s English teacher, in it. Daveed is wonderful and I like to support my fellow “Hamilton” castmates.

How important is source material to you as an actor?

I’m very careful with how much I lean on source material, because with a project like this musical, the idea is to focus on Sarah’s writing and what’s on the page here. But in general, that’s kind of how I approach material anyway. Some source material can be different, obviously, because there’s living history. With “Hamilton,” there was Ron Chernow’s biography “Alexander Hamilton” as source material. The point, though, is to be focused on what’s on the page, in the script, in the room, and what’s being created there. And unless the source material is going to help me find a new dimension or color, a deepening in some quality of the character or the story, then I don’t turn to it.  It’s just going to get in my way, so I’m very cautious with it, and with how much I let in.

I’m probably going to bring the DVD of “Wonder” with me up to Cambridge, though. I’m going backwards very purposefully. Yes, I’ve gotten rid of my streaming apps, and now I’m back to DVDs! I probably will watch that one at some point while I’m there. I feel like Nate is already very much in my bones, though, so I probably won’t revisit any of the source material until later.

What do you think of this story?

It’s so genuine and human that I don’t know anyone in the world who’s going to see this story and sit through this production and not be moved by it. It is just so genuinely humane and beautiful, and I think it will appeal to our shared humanity, and we need that right now.

Does this musical production capture it well?

It does, because the writing is so beautiful – both what Sarah has done with her book, and the source material. The music is extraordinary as well. It’s so rare to have both a great book and a great score. Often, either the music or the book holds up a musical more strongly than the other does. Very often one outweighs the other, but not here. This show is genuinely cohesive, and it conveys its message of empathy magnificently.

How do you relate to your character?

Nate is right in line with things I want to associate myself with at this stage of my career. I want to be able to stand by what I do and ideally have it align with my own life, especially in terms of my social justice activism. This whole show really resonates with my own work for various causes, so Nate is the perfect character for me to be playing right now. There’s really no better pairing than between me and this role. I didn’t realize Nate was written for me, but that’s how it feels. It’s like this character was just waiting for me.

Are the characters the real strength of a piece like this?

Yes, definitely, but I also think that the strength of our show is in the solid writing, which is across the board. It’s beautifully directed and choreographed, too. The whole concept is really delicious. Another strength of the show comes from our cohesiveness as a cast. We are so connected, and it is such a kind and gentle process, and a beautiful, fun, light-hearted room. It’s also a safe room, because our connections with each other are so genuine and beautiful.

To whom or what do you credit those connections?

Well, it’s two things. It’s the way the room is run, and it’s how we’re directed and guided in this process. Everyone has been so nurturing. I think that’s because we have so many children in the show, that it’s really vital to maintain a gentle, kind, nurturing process, and a safe process. But also, it’s casting. Every human being in that room is beautiful, and there’s so much love amongst us all, day in and day out, and so much genuine play and joy and enjoyment that I can’t imagine doing this with anyone else. We are such a connected group.

Do you think audiences will sense that the company is having that kind of experience?

I think that’s how it’s going to read. It reminds me of when we were doing “In the Heights.” When we did it as the original cast, people kept telling me that they could feel from the stage how much we loved each other, and that we loved what we were doing. And that was genuine. Like, that family of “In the Heights,” we still are in each other’s lives. We celebrate each other’s weddings and funerals and birthdays and wins and losses, and we show up at each other’s productions and shows and concerts, because we became truly a family. That translated off the stage, and I feel like I’m experiencing that again with this show.