By Ben Lerner
Ben Lerner spoke with Vanessa Aurora Sierra, Beetlejuice The Musical’s new Miss Argentina for its current (third!) Broadway engagement. The scene-stealing role performs the popular Act II Netherworld anthem “What I Know Now,” complete with high notes and high kicks. Vanessa is brand new to the cast, fresh from the Broadway production and national tour of A Beautiful Noise, the Neil Diamond musical. Below, she discusses her past and present work onstage, why performing in Latina roles is so important to her, dream roles, and more.
Q: How did you get involved with Beetlejuice for this third Broadway engagement of the show?
Vanessa: I actually was on the national tour of A Beautiful Noise before I found out about joining the Broadway company. I’d been in for Beetlejuice I think 10 times, at least, from like 2021, just over and over again. So this kind of came totally out of the blue — I was in LA on tour and they called me and were like, “Hey, we’re going back to Broadway. Would you want to be a part of that?” And I was just like, “Well yeah, I would!” [laughs]
Q: Before your Broadway debut in A Beautiful Noise and now Beetlejuice, what have your favorite past gigs been?
Vanessa: I worked at Paper Mill [Playhouse], which was like a dream for me, because I’m from New Jersey. So that was like my home theater. That was kind of like my Broadway growing up. It was always, “I want to work at Paper Mill!” I got to do On Your Feet there, which was a dream show. I’ve also worked in Chicago — I love Chicago so much. I did West Side Story at the Marriott Theatre and got to play Anita, which meant a lot to me, because I come from a really proud Puerto Rican family on both sides. Playing Latina roles means a lot to me, so I’m really glad I’ve gotten to do a bunch of that in my career so far.
Q: Oh wow, what was it like to play such an iconic role as Anita?
Vanessa: It was absolutely unreal. I was still in college — my second semester of senior year! I grew up doing the Paper Mill Summer Conservatory, and I saw someone that I had grown up with in those programs on the email chain. I was like, “Hey girl! I haven’t seen you in almost five years. Are you in this show?” And she said, “Yeah, I’m playing Maria!” I was like, “Well, I’m playing Anita!” Two New Jersey girls. They had no idea we knew each other. They cast us in these roles. We got super close throughout and formed this sisterhood. We got to do the show in the round, too, which I think is such a good way to do the show, because it feels like everything is in this microscope. Because its specifically a Puerto Rican character, it just meant the world to me to have my family in the audience — they lived through that time, so to talk about what their experience and just to feel that pride. I feel that pride today, too, in Beetlejuice. It means so much to bring that representation to the stage.
Q: When they called you on tour for Beetlejuice, did they have you audition yet again?
Vanessa: I had gone in like maybe a year [before], because when I was auditioning for the tour, they kept switching me around. Like, “Do we want you for Lydia? Do we want you for—?” So I was kind of bouncing around a little bit. But they had all these sessions on tape. From like 2021 — so long ago. I had gone in when I was doing Beautiful Noise on Broadway and did the Miss Argentina side and song —so that was it!
Q: How was the rehearsal process when much of the cast was returning?
Vanessa: Jenni Barber, the Delia, and I were kind of like the new girls in town. We had two weeks to learn it. It was funny because her and I were never in the same scenes, so it was kind of like a show-and-tell. I’d do the dance numbers by myself. She’d be watching and cheering from the sides. Then she’d go up and do the scene work and I’d be watching. It was really, really fun. Then we had a week with the full company — kind of a prolonged put-in [rehearsal], I would say. Michael Fatica taught me the show. He’s the associate choreographer and he’s just the best person to learn it from, and I felt super supported.
Q: Had you seen the show — and this role — performed before? If so, how did it inspire you?
Vanessa: Yes, I was able to see the original cast. I think it was pre-pandemic. I’m huge fan of Beetlejuice myself and grew up watching the movie. I remember seeing Leslie Kritzer do [Miss Argentina], and I was just like, “Oh my god. She’s a star.” It was back when she did both Delia and Miss Argentina at the same time, so that was crazy to watch! [Once cast,] I did do the thing where I don’t listen to the cast album and don’t watch videos of people who have done it, because you want to try to find your own way into it. Like, who my Miss Argentina is and how she speaks to me. But still, when I saw Leslie Kritzer do it, I was like, “I have some big shoes to fill.”
Q: If you could swap roles with anyone on Broadway right now, which would it be?
Vanessa: Ooh, that’s a great question. First that’s coming to mind is Little Shop of Horrors. I just saw my friend in it and I love that production. But also, Wicked. Being blue and having paint on my face [as Miss Argentina] has been giving me the Elphaba itch! A lot of my friends at the [Beetlejuice] stage door are like, “I see the green in your ears still!” [laughs] I think I’d have to say Elphaba. Such a dream role.
Beetlejuice is playing at The Palace Theatre through January 3, 2026. Tickets at https://beetlejuicebroadway.com/.