After all, “Blue’s Clues” lives fondly in the memories of those who grew up watching Steve and Blue, as they solved puzzles and taught preschoolers everything from American Sign Language to how to tell time. I’m just so stinkin’ lucky that I get to grow into me and be myself while impacting kids in a positive way.”įor his first leading role on the small screen, Dela Cruz has some big shoes to fill. “I love that with ‘Blue’s Clues’ we’re celebrating the fact that I’m Filipino, but I wasn’t cast because I’m Filipino,” says Dela Cruz.

For once in American children’s television, there would be an Asian American in a show and role that’s not necessarily about being Asian. “I love that with ‘Blue’s Clues’ we’re celebrating the fact that I’m Filipino, but I wasn’t cast because I’m Filipino.”Īnd perhaps that’s why when Nickelodeon announced him as the new “Blue’s Clues” host, the AAPI community went wild. “I’ve never seen anybody like me outside a production of ‘The King and I’ or ‘Miss Saigon,’ or really do anything other than playing an Asian person in an Asian musical,” says Dela Cruz. “During that production, I said I was nervous, and he pulled me aside and told me, ‘You belong here.’ And that was such a huge thing for someone to say, especially a Filipino actor who has done so much that had nothing to do with him being Filipino.” As a Filipino American, Dela Cruz says that he often struggled to find representation within the theater world. “I doubt he remembers who I am, but Lou Diamond Phillips played such a huge role in my progression,” says Dela Cruz. Straight out of college, he found himself on the right career path, booking a role in a production of “The King and I” at Kansas City Starlight, opposite acclaimed Pinoy actor Lou Diamond Phillips.

To be surrounded by people-particularly such a diverse groups of kids-who wanted to do this for a living because it was their passion was an awakening for me.” “ It’s not something that I’d ever been exposed to, especially culturally. “That was the first time I had ever been around people that wanted to pursue acting in any form as a career,” Dela Cruz says. It was there that he met his wife, Amanda, and other aspiring artists. Soon, he landed a scholarship to Papermill Playhouse-the regional theater in New Jersey-which eventually led him to pursue musical theater at Montclair State University. It wasn’t until high school that his older sister encouraged him to audition for the school’s musical, which ultimately made him fall in love with theater. Whether it was singing karaoke (a favorite pastime in the Filipino community, as he notes) or participating in school music programs, music played a significant role in his life. “I doubt he remembers who I am, but Lou Diamond Phillips played such a huge role in my progression.”Ī former musical theater actor in the original Broadway cast of Disney’s “Aladdin,” Dela Cruz spent most of his childhood indulging in his love for music. Introducing the new “Blue’s Clues & You” host, Joshua Dela Cruz.

11, there’s a new addition to the family that will carry the show’s legacy. And while old friends like Blue, Magenta, and even the original hosts-Steve Burns (Steve) and Donovan Patton (Joe)-will be returning for the Nickelodeon show’s premiere on Nov. But a new generation of kids will soon know the references to this famous children’s show. Or memories of singing like a pretend opera star every time the “Mail Time Song” came on, or even of crying your eyes out when Steve left the show to go to college. If you’re a ’90s baby, chances are that the words “handy-dandy notebook” and “mail time” will conjure up some nostalgic memories of your childhood: memories of Steve in his bright green stripes hunting for blue pawprints with his adorable dog, Blue.

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