When Vivienne Medrano was a kid, she avoided horror, adult content, and anything inappropriate, especially on the Internet, out of fear that scary stories and images had malevolent power. However, in high school, her perspective changed.
“I saw ‘South Park’ for the first time, and I saw ‘War of the Worlds,’ the Steven Spielberg one,” Medrano, 31, said recently. “That’s not really a horror movie, but it was very dark, and it’s a very scary movie especially for a young person. I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s a different kind of feeling.’”
Fast forward to 2024, Medrano, a 31-year-old bisexual woman and self-described proud Latina, is now not only a horror fan but also makes horror content. She is the creator, executive producer, and director of Prime Video’s new animated horror-comedy show “Hazbin Hotel.” The show, consisting of eight episodes, is for adults only and centers on Charlie (voiced by Erika Henningsen), the reigning Princess of Hell and daughter of Lucifer, who opens a rehabilitation center to help sinners and demons become angels before heaven begins its annual extermination of Hades’ resident evil-doers.
Vivienne Medrano, the creator of “Hazbin Hotel.”
(Ilya S. Savenok / Getty Images for Prime Video)
The show comes five years after Medrano, known as VivziePop, uploaded a 30-minute pilot to her YouTube channel that has amassed 93 million views. In 2020, A24 signed on to produce a full season and later greenlighted a second season, making it the first animated series they’ve produced. The series will release four episodes in the first week, then two more weekly through Feb 2.
The “Hazbin Hotel” universe is a colorful, queer-inclusive mix of outlandish grotesqueries and dance numbers, bolstered by a Broadway pop score. The voice cast includes Tony nominees and stars like Daphne-Rubin Vega, Jeremy Jordan, and Patina Miller. Alex Brightman, a two-time Tony nominee, is part of the voice cast and voiced two characters, Sir Pentious, and Adam.
Medrano and Brightman spoke recently about how horror and musical theater relate to one another, with Medrano expressing her love for both genres, while Brightman revealed his lifelong love for horror movies and musical theater.
Both also discussed their views on the show’s themes of good and evil, and whether they believe in the concept of hell. They also talked about the show’s use of swear words and the show’s portrayal of characters and themes like forgiveness and redemption.