Fame the Musical is “an act of rebellion and an act of love.” This is how Colombia-born Latino actor Carlos Salazar describes GALA Hispanic Theatre’s latest bilingual (Spanish and English) musical, directed by Luis Salgado.
“It is rebellion because in a contemporary U.S. where we see so many who want to silence difference, Fame focuses in the struggles of immigrants and minorities who want to have a seat at the table,” Salazar says. “It is love because it is in their dreams, their goals, their passions, that the characters find the motivation to keep trying every day in a system that is not always welcoming.”
The young actor is honored to be able to represent the path that so many have to undergo to reach their dreams in the U.S.
“We see in the show this young and diverse group of Latinxs who are extremely talented and willing to back that talent with discipline to reach their own dreams,” he says. “So, in a way Fame is telling our very own stories as we try to make it in the U.S. scene, which is so competitive. I wanted to be able to embody that and also wanted to work with such a talented and creative group of artists.”
For the director, it’s a return to GALA, after the April 2017 successful helming of a Spanish version of In The Heights, a show that earned much critical success and fanfare among theatergoers, was nominated for 18 Helen Hayes Awards and took home 9. Salgado himself won two of the awards for directing and choreography.
“It was such an incredible experience,” the director says. “The Latino audience in D.C., just seeing how they can further integrate in the world, the conversations of belonging and not belonging that exist, which has become relevant in the last few years, it’s something that resonated strongly.”
Last year, GALA founder Hugo Medrano approached Salgado about a similar project—this time taking on Fame the Musical and doing it in with a Latinx reimagining; Salgado was quick to say yes.
“They wanted to bring something that had a Latino perspective and we landed on Fame, which has a Cuban author in Jose Fernandez, who wrote this universal show that became so popular,” Salgado says. “I felt there was so much potential to bring to GALA some of the things we’re exploring within the comforts of this show. That made it really interesting to me.”
Salgado arrived in New York in 2002 and was in his first Off-Broadway show two years later which was…Fame the Musical.
“It became like my school. There was so much I didn’t know about commercial musical theater. Something as simple as adding numbers to the floor,” he says. “A lot of details that seem little but are big deals in the way theater is created really became something that I appreciated as an artist and gave me the tools to go out and audition on other projects.”
That’s one of the reasons why he cast Megumi Shimoda, a Japanese dancer, in Fame the Musical. She is getting her first opportunity to dance and tell stories in the states and he likes that he’s getting the chance to pay it forward.
“I feel like I am passing the torch of what I learned in the show but now through my lens,” Salgado says. “It does have a very personal connection to me.”
Fame the Musical is at GALA Hispanic Theatre from May 9 to June 9, 2019. Details and tickets
Based on the 1980 musical film (and later TV show) of the same name, the musical follows the journey of a group of students as they navigate New York City’s illustrious High School for the Performing Arts, dreaming big and learning that “fame costs.”
In this version, Salgado added a strong message to the script by incorporating Latinx immigrant students facing uncertain legal status in the U.S., into the unfolding of the characters.
“We’re moving the show with a language that is very youthful in the way it moves, both in translation and choreography. It’s very energetic and people will have a really good time,” Salgado says. “The show is about hard work and all those dreamers who come to look for an opportunity that makes us better as people and as a society and that takes work and collaboration and discussion. All of our characters have that in common. Everyone from the Dominican Jew to the Colombian actor who needs to reestablish himself to the Japanese dancer who can’t speak the language.
Some of the cast from GALA’s In The Heights are back for Fame. Rafael Beato (who played Sonny) is playing Joe Vega; Juan Luis Espinal (Usnavi) is playing Schlomo; and Amaya Perea (ensemble, understudy for Nina and Carla) is playing Iris. The show also stars Paula Calvo as Carmen and Salazar, both from Colombia who recently completed a tour of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.
Calvo says what makes this show so special is the power of language diversity.
“People from the United States, Spain, Colombia, Japan, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Argentina will be performing in English and Spanish, which enriches the way in which the story is told,” she says. “Naturally, I wanted to be part of this cultural exchange, showing what we can do with our differences in order to make musical theatre grow.” She describes her character, Carmen Diaz, as a volcano of emotions.
“She is a character who will have to make important decisions in her life while dealing with a significant addiction,” Calvo says. “Carmen’s strong desire to reach fame leads her on the wrong path, isolating her and affecting her dreams. This is a reflection on a problem that is, sadly, regularly happening today in our world.”
The diverse cast also includes Tanya DeLeon as Serena. Paloma De Vega as Lambchops, Romainson Romain as Tyrone, Alanna Thomas as Mabel and Jon Yepez as Goody.
“When we were casting this, we were looking for people who, for the most part, are bilingual, and that narrows down the scope,” Salgado says. “Not only are we trying to find people who can multilayer the language but who will be honest and authentic in that language.”
There’s no doubt that Salgado believes people leaving the theater will be singing along to the “Fame” song they all know, but for him, it’s not all about entertainment.
“I don’t find myself being a director who just wants to entertain. It’s a bigger excuse to get people moving, dancing and singing,” he says. “But really I am a director who puts a little bit more into it and wants people asking questions of themselves about life and what living is. There’s a little bit of Hamlet’s ‘to be or not to be’ in every story I tell. Hopefully someone from a different culture can have a great starter conversation.”
Fame the Musical is performed in Spanish and English with surtitles.
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