It’s time for more Latinos on Broadway, especially in creative teams!
I have worked for many years as a musical director, composer and arranger for musical theater. I have a great career in my origin country, Brazil, where I have had the opportunity to perform these roles in several first-class productions. But my dream has always been to create original musicals! More than that, my dream is to bring the incredible flavors of Brazilian music and artistry to musical theatre.
However, unfortunately, Brazil still does not value original productions as much as it should. I have experienced this firsthand. That is why I decided to make my way to the USA, where the greatest new developments in musical theater are valued and have a chance to reach Broadway.
In order to pursue my
dream, I applied for the Master’s in Musical Theater Writing Program at Tisch-NYU, where I received a full scholarship. Thus, I began this new journey. My wonderful wife, Talita Real, is an American citizen, which allowed me to have a Green Card.
When I finished My masters degree, I had in my hands what I consider the most important work of my life so far, the original musical: BARBA – A Brazilian Body Percussion Musical, which I created with my dear partner, Kim Bixler, as our Thesis Project for NYU.
In this musical, my entire life came together. In it, I am bringing my main influences from Brazilian music, all my knowledge as a musical director and arranger for Musical Theater and… BODY PERCUSSION, which was my object of study for many years, as an apprentice of the master Fernando Barba, a brilliant artist and dear friend, whose story is told in this musical.
The musical was a success in our readings and performances at NYU.
But what now? What do I do with it?
Who will believe or, even more, support a project like this?
That’s when we found Luis Salgado!
The person we were looking for was also looking for us! Luis had already heard about us through 3 other sources. When we spoke for the first time, I immediately realized his interest in the project. This made me very excited and hopeful. I felt that something good would come of this meeting!
And so it was! Luis created the opportunity for us to do a production of BARBA in an Off-Broadway Theater (PREGONES THEATER, in Bronx), with 40 incredibly talented students and a production with everything one could possibly need!
It was the most fantastic experience we could have had! I am and will be eternally grateful to Luis and R.Evolución Latina for this opportunity!
During the production, I 
also got the opportunity to witness what a skilled director Luis is! An entirely original musical, with a new language for the cast to learn (body percussion), complex harmonies, challenging choreography, very emotional scenes… we put it all together in less than 4 weeks!
also got the opportunity to witness what a skilled director Luis is! An entirely original musical, with a new language for the cast to learn (body percussion), complex harmonies, challenging choreography, very emotional scenes… we put it all together in less than 4 weeks! The performances were sold out, even before the premiere! The audience’s reception was extremely warm! We were very excited about the result of everything!
If this is not a great example of how Luis Salgado helps the Latin community to pursue their dreams, then I don’t know what is!
But it doesn’t stop there. Before we started rehearsals for BARBA, Luis invited me to be the musical director for the 29h reading of the incredible original musical AMERICANO, by composer Carrie Rodriguez! It was a great pleasure and a great step for my resume in the US. This is another example of Luis helping Latin artists in their creative teams!
After all this, Luis also gave us the opportunity to present some numbers from BARBA at the prestigious Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival! With a fantastic cast, we had again a great reception from the audience again!
Now, we await the next
opportunities for this project in the US. But while we are looking for it, we will have an opportunity to stage it in Florianópolis – Brazil! We invited Luis Salgado to be our director! I hope to be able to bring him so that Brazil can get to know a little bit of this brilliant and generous artist!
opportunities for this project in the US. But while we are looking for it, we will have an opportunity to stage it in Florianópolis – Brazil! We invited Luis Salgado to be our director! I hope to be able to bring him so that Brazil can get to know a little bit of this brilliant and generous artist!Thanks for everything, Luis! May the Force be with you in your beautiful mission! Lots of Love!
