In a theater industry traditionally dominated by white men, it’s rare to find a musical with an all-female creative team behind it. Finding a bilingual musical where the characters speak Spanglish is even more unusual. “Azul, The Musical” is both of those things.
“Azul” follows the journey of a woman named Bluebird, who leaves her homeland to travel to a new world. There, she gives birth to her daughter named Rita, who becomes a composer. Through her music, Rita tries to reimagine the motherland that she never knew.
The musical was inspired by “El Pájaro Azul” (“The Bluebird”), a concept album by Jacinta Clusellas, an Argentinian composer who moved to the United States to study at Berklee School of Music in Boston.
When her friend, Argentinian theater director Tatiana Pandiani, first listened to Jacinta’s album, she immediately envisioned it as a stage musical. But musicals weren’t Jacinta’s main interests at first. She was more attracted to rock and jazz growing up, and her first love was her guitar, her main instrument, and what she describes as her “rock”. But once Tatiana introduced her to the world of musical theater, it was impossible for Jacinta not to feel attracted to it.
Jacinta and Tatiana teamed up with writer Melis Aker to bring “Azul, The Musical” to life, in a very collaborative project. After seven years of work, the creators have released an EP with some songs from the show, and they celebrated the release with two sold out concerts in New York City. The New York theater community has its eyes on this musical, which is very close to having its first full production.
On this week’s episode of Latino USA, Jacinta Clusellas will take us behind the curtains and reveal the inspiration behind “Azul” and the collective process to create an original bilingual musical.
Photo credit courtesy of Jacinta Clusellas.
