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[0:00] Martín Acuña: Hi, everyone. I am Martín Acuña, and you are listening to Backstage Talk.

[0:10] Martín Acuña: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Backstage Talk. Today's guest is Legna Cedillo.

[0:18] Martín Acuña: She is a first-generation American from Kansas City, a proud daughter of Mexican immigrants, and a New York-based actress, singer-songwriter, voiceover artist, and dancer. You maybe must have seen her in Americano, an off-Broadway musical that premiered almost a year ago. I think it was last year, during 2022. We have a lot of friends on that show, and I am so excited to have Legna over. Legna, welcome to Backstage Talk.

[0:52] Legna Cedillo: Thank you so much for having me. I am so happy to be here.

[0:55] Martín Acuña: I love that. So, you're from Kansas City. Your heritage is Mexican, but what else do we have to know about you?

[1:03] Legna Cedillo: Oh, man. My name is Angel spelled backwards, and I love breakfast sandwiches.

[1:11] Martín Acuña: Oh, I love breakfast sandwiches.

[1:18] Legna Cedillo: There's nothing better.

[1:22] Martín Acuña: Right? Yep. That's how I feel.

[1:22] Legna Cedillo: I love that. So, I want to dive into you professionally. Why did you choose musical theater, and why are you on this journey to be on Broadway?

[1:30] Legna Cedillo: Oh, gosh. I think my big love for musical theater happened in seventh grade, when I was able to audition for my first musical in school, and it was a musical called The Boyfriend. Super obscure, and why they had middle schoolers doing that, I don't know. But that was a really, really amazing experience, and to be able to have a place where you can act, sing, and dance all at the same time really blew my mind, and after that, there's just no looking back. Like, this is amazing. This is magic. I have to do this. Yeah. It's been the wildest journey of all.

[2:18] Martín Acuña: Yeah. I love that. I love that. You are a proud daughter of a Mexican immigrant, and I want to know, how has your heritage influenced your art? Because you're not only a performer, but you're also a songwriter and a singer, so I want to know it.

[2:34] Legna Cedillo: Oh, gosh. I mean, so my parents are my heroes. They came to the States in the 80s, about a year and a half before I was born in 90, and I'm aging myself, but that's okay. And I grew up speaking Spanish at home. That was our, and is our primary language at home. Getting to see them both work so hard, and be in a country that is foreign, to give their children an opportunity to do something here that would be hard to have that opportunity back at home in Mexico, and so I owe so much to them and their sacrifice for us, and to be able to breathe that as part of my experience into the art and things that I create and sing about. I mean, we all carry our experiences with us, and so I'm very proud to be able to bring that as part of my journey that I hope influences all of my work. So it's there.

[3:55] Martín Acuña: I love that. I love that. What do you think is the best thing about being a Latin artist?

[4:05] Legna Cedillo: Oh, my gosh. I think the importance of representation is crucial, and I think a lot of the time Latinos can get kind of scooped into one big general box, and to be able to have a platform is a real privilege. It's an honor, and to be able to show that we're not a monolith. There's all kinds of different flavors to all different cultures within Latin America, and so to be able to bring my own experience as a daughter of Mexicans, we can all breathe from our own cultures, and so to bring our stories forward I think is so important, and to show that we're not just able to be generalized. I hope that makes sense.

[5:13] Martín Acuña: Yeah, you do. You do, and I love that because I think that the big premise of Americano, this off-Broadway musical you were a part of, was kind of that, because if I recall right, at least 90% of that cast and that company were Latinos working on that show based on a true Latin story about this individual that wanted to go, I think it was the Navy or the Army, and they discovered they were a Dreamer, and they had no legal papers in the States, so yeah. Can you dive a little bit into Americano and this whole experience that he had off-Broadway?

[5:58] Legna Cedillo: Yes, okay, so Americano is very special to me, so I'm very excited to talk about it. Americano basically tells the story of a Dreamer, and so the Dreamer Act was the development, relief, and education for alien minors act, and basically what it did was a proposal to grant temporary conditional residency with the right to work to illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as minors, and so that story itself, you were able to see it from the perspective of a family that was going through it. You had our main character, his name is Tony Valdovinos, and this is a real story. At the age of 18, he wanted to join the Marines and was told that he was actually not a citizen or a resident of this country, and so it kind of tells, it goes from there in telling his process and journey of what that means, what is the American dream, and how, what is the process like to become a resident or a citizen in this country, and so I think to humanize stories that we just see on newsreels, I think really allowed audiences to walk and journey with a family and showing that humanity, and we want that we all desire to belong.

[7:30] Legna Cedillo: It was just so special to me. It's not every day that art is also important and educational, and so to have all of those ingredients in one was really awesome. And the cast is my family, and so to be able to learn from one another and our experiences just meant a lot.

[8:06] Martín Acuña: I love that. Did you and that cast have any Latin tradition while you were performing or while the show was running?

[8:17] Legna Cedillo: Tradition, oh my gosh. We would say, "si se puede," a lot. I'm trying to think if we had an actual tradition. Oh gosh, if someone from the cast listens to this and they're like, "hello, we used to do this all the time." My brain sometimes, sometimes my memory is like, "oh no, we never did that." And someone can be like, "are you kidding me? Yes, we did." I might have to circle back on that. Let me see if something comes up to me while we're talking about it. Other things maybe, but yeah, maybe we circle back.

[8:44] Martín Acuña: Absolutely. What is your best memory of this show now that you mentioned that this cast has become your family?

[8:49] Legna Cedillo: Oh, actually, one of my favorite is a song that I was not even on stage for. So I won't give it away. But in this particular scene and song, I am not on stage. And I'm actually believe the only cast member that is not on stage at this time, but we sing a song called "For Today." And that was just so beautiful and powerful, because it culminates into this one beautiful big moment of unity and heart. And I would a lot of the time just stand backstage just to watch them sing that song. And it was just the score was beautiful. Our composer and our arranger Kerry Rodriguez and Sergio Mendoza were just incredible artists and what they were able to do with the music and sharing its heart was magical. So that was probably, yeah, yes.

[9:56] Legna Cedillo: And also it's Sergio Mendoza, not Mendes. I love that. His name, right?

[10:03] Martín Acuña: What is or who is your biggest Latin inspiration?

[10:11] Legna Cedillo: Oh, um, okay, well, this is not a cop out. But I think my, I don't have to look that far. For me, my parents are my biggest influence and my heroes. But if we're talking about creatively, I would probably say Bianca Marroquin, who is in Chicago. She's actually been in Chicago for like 20 years. And she has been able to play both Roxy and Velma, both leads. She's a Mexican theater actress. And she's the first Mexican actress to have a starring role on Broadway. And so to be able to see someone do it from your own home and land is just a very powerful thing, especially when you didn't really grow up being able to see that kind of representation. So yeah, she's a huge inspiration to me and the work ethic that it takes to be able to do roles over and over again, but still tell them with a new heart and a new piece of magic is incredible. So yeah, I love her.

[11:40] Martín Acuña: Yeah, we love Bianca Marroquin. She is a star. I mean, when I met her, I was starstruck. And I was like, "you don't know what this means." And she was like, "wait, what?" Like, trust me, you don't know what that means. Trust me, you don't know what. Yes, I took a class with her, I think it was a year or two ago. And yes, her story is amazing. And then she herself is just such a light and such a down-to-earth human being and so humble and just like, goes after the work and is so generous. And so that just set her over the top. I was like, "Okay, all right. This is amazing. Angels exist."

[12:20] Legna Cedillo: Okay. Like now, what are your top five favorite musical theater shows?

[12:28] Martín Acuña: How dare you? Um, that is so hard. It is anytime anyone asked me about favorites. I'm like, it's like, I can't remember any shows. Um, okay, so here's what I'll do. I'll go through the ones that were maybe the most formative, like that I saw as a kid. And I was like, "what is this? This is blowing my mind." I would. Oh, that's this is hard. I feel like you can't say you can't not say Les Mis. So that has to be up there. Wicked blew my mind. And to hear those voices together, rocked my world. The score was just so insanely written that, yeah, it just blew my mind. And I actually saw it for the first time, I think just a year ago, right after everything kind of opened back up. And I yeah, the second they started, I was just like tears.

This is a dream. I love Aida so much. I love Into the Woods. Rigadoon, The Color Purple. I got to see the Cynthia Erivo, and that was, oh, to be in the presence of that voice and heart was just amazing. I love Legally Blonde. I love Waitress. Of course, like Rent was very formative for me as well. And that's so up there because come on. Yeah, I think that's more than five. So I guess no, but I love that.

[14:25] Martín Acuña: Thank you so much for being here for sharing your story. We cannot wait to keep seeing you succeed. We are just honored to have you here. Thank you so much.

[14:42] Legna Cedillo: Thank you so much.

[14:45] Martín Acuña: Thanks, everyone for listening to this new episode of Backstage Talk. Remember to follow us on Facebook and Instagram at Backstage Talk Podcast.