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

[0:16] Martín Acuña: Jonathan Larson asked how can you make someone take off and fly in one of his songs from Tick Tick Boom, and I, for the past two years, have learned one way to do it, through the power of community. Welcome to the Latinx in Musical Theatre special for Season 3 of Backstage Talk, where we will be featuring artists from across all positions in musical theatre, from several Latin American countries and different Latin heritages. I am proud to showcase my Latinx family. I hope you enjoy.

[0:51] Martín Acuña: Hello everyone, welcome back to another episode of Backstage Talk. Today's guest is Ryan Duncan-Ayala. He was born and raised in Laredo, Texas, and he began participating in theatre at the age of 8 on a stage in the production of Oliver with Laredo Musical Theatre International. From that young age, he was hooked. Ryan then continued participating on stage for the next few years and then slowly progressed over to the world of tech. Life moved him to strive for a career in arts management, producing, and theatre advocacy, and made him the person he is today. Ryan was also chosen to be the producer of the 24-Hour Plays Nationals. He is passionate about creating spaces for underserved communities, creating theatre that provokes discussion, and fostering new work development.

He is also the executive director and lead producer of El Centro, founded as a pandemic project, come to life in the summer of 2020. Dedicated to creative, innovative, and bold theatre, they are currently producing exclusively in a digital format. Ryan, thank you so much for being in Backstage Talk. I am so happy to have you over.

[2:14] Ryan Duncan-Ayala: Yeah, absolutely. I totally forgot that that information was on the internet somewhere, and so I was like, how does he know this?

[2:19] Martín Acuña: I do my work. I do my research.

[2:24] Ryan Duncan-Ayala: You really do. That's crazy. Yeah, I'm doing great. Thanks so much for having me on. I'm very excited about it.

[2:30] Martín Acuña: Yeah, I'm super happy. So, you started at the age of eight, being a performer, then life moved you into arts management and production and theatre advocacy. But tell me, what was your aha moment in which you said, I want to be an artist in life?

[2:50] Ryan Duncan-Ayala: So, I, in high school, was kind of jumping around from like career to career and, you know, wasn't exactly sure where I wanted to go. And a group of my friends, you know, people that I loosely knew at the time, decided that that summer, there was nothing really like interesting for them to produce or to partake in in our city, because we're like a big summer musical kind of city. Everything is community based. There was no professional theatre like within 300 miles of where I live. So, we were like, okay, you know, what do we do? And they went ahead and started their own company, Break a Leg Productions, and put on a production of Into the Woods Jr. And it was so like, it was so simple and so easy.

And, you know, everything makes sense. And, you know, easy is like underselling it. They, you know, try, they like, really put in that work. But then it like, started clicking for me. I'm like, oh, you can just make art? Lovely. Let's do that for the rest of my life, actually. And, you know, from then, I still didn't necessarily think like, there was a super clear pathway to how to do it. And that's when the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival came into my life. It is a wonderful program that takes place all over the United States. And there was a specific program, the Aspire Arts Leadership, that takes, you know, young artists and introduces them to the world of like, non-profit management, and what it means to be like, an art leader in our theater industry, which is very white and very male.

And so, it really takes underrepresented groups and pushes them into like, learning. So, me coming from somewhere that had like, no professional theater experience was really out of my depth when I ended up at the Kennedy Center in a group of nine people in Washington, D.C., and was learning all of these new things. And that's when the career got real for me, both mentally and like, actually. Because from then, I did my first internship, and then got a first job in the industry, and, you know, snowballed to where I am today.

[5:23] Martín Acuña: I love it. That is amazing. Absolutely amazing. So, tell me a little bit about your journey in musical theater, specifically. Because you started as a performer, and as you just said, life took you other ways, and you ended up working in the industry in something very different as that first Oliver character you made all those years ago.

[5:51] Ryan Duncan-Ayala: Yeah. I mean, so, yes. I started doing summer musicals every year. It was like a thing that me, my dad, and my brother would do. So, my parents were divorced, and that was like, our time together in the summer was doing musicals with my dad. So, I did that. We did like, The Wiz, which is so problematic, because I lived in a 97% Hispanic town. And so, we had like, almost no Black actors in the cast. So, you know how it is in community theater. And so, I did that, and throughout college, I started, you know, I continued doing that. I think the last production I did in college was Rocky Horror. It was very fun, and I was in that. So, I was like, singing and dancing, and doing the whole nine yards.

And then, I got kind of exposed to the world of like, professional plays, and I fell in love. I mean, you know, that, talk about content. I love plays. And so, for a while, I was like, no, you know, musicals aren't for me. It's just about plays. And I would start having like, arguments with my roommate, who most recently was the associate director on Diana. Yeah. And so, he, you know, he was like, I think you like musicals. I just think you don't like big, you know, spectacular, non, you know, like, like musicals that don't have like, a good plot message to it. And I was like, sure, you're probably correct. Because like, I love The Band's Visit. I love things like that. And in, you know, my producing brain, since I'm an emerging producer, obviously, the world of musicals is something that I need to be familiar with, if I want to be a successful Broadway producer.

You know, I need to be able to really work in that realm and figure that out. And so, pretty recently, and I guess this is like, a nice, like, cap to my musical transformation. Well, first of all, I did the National Alliance for Musical Theaters Festival of New Musicals. I was a co-producer, a line producer on that. And I got to work on some amazing shows. TLDR, which stands for Thelma and Louise Dyke Remix, was so much fun. And it was just like, a bunch of queer people of color all in a room together, rocking out, and that was so exciting. And then there was a show called Azul, that was just the most beautiful musical I could ever think of, with like, Robbie Hager leading the charge with his incredible voice.

And I've literally just like, been listening to our performance of that on loop, because it like, gives me so much love for the craft. And so this happened, and then we finally kind of culminate in like, okay, I think I can be a producer in the city. And one day I, this sounds fake, and I will never like, fully come to grips with the fact that this is real. But I just get a call from like, a producer saying, hey, this so-and-so other big name producer gave me your name, and we're producing a musical called Americano, and we want you to join. And I was like, okay. And so we like, chit-chatted the next day. So there's a new musical that was transferring over from Phoenix that they've been working on for years, that was like, about a Latino boy in Arizona who grew up wanting to be a Marine.

And when he turned 18, he found out that his parents never told him he was undocumented. And then he has to figure out where his life goes from there. And so they were like, this is something that we want you to be a part of. And I grew up, you know, my dad and my grandpa and everybody was like, in the Marines when I was a kid. And so I was like, well, yeah, of course I'll do this. And so from someone who was like, you know, musicals are fun, but I, you know, like to only do plays, to now associate producing a musical that's opening off Broadway in April is so exciting.

[10:05] Martín Acuña: Yeah, absolutely. And I love it. And I remember I saw Azul on the streaming they had for the festival. And I was like, this is not my story. But as a Latin man, I can relate to a lot of things from that story. And I just loved it. And now that you're working with Americano, I just, I've seen a lot of things on social media from that show. And I'm just super excited for it to open off Broadway.

[10:38] Ryan Duncan-Ayala: Yeah, it is exciting. And I think the thing that really excites me about Azul is the prospect that there can be a commercial musical that is like half in Spanish. Yes. I think that's what we need. And so that's really, really exciting to me. And that that is truly half in Spanish, because it's not like In the Heights, that which I love, I really deeply love. But the Spanish parts of In the Heights are just a few words. With Azul, what's really surprised me was there was entire scenes, entire songs, either spoken or sung in Spanish. And it happened a little bit with what the new West Side Story movie happened, that entire parts of it were only in Spanish, there were no subtitles. And it opens the door for non-Spanish speaking audience members to add their own meaning to those parts, or to figure them out on their own. And I just love that.

[11:44] Ryan Duncan-Ayala: Yeah, no, I mean, so working with that team of writers and working with like everyone in that room. And so NAMMT was only like a 20 minute cut of that musical. And so they like reframed it and redid it and put on 20 minutes. And it was lovely. It was beautiful. But in the full piece, like Act One is completely in Spanish. And then Act Two is like half Spanish, half English.

[12:10] Ryan Duncan-Ayala: So hearing, you know, that as something that is coming into existence in like the musical theater world is so just thrilling.

[12:20] And then also like not giving kid gloves to it. Because most Latino musicals are like it's in English and then we give like a little nod to people in Spanish.

[12:29] Like in the Heights, you know, they don't, that's not their primary audience and they know that and that's fine.

[12:36] Cause it's still lovely to us. Like in the Heights is still one of my favorite musicals, but this is just different.

[12:42] And I am so excited to see something like that take off.

[12:45] Yeah. It hits different.

[12:47] It does.

[12:48] Yeah. Now that you're talking about producing Americano and seeing Azul take off, what is your approach to producing musical theater?

[12:58] Yeah. Well, so I think my approach to producing anything is giving the art the space that it needs, you know, because I find, I feel like I'm like an artistic person naturally and I'd like to think that.

[13:07] But at the end of the day, I know like I need to give the playwrights and give every creative member of the team the space that they need for what they need.

[13:22] And I need to help them with the business deals that they need to make that happen.

[13:29] And so really, I joke about this, like really like leaning into the role of like the people's producer and like just giving the work, the space that it needs for whatever it needs, while also being cognizant of like what, how, how can you be successful in the world of musical theater, you know, in New York City even.

[13:53] And so kind of coming at it from both angles, I think is where I start off with, you know, knowing right venues, knowing the right people to talk to, to get that work where it needs to be at the end of the day.

[14:05] I love that. I absolutely, absolutely love that.

[14:09] So what advice would you tell a younger version of yourself?

[14:13] Stick to theater. Like don't worry about the fact that it doesn't seem like a viable career option.

[14:20] You know, just keep on that path and read a little bit more.

[14:26] I find myself always at a disadvantage because I didn't, so I didn't go to theater school.

[14:32] I went to school for accounting and I was like a theater minor at both of the colleges I attended.

[14:38] And, you know, there was never like a robust theater history class that I ever took, which usually are like not the greatest theater history classes because they only teach like white theater.

[14:48] But regardless, like I find myself in situations where I'm like, no, I've actually never read any, you know, Henrik Ibsen.

[14:59] And so people are making these analogies that I'm like, sorry, don't get it.

[15:05] No. So yeah, I think that would be it.

[15:07] Like read a little bit more and like really devote the time to theater that is necessary for a career because you're going to have it.

[15:15] Yeah. Okay. So you've mentioned before that musicals and Spanish spoken musicals are taking a place in festivals and hopefully on Broadway.

[15:29] I want to know, what do you think, what is visibility and representation?

[15:35] You know, so I think it can find root in many ways.

[15:40] You know, as a kid in the Heights was visibility and representation to me.

[15:44] But I was a kid from South Texas that had no concept of what Washington Heights was.

[15:51] And, you know, it was just because there's a bunch of Latinos on stage singing.

[15:56] That was visibility and representation. And then I kind of grew up and I realized like this is an amazing story, but it's not necessarily my story per se.

[16:07] And so, you know, I think there's a lot of it's like a wide definition.

[16:13] But being able to see like a very specific part of you on stage, I think even if it's only for a couple of seconds is incredibly just like affirming to your personality.

[16:28] I don't remember the name of the show right now, but I saw a show at the 14th Street Y here in New York City a little bit ago.

[16:37] And it was about a Mexican family coming to grips with like the loss of their grandmother.

[16:43] And there was like a magical realism aspect of it.

[16:47] But at one point, the mother just breaks out into singing Volver by Chabela Vargas.

[16:55] And I was like, oh, and my heart just like broke because this is a song I grew up listening to.

[17:03] Every like Saturday when my grandma wanted us to clean and like it was just I just melted and I was like, this is it.

[17:13] You know, the production itself was great.

[17:15] And, you know, some people I saw like or some people that saw it felt like there was flaws and things like that.

[17:20] But that moment in and of itself was enough for me to go.

[17:24] This is beautiful. This is perfect. This is representation.

[17:27] And so having those little moments on stage, even if it's only for five seconds.

[17:33] God, it feels so good.

[17:35] I love it. And yes, those small moments last a lifetime.

[17:41] I will never stop thinking about that moment on stage.

[17:45] Yeah. Yeah, because it brings so many memories to today and to that single moment when you are sharing that with the performers, with the rest of the audience.

[18:00] And it just fulfills us.

[18:03] Yeah, absolutely.

[18:05] So what do you think we can do to increase Latin visibility and representation on Broadway?

[18:13] I show up. It's just show up because at the end of the day, the bottom line is ticket sales.

[18:20] And that's, you know, especially on Broadway and in commercial ventures, the end, the end all be all is, is this show selling and how is this show selling?

[18:32] So you buy your tickets, buy them at full price.

[18:35] I know it's hard sometimes.

[18:38] And maybe go see the show five times and get discounted tickets four times, but one time buy a full price ticket because that makes the difference at the end of the day.

[18:47] You know, being a producer, looking at your budget, you're gonna, that's what you need to keep doing this.

[18:56] And that's what other, you know, theater owners are going to look at.

[19:01] You know, if Latinos aren't buying tickets to their own shows, then they're not going to be letting those shows into their theaters.

[19:09] So show up.

[19:09] Anytime there's a Latino work, show up.

[19:12] Yeah, absolutely.

[19:14] What is the most important part of creating Latin characters in musical theater?

[19:19] Because you just mentioned this experience with Volver, Volver by Chavela.

[19:25] And it meant in that moment, it meant the world to you.

[19:30] So what is for you the most important part of creating this Latin pieces and characters?

[19:36] I think, I mean, one of the major parts is having the person whose identity is represented writing them, you know, because at the end of the day, then they're writing about their own experience.

[19:46] And obviously that's going to be as authentic as possible.

[19:50] And I am one of the people that has like the hot take that you sometimes can write about a community that's not your own.

[19:59] Big like asterisks on the sometimes and all of that.

[20:03] But when you do, you need to be socializing it with the people that you are writing about and you need to make sure that that is authentic as possible.

[20:14] Because I understand that sometimes there's a story that you want to tell that is not exclusively yours.

[20:20] So make sure that that story does resonate with the people that you want it to resonate with and isn't like a caricature or isn't something that is going to come back to you at the end of the day and misrepresent a community.

[20:34] Because then you're doing a disservice and nobody wants that.

[20:37] Yeah, I agree on that.

[20:40] Ryan, if someone wants to work with you, contact you as this producer you mentioned earlier, call you one day and be like, hey, I want to work with you.

[20:52] Where can people find you?

[20:54] What are your social media handles and all of that information?

[20:57] You can find me everywhere at Ryan Duncan Ayala on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

[21:03] That's where I am.

[21:03] I don't answer Facebook messages, so try Instagram or Twitter.

[21:08] And yeah, I mean, I would be happy to chat with anybody that really is interested in talking about Latino theater and also producing.

[21:18] You know, this is what I love to do.

[21:20] And I'm so grateful that I'm getting the opportunity to do this.

[21:23] And I'm grateful that you're giving me the opportunity to share this story.

[21:26] No, thank you.

[21:27] It's been an honor and amazing for me to feature you, your story and your thoughts on Backstage Talk.

[21:36] Our wrap up question.

[21:38] What are your top five favorite musical theater shows?

[21:43] And since you said that you preferred plays, we can change it to plays.

[21:47] No, I think I can whittle out musicals since that's what this episode is about.

[21:52] I can.

[21:52] So number one is a recent change because this used to be like top five, but not number one.

[21:58] And then I saw it in person for the first time and I was not okay.

[22:02] Hadestown is by and far the best thing I've ever seen in my entire life.

[22:11] I was broken after that show.

[22:14] So Hadestown and then the rest of them are in like no specific order.

[22:19] In the Heights, obviously.

[22:21] Oliver is in there because it's like a hot take.

[22:24] I love the jam to Oliver.

[22:27] It was the first show.

[22:28] I'm glad we established that so I don't have to like really, really go into it.

[22:33] And then listen, Diana has to be in there.

[22:37] Thank you for mentioning Diana.

[22:39] Diana had to be in there.

[22:42] It's so funny.

[22:42] I realized the last time I was seeing it, seeing the closing performance, there's like purple light hitting her and I'm like, oh, this is Selena, but for white people.

[22:55] That's why I love this.

[22:57] I get it now.

[22:58] Yeah, and then number five, obviously The Band's Visit.

[23:02] It is just the most beautiful, quiet, slice-of-life musical that I have not had the honor of seeing yet.

[23:09] But every time I listen to it and read the script, it just breaks my heart and it's perfect.

[23:14] So yeah, I think that's my five.

[23:16] I love them all.

[23:17] Ryan, thank you so much for coming over.

[23:19] It's been amazing.

[23:21] I wish you the best.

[23:23] And before we started recording, you mentioned that you were going on tour.

[23:29] So good luck with that.

[23:31] And I cannot wait.

[23:33] Where you go next.

[23:35] I'll be on tour with Rent 25th Anniversary Farewell Tour until the end of May.

[23:40] So that is an incredible thing that I think by the time this episode comes out, I'll be like months on to the tour already, but it'll be wonderful.

[23:49] So if we're anywhere near you, let me know because that'll be so good.

[23:53] Yes.

[23:54] Thank you so much.

[23:55] Thank you.

[23:57] Thanks everyone for listening to this new episode of Backstage Talk.

[24:05] Remember to follow us on Facebook and Instagram at Backstage Talk Podcast.