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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.

[0:50] Martín Acuña: Hello everyone, welcome back to another episode of Backstage Talk. Today's guest is Xavier Reyes. He was born in Puerto Rico, where he started performing during his fourth grade of elementary school, thanks to his dad who encouraged him to attend his first life-changing rehearsal. Xavier spent two years working and studying drama at the University of Puerto Rico, and then left in 2010 to get his Bachelor in Fine Arts in Acting at Ithaca College. Xavier says, my people influence me every day. All the hard-working, passionate Latinos out there that are the ones that keep my wheels spinning. He was part of the Kinky Boots National Tour. He was also part of In the Heights in Puerto Rico, and he just finished a run with Kinky Boots again. Xavier, I am honored to have you here. Welcome to Backstage Talk.

[1:52] Xavier Reyes: Thank you for having me. The honor is all mine. Being with you and sharing space and conversation is a privilege for the arts community, so thank you for having me.

[2:02] Martín Acuña: I want to start with knowing what made you choose the Thespian path in life, so tell us a little bit about that story of your rehearsal in fourth grade.

[2:12] Xavier Reyes: Oh my god, yeah, that play musical I did, I call it a play-sicle, it was a play with music. I still remember driving with my father after school, elementary school, fourth grade, one day home, and he proposed the question, hey, do you want to be part of the show happening at the Fine Arts Center here? Do you want to be in the ensemble? You're going to be just a few characters, no lines, nothing, and I said, yes. Without a second thought, I said, absolutely. I think that's what I want, even though I don't know anything about this artistic world, and I showed up, and honestly, it was love at first sight. The director was called Victoria Espinoza, a very amazing, famous director here in the Caribbean, and to have her, this goddess, describe the theater as a temple, as a sacred place, really traumatized me in a good way.

It was love at first sight. I said, this is what I want for the rest of my life, and I remember having the whole cliché moment of stepping out of a rehearsal once, and going to the stage, and being alone, and saying, oh my god, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life, and that's, yeah, I remember that clearly. Wow.

[3:28] Martín Acuña: I love it. I love it, and since then, you went to college for drama, and then acting in the States, and how did you end up in musical theater, and performing in musical theater? Tell us a little bit about that journey.

[3:41] Xavier Reyes: Absolutely. So, it also first continued, and started in church, and home. You know, I would perform, and sing at church, and at home, I would force my family, and neighbors to see me perform in shows that I would schedule in my backyard, or in my living room. My brother was the tech guy. He was the sound and lights guy, and then I decided my family saw how I was passionate about this, and then I went to a performing arts school program that was after school, so I would go there. I got a scholarship, and I enrolled in the musical theater program, so I would take vocal classes, dance, everything. It kept evolving. I kept getting more obsessed with it. I did musicals here in Puerto Rico, and then I decided to audition for colleges in the U.S., and that's when I decided to go to Ithaca College, and dissect, study, perfect my craft, and then after that, I've been working non-stop since.

Thank you. Thanks to the universe, and the craft, I will say, but mostly my journey has been about a lot of growth. You know, each show I do builds me. Each is a stepping stone. It specifies exactly what I want to do as a storyteller, and that's my musical theater journey summarized.

[5:05] Martín Acuña: I love it. I love it. So what's your approach to performing in musical theater, since you just stated that every show builds a better version of yourself, builds more of you?

[5:18] Xavier Reyes: That's a beautiful question. My approach varies depending on where I'm at in my artistic journey, perpendicular to where I'm at, and working, and feeling with my life. So every show is very different in a beautiful way, but my most general and regular approach is I ask myself a lot. I ask myself a lot of questions, and I'm always in constant conversation with myself, so I ask myself, does my heart skip a beat for the show that I'm about to do? Is it a story that I want to tell? Is it a director that I want to work with? Or some basic questions like, do I need this money right now? Because sometimes as an actor, you do it because it's a story you want to tell, or you need the coin, or you want the credit, but mostly, and then obviously my approach will also sit on my foundation, which is my training, preparation, doing research.

If it's a vocally demanding show, I work on my voice, my water intake. I make sure that I have a specific diet. If it's a heavy dance track, I make sure that I am stretching prior to the show, taking dance classes, working out. It's all preparation, and it's all sitting on my foundation, my training about how to approach the craft.

[6:49] Martín Acuña: I love it. Amazing. So what piece of advice would you tell a younger version of yourself?

[6:56] Xavier Reyes: That everything and anything your heart desires is possible, for real. I always tell people, the sky is the limit, and that sounds cheesy, but according to science, where does the sky end? What's the sky? I mean, we keep going up and up towards the cosmos and the universe, so if there's no sky, then there's no limit. And I lately throw around the word a lot, YOLO, because it sounds, again, cheesy. It's been commercialized, but it's true. You do only live once. So I want to tell every kid, do whatever your heart desires. Follow your goals. You want to be an actor, a storyteller? Go for it. Don't let anyone cloud that desire and that impulse, and keep going. Keep pushing.

[7:44] Martín Acuña: I love it. I love it. That is such a great piece of advice, and as cheesy as it sounds, it's true.

[7:49] Xavier Reyes: Absolutely. Sometimes the cheesy phrases are the ones that get to the point.

[7:56] Martín Acuña: Yeah, absolutely. So you've had the opportunity to work with Broadway people, with Broadway casts on Broadway shows. What do you think is visibility and representation for you?

[8:10] Xavier Reyes: Those are two beautiful words that are very important today. For me, visibility is literally

[8:23] Xavier Reyes: Being seen. At least that is my usual demand. See me. Knock on the door. Hey, casting. See me for this role. Hey, director, see me. Consider me. I might not look the way your breakdown describes me, but see me. I promise you I can deliver the quality of work. I can surprise you with what I have to offer. See me. So for me, visibility is being seen. See me. Representation for me is seeing my stories and my people truthfully amplified on the stage. So it's all about seeing, feeling seen, being included in the conversation, in the creative process, in the product.

[9:16] Martín Acuña: Yeah, absolutely. So how do you think we can increase Latin visibility and representation on Broadway?

[9:22] Xavier Reyes: Latin visibility and representation on Broadway and in every platform can be increased by seeing us. And it sounds repetitive, but that's it. By employing us, by including us, inviting us, we've been proactively waiting. Let us share our craft with you, our story. For example, hearing the writers and the stories they want to tell about us, hire Latinx directors, choreographers, playwrights. It's a matter of including us, giving us space, a chair at the table, in the meetings, include us in the rehearsal, creative process, conversations. By including us in the casting too, by including us there, it will increase the representation. By seeing us, you are able to represent us. It's like a math equation. Sometimes I just saw it like that in my head. If you see us, then maybe we'll be represented. I don't know.

[10:42] Martín Acuña: Yeah, there's a link between the two. So yes, you've got the chance to perform in In the Heights. That is a very Latin show, but you've also had the chance to work with Kinky Boots. That is a not so Latin show. What has been the most important part of creating Latin characters in musicals for you?

[10:57] Xavier Reyes: Oh, wow. That is beautiful. And that's something I always strive to do. I always strive to bring myself, my identity, my story, my background, my people, my island into every story I create. That reminds me of I recently did the musical Hair, not recently, pre-COVID. And I remember I was given the chance to make my character a Latinx character. And everything about switching my character's name to picking what wig and hair I wanted to the outfit to my story felt so powerful. And then you get other Latinos in the audience seeing themselves through me, through this queer Latinx man that I created, because I was allowed to bring myself into the role. But what I always want to say, the most important part about creating Latin characters in musical theater is doing the actual research, toying with the word authenticity, and steering away from stereotypes that have been presented in the past by people who have an idea of what it means to be Latinx.

[12:26] And another part of it is also recognizing what stories we Latin peeps need and want to tell. What story do I, Xavier, want to tell? Because it's not only about giving a space. It's also asking me, hey, what's your story? What stories do you want to tell? So I always, I feel like I'm in paradise whenever I have a director that tells me, hey, what story do you want to tell? Who's your character? Bring yourself to the character. Perfect. I'll bring my Puerto Rican self to the character. And then I part from there. I grow from there. I love it. I mean, and it's just a precious opportunity to do that, to bring who we are fully, because it's not only one part of who we are, but fully bring to the table and give proposals to directors, to producers about who we are as Latin people.

[13:25] Absolutely. And fully without apology. It's so beautiful when we're allowed. And again, it goes back to seeing us. If you see me and you allow me to tell you the story, I promise you the product will be beautiful. I promise you there will be an impact. I promise you the show, the character, the story will instill some change, spark some thought, change something.

[13:46] Martín Acuña: Yeah, absolutely. So if someone wants to contact you, to work with you, to see what you've done, what you're doing right now, where can people find you?

[13:55] Xavier Reyes: Huh? Nowadays, you see, I'm that person that doesn't have Twitter or any of that. I do have Facebook, but I feel like Facebook is going obsolete. So I think the best option could be Instagram, which is my name and last name, followed by the word actor, which means Xavier Reyes, actor. Quite easy, quite simple, quite obvious, because somebody in college told me, if you add the word actor to your social media, it's going to do you good. So I did.

[14:37] Martín Acuña: I love it. I love it. Xavi, I have loved every second of this conversation. Thank you for being here, for being part of this Latinx in musical theater special. I have one last question for you.

[14:44] Xavier Reyes: Absolutely. And thank you for seeing us, by the way, and providing space and platform. That is very important and beautiful. So thank you for paving the way.

[14:56] Martín Acuña: Thank you. I am honored to be sharing all of these stories. So before we wrap up, what are your top five favorite musical theater shows?

[15:03] Xavier Reyes: Oh my God, my top five musical theater shows. I have so many, but I'll try to narrow it down. Oh, there's so many. I have to say my top three are, I have to say Rent, because Rent got me into musical theater. And I've done it so many times that I could keep doing it until I die. Rent, I have to say Next to Normal. I have to say In the Heights. And then, oh my God, there's so many. I love Jesus Christ Superstar. I love Titanic. Oh my God, that's five, but I could keep going.

[15:54] Martín Acuña: I know we could keep going until the end of time.

[15:59] Xavier Reyes: Until the end, there's so many. And it changes. The top three always stay there, but then the others change, and I keep adding and subtracting from my list.

[16:03] Martín Acuña: I love it. I love it. Sabi, thank you so much again. I am truly honored, and I cannot wait to keep seeing you grow, keep seeing you perform. And yeah, thank you so much for being here.

[16:15] Xavier Reyes: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.