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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 Roberto Araujo. I have the honor and the privilege to have him over. He is a freelance photographer. He's a performer, a singer, a dancer, but also he's the director of video production at Playbill. And a lot of us know pretty well what that company and organization does because a lot of us have a wall full of the Playbills they give us at shows. So Roberto, I am super honored to have you over. Welcome to Backstage Talk.

[1:35] Roberto Araujo: Thank you, Martín. The pleasure is totally mine. I love your podcast and I love the work you do, so it's really exciting to be here with you sharing thoughts.

[1:46] Martín Acuña: Yes. Roberto, first thing I want to ask you is what made you choose the thespian path in life?

[1:54] Roberto Araujo: Well, picture it. Mexico City, 1983. I'm changing my age here. No, when I was very young, I think I always had that inclination for singing and dancing. I was fortunate enough to have family that at first they appreciated it. And you could see videos of me at my three-year-old birthday party singing with my sisters and my cousins dancing behind me. And that was encouraged. And then I was very lucky because I went to a high school that had a really great theater company. They were very popular for the theater company and people would come to our school because of the theater company. So I auditioned for them when I was 14. And the first show I did with them was Guys and Dolls. And that was the beginning of this crazy journey.

But yeah, I did a bunch of shows with them. Years later, I auditioned for Disney and I worked for the Disney Special Events Group. I toured Colombia and I was around Bogota and Cali and Medellin, toured Brazil and toured Mexico with Disney shows, which is different than Disney theatrical. Disney Special Events Group is like a different division of the company. But yeah, it certainly, at a very young age, it reinforced the fact that I could make a living with my singing and my dancing.

[3:46] Martín Acuña: I love it. So tell me a little bit more in depth about this journey in musical theater, from performing all the way to New York and Broadway and your current role as the director of video production at Playbill.

[4:02] Roberto Araujo: Well, I feel like as an actor, it was unlikely for me to end up where I am now. But now that I look back and when I think about questions like this, I realize that it was all connected all the time. So when I was little, I loved singing and dancing, as I've established before. But also I loved, I found my family's video camera and I used to like, do like car chase scenes with my toys. And I would find like a little, like something to put the camera on so I could like, make like a dolly for it. And then I had like three VCRs where I plugged them in together so I could edit everything together and add different music. So even though I didn't have the equipment, the right equipment, I did have the resourcefulness and the imagination to solve those issues.

So there's the video aspect of it. And then photography, I love visual arts. So I was always interested in video and photography are very connected because you are seeing life through a lens, through a tiny little box. So I feel like that also influenced my eye as a photographer. But I was also very curious. When I was in shows since high school, I would go around and hang out with the techs and be like, hey, so what's the name of that light? And so that movement that the spotlight's doing, what is that called? Okay. And why does the microphone go there? And like, what happens if the microphone does this? And just questions all the time, curiosity. It really sparked something in my creativity.

And it wasn't until years later, oh, when I was working on ships, I worked on cruise ships for a really long time. And I had access to, I had a video camera, but I also had access to the video equipment from the ship. So I had a solo show that I had recorded at six cameras. And then I got all the footage. And then I edited the footage. But also I knew what takes I wanted. So I would tell the guys, so in this part of the song, so I'm walking forward, so go from my feet, pan up. So I always had that eye. And then when I went on tour with Fame to China, that's when I first, when I got my first digital camera. And when you're working with 20 actors who are willing to get photographed all the time, it was easy for me to practice with them, just like playing around.

And then when I came back, I invested in the equipment and always learning and always reading and watching YouTube tutorials. And also one of my mentors, my photography mentor, Oscar Ponce, which is an incredible Mexican photographer. Whenever I was in Mexico, I would spend days with him just absorbing anything he would share with me. And yes, and on the video side, I do have to mention Sean Meehan. He has been an incredible teacher and friend on the video side of things, because anytime that I had a question about a lens, about the exposure of something, I would text him and he would show up and teach me everything and share his knowledge. So I owe my mentors a lot. But I think my mantra for this is there's no fault in not knowing something, but there is fault in not wanting to learn.

And I've always wanted to learn things. So I think that's, I started doing freelance photography for Playbill and then they lost their director of video, it was their video content manager, and they offered me the position. And that was my first professional video gig. And four years later, here we are.

[9:06] Roberto Araujo: Yeah, here we are with, in the middle, hopefully closer to the end of a pandemic in which Playbill also has turned around the game, right? And you've spearheaded all of that, like video transformation for the organization.

[9:19] Martín Acuña: Yes, it was a wild time because we are mainly a publication, like we, the Playbill brand is the Playbills that you get at the theater and that you take a picture of the stage when you get to the theater, you put it on your Instagram story. We are also a website, playbill.com. It's a news website and we do features and that's where the video element comes in. So during the pandemic, there was no magazine, there was no theaters to give out this free magazine to people. So we had to pivot and come up with ways of staying afloat. One of those things was producing this massive concerts. I think the, I believe the first one was for Pride and it was the Pride Spectacular. And so we're talking about June of 2020.

So yeah, June of 2020, there was no vaccine. We didn't know what was going on. It was such a scary time, but we came up with this idea and we came up with this concept of, so the actors who are going to be in this, the talent who is going to be in this concert, they're going to record their videos on their phones and then we're going to send them the music separately and they're going to record with their earbuds and then we're going to mix the sound separately and then I'm going to sync everything together and edit the duets and the, all with videos that people sent me. It was really scary, but also it was really an open, it was a blank canvas for me to create whatever I wanted to create visually.

And that was really fun. So we produced about, oh, I can't remember, but maybe like eight virtual concerts. And then that led to me getting a job directing the New York City Gay Men's Chorus holiday show with Tony nominee, Elle Morgan Lee from A Strange Loop. She was our host. It really opened up and a new door for me. As well in January of 2021, I directed and produced a Mexican, a virtual concert of a Mexican musical called Anjou, A Tale of Horror with a stellar Broadway cast, including Julia Murney, Bianca Marroquin, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Jelani Remy, Caroline Bowman, and more. But really the creativity that sparked out of that, it was, it was really remarkable. It was a, it was remarkable in a very scary time.

[12:38] Martín Acuña: Yeah. Roberto, I want to ask you about what's your approach to video creation and photography in musical theater, because you've had the chance to take pictures, not only on red carpets, but on the studio of Broadway's biggest stars. Like you've been around Broadway Royals. What's your approach to all of this visual creation?

[13:08] Roberto Araujo: It sounds really basic. I want to put people, I want to showcase talent in the best light. Not only literally, but figuratively. I want people to shine. I want to give them the platform to showcase their work. I want to open a space for people to be creative. My main thing is I don't want the work to be about myself. I don't want to be in the video. I don't want it to be, I of course want my credit, like you'll watch the credits and that'll be a credit, but, but it's not about me. Like D.D. Allen would say in the prom, it's, it's not about me. And, and I think that's the main thing for me and why the, the content at Playbill has changed so much. I've been lucky enough to create about, like eight different series to showcase talent.

I created a series called From Ballet to Broadway, where I interview people who have gone from their roots in ballet to, and transferred to Broadway including the incredible legend Chita Rivera. She's one of my interview, one of my favorite interviews. Tony award winner, Christopher Wilden. He's also in that, in that series.

[14:49] Roberto Araujo: I've also created Playbill the Game Show, which is a Jeopardy-style show where cast members from different shows come in and we test them on their Broadway knowledge. Elevator Pitch, which is a series where we do an interview and a performance all at the legendary Feinstein's 54 Below. We start in the green room, in the dressing room on the 10th floor and then we start walking around and we get in the elevator as we're interviewing. We go down all the way to the basement and then we get on the stage to end the interview with a performance, all in one single shot. So really it's, again, not about me, it's about the talent and one of the things that someone, one of the guests that we've had on Elevator Pitch, she said to me that she loved the series because that was her only time that she had done publicity for a show where it wasn't about the show, it was about her.

And because the questions are about what Broadway show would you go and see if you could travel back in time, you know, things like that. So it is light but it's also about them and getting to know the personalities who are our guests. So yes, I think that's the main philosophy, always putting the talent in their best light. I want them to shine. And also, I'm talking a lot. And also, if I have access to this talent, why wouldn't I want to put them in the spotlight? If I can do an interview with the incredible Donna Murphy, why wouldn't I give her the time? And it's not about me. I don't want this to be about myself. It's about Donna Murphy or it's about El Morgan Lee. I want the focus on the talent and people's work, which is, it's really a privilege to be in my position to be doing that. I love it. I love it.

[17:13] Martín Acuña: Roberto, what piece of advice would you give a younger version of yourself?

[17:21] Roberto Araujo: I would say to myself, I would say, keep asking questions, stay curious, stay resourceful, and don't feel like you need to choose one thing. You can sing and dance and take photos and make videos and direct and lighting design, and you can do it all to a level of excellence that makes you stand out, and that will let your work live on and be passed on. It's very interesting to work at Playbill in the sense that I pinch myself every day. I've been in New York for 23 years. I have boxes and boxes of Playbills, of the shows that I've done, and to see my name in every Playbill that is given out at every Broadway theater, it blows my mind. I am so proud of the brand, and I want nothing else but really to be able to represent the brand with quality and elevating the content.

I want the brand to be known for that, for the excellent work that it does. I love it. I absolutely love it. Thank you. That is the advice that I would give to myself, because that was the original question, and I veered into a different thing. Yes, stay curious. Stay resourceful. You can do it all and do excellent work in all the things you choose to do.

[19:31] Martín Acuña: Let's pivot into Latinx people in musical theater. You are one of the few content creators that are Hispanic or belong to the Latinx community that covers Broadway in every shape, way, or form as Playbill does. What is visibility and representation for you?

[19:57] Roberto Araujo: Visibility and representation. Let me tell you a quick story that I just thought of. I went to the dress rehearsal of the Tonys, and I gasped, and I was so excited when I heard a bilingual voiceover. Not that they spoke Spanish, but to give you an example, it was so exciting to hear a voiceover that said, and the nominees for Best Design are Arnulfo Maldonado. It wasn't Arnulfo Maldonado. I don't know how many people noticed it, but I was so excited. Then they said, Santo Locuasto. It was so exciting that whoever hired that person, well done, because if I could tell you how many times I have to spell my name, which is not a difficult name, whenever I introduce myself, we need more of that. Not only on the stages, because yes, there are many Latinx performers and a few Hispanic performers, not many, but we need more of that everywhere.

We need more casting directors who are Latino or Hispanic. Today, I was at a press event, and I looked around, and I didn't really see many people who looked or sounded like me in the press corp, because there's a consistent group of the press that is always covering Broadway, specifically theater, Broadway.com and Broadway World and Theater Mania, among others. I think there's one press agent, and she is Latina, but I really can't think of many. And I feel like if we want to make a difference, it has to go way back, not only the people on the stages. It has to go to casting directors and producers, because those are the people who have the power to put the people in the spotlight, which is my whole point about my position.

In my position, I want to give other people a platform to showcase their work and to showcase their talent, and we need more of that. I also feel like we need more stories. We need more stories that represent our experience, not only the immigrant experience, not only the drug cartel experience. We are more than that. The Latinx community is more than the immigrant experience and the drug cartels. We can tell all kinds of stories, like Anjou, the concert that I did, and it's a musical that is 100% Mexican, and you can hear it in the DNA of the music and the DNA of the plot and the structure of the dramaturgy, and it's not about the immigrants who cross the border in the back of the truck. It's about Queen Catherine of Medici and her son, Henry III, and it can be told by anyone.

That's what I feel I'm lacking, that we're lacking here in this theater community in New York. I'm excited to see where we're going because there are those people who are creating that work and those stories. They're out there, but we need to go to the root of the problem. We need Latinx teachers. We need Latinx musical theater teachers, and, again, costume directors and dance teachers and voice teachers. It's all from the root, and it's a wide spectrum of needs. I believe the people are there, but the opportunities aren't that many. We need the people who create the opportunities to be on our side and to be from our side as well.

[25:23] Martín Acuña: Yeah, absolutely, and I love these two ways of increasing Latin visibility and representation on Broadway. On one side, we need more stories, and we need more people, as you just said, from our side on our side, and also this initiative that you had with Playbill that you took a Mexican musical theater play and you translated it all the way to English to produce this virtual concert. I love these two ways of increasing our rep and our visibility and everything the Latin people has to give to Broadway. Roberto, if someone wants to work with you to maybe do a photo shoot with you to see your work, besides what you just mentioned that is on Playbill's website, where can people find you?

[26:07] Roberto Araujo: Well, people can find me on Instagram at Roberto Araujo Photography. On Twitter, you can find me at Bobby Araujo. My website is robertoaraujophotography.com, and if anything else fails, go to playbill.com or the Playbill YouTube channel, and you can also see my work there, and I'd be more than happy to collaborate and create with anyone. I love it, and before we wrap up, one last question or surprise question. Which are your top five favorite musical theater shows? Only five? Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. This is too hard. Okay. This might change, but we'll see. I'm going to start with the most awarded show this season, Company. I love it. Obviously, Stephen Sondheim's work is incredible, and it's always there.

It's always on the list. It's always on the list. After that, I'm going to go with The Last Five Years. After that, I'm going to go with Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. After that, I'm going to go with Bridges of Madison County. I'm going to throw a new one there. My fifth one is going to be Gypsy. Love it. Yes, it's a mix of the classic and the more contemporary but yeah, those would be my five shows for today. I love it.

[28:31] Martín Acuña: Roberto, thank you so much for coming over to Backstage Talk because you've shared very valuable thoughts on our industry and our work as Latinx people. Thank you so much for what you're doing at Playbill. I really cannot wait to see you and the rest of the things you and Playbill are doing because I know they are great. Thank you so much for coming over.

[28:59] Roberto Araujo: Thank you, Martín, for having me and for opening this space for not only me but for all the Latinx people who have something to say and something to bring up to the plate. I appreciate your work. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[29:16] 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.