Photos by T Charles Erickson
Next week, the national touring company of Hadestown, winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards (including Best Musical) and the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, rolls into Boston for a limited run at the Boch Center Wang Theater, April 23-28. Theater Mirror’s Mike Hoban caught up with Amaya Braganza, ‘Hadestown’s’ Eurydice to talk about her transition from child performer to Broadway lead.
By Mike Hoban
Theater Mirror: I know that you did Annie on Broadway when you were 10, and obviously, they didn’t just pick you out of a crowd, so how did your career start?
Amaya: I grew up in California and started doing musical theater in community shows when I was about five. My first show was Annie, as one of the orphans – and I still have a picture from that show. When I was eight, I was part of a musical theater program where we took dance classes and did competitions and shows. That’s where I met my best childhood friend, Mia. She told me about this open call in New York for Annie on Broadway and we decided to go. Her mom had airplane and hotel points, and they took me to New York. It was an open call, and I think there were almost 1000 people there, with a bunch of kids lined up outside of a New York high school. I did the open call, and then I kept getting callbacks throughout the week, and then I ended up booking the show and found I had a real love for theater.
TM: What kind of job did your mom have that allowed you to stay in New York?
Amaya: She was a teacher but quit her teaching job and became a stay-at-home mom. She had time for all of our extracurricular activities, and I chose theater and the arts. So, it was easier for her to make that move to New York, but it was difficult because my dad and older sister were back home in California. We were separated for a few months when I was working, but they would try to visit New York cause as often as they could.
TM: What about school?
Amaya: My mom was a teacher, so she homeschooled me. Later, when I did The King and I (in 2015), where you’re doing rehearsals all day, the company provided tutors.
TM: Tell me about the Braganza Sisters (a singing trio she formed with her sisters). Are they really your sisters and do they perform in theater too?
Amaya: Yes, they really are my sisters. My younger sister and I actually did The King and I on Broadway and on tour together. I grew up performing with them ever since I could speak. My older sister was the first one to get into acting and performing, but as I say a lot, being Filipino, I feel like it’s ingrained in our culture. The karaoke machines are always out at my grandma’s house. Every time we go over to her house, she forces us all to sing, even my mom and my dad; everybody has to perform, so it’s always been a big part of my life.
I grew up singing with my sisters, and they also perform in touring shows as well. So we said, ‘We all sing and are interested in this, so why don’t we create music together?’ And I think what’s so special about creating our own music is that we’re often in shows, telling someone else’s story, and it’s nice to create our own stories and have autonomy over the art we want to create. It feels more personal to us and to who we are as artists. And working with your sisters, we have that connection like no other because we get each other.
TM: I know that a Filipino actor originated the role of Eurydice in Hadestown, and you said in a previous interview that “Eurydice was my dream role because she embodies qualities that are present within Filipino culture,” Can you expand on that for me?
Amaya: I don’t know if it necessarily follows Filipino culture specifically, but I do think that, in many ways, Eurydice’s experience is mirrored by a person of color’s experience. I think growing up in the industry, especially from a young age, you didn’t really see characters like me. I would audition and often see characters that fell into the hegemonic view of what an Asian woman should be, and I feel like Eurydice really defies the odds in terms of the strength that she has and that resiliency and, in many ways, the way she navigates the world – especially a world that’s not built for her and that consistently like marginalizes her. It’s very similar to a woman of color’s experience in terms of doing whatever you can to survive and that strength that we have to hold in terms of living in a world in a system that oppresses us.
TM: I actually saw a touring production at the Hanover Theatre last year, and Lana Gordon was in that show and was added to this tour (as Persephone). What’s it like working with a Broadway veteran like Lana, and what has the experience been like from a learning perspective?
Amaya: I feel so blessed to be sharing the stage with her. She’s just so talented, and to see that fire on stage… I grew up working around other Broadway and Tony award-winning legends like Kelly O’Hara, and you learn a lot from them in terms of their work ethic. Working with Lana, I feel so lucky to be sharing the stage with her, especially seeing such a strong woman of color on stage. It’s very inspiring and empowering and I learned from her in terms of advocating for myself. And she’s also a wonderful person off-stage.
TM: Hadestown is one of the most original Broadway shows I’ve seen in recent years, and the score is amazing, but it also has a much deeper message, specifically about income inequality and the divide between the haves and the have-nots; I mean, Hell is literally a sweatshop factory, so I don’t think it’s really a stretch…
Amaya: Absolutely.Even though it’s Greek mythology, it contains many important themes that relate to today’s world, especially immigration and capitalism. Climate change is also a really big part of it.
TM: Well, it is Hell.
Amaya: I love this story because it’s both a present and a timeless piece, and it presents that material in a poetic and nuanced way.
For more information and tickets, go to: https://www.bochcenter.org/events/detail/hadestown.
