Carolina Gaitán returns to New York at a key moment in her career, and she does so with raw emotion. The Colombian actress and singer — remembered worldwide for her performance in Encanto’s “No se Habla de Bruno” and for her time at the Oscars — now returns to the New York stage to star in VIDA, a powerful Off-Broadway monologue that combines theater, live music and a scenic narrative that explores ambition, identity and the price of fame.
The staging integrates live music and choreography inspired by Latin American rhythms such as salsa, cha cha chá, Latin jazz and son, creating a dynamic stage language that accompanies the character’s transformation throughout his emotional journey.
But New York is not new territory for her. Gaitán studied acting at the prestigious Lee Strasberg Theater & Film Institute, where he honed his technique and soaked up the city’s theatrical energy. “I really miss New York… coming back is an immense happiness for me,” confesses the artist, revealing the deep bond she maintains with the city that formed her artistically.
Now, that circle closes in a very special way when he returns to the New York stage, not as a student, but as the absolute protagonist of a story that also speaks of reinvention, identity and dreams that transform. VIDA will be presented at Repertorio Español (138 E 27th St, Manhattan) for a limited season, June 18-21. Keep reading the full interview with Carolina Gaitán and discover how VIDA becomes her most personal and powerful return to New York.
Carolina, after performing the song “There is no talk of Bruno” and performing at the Oscars, what does it mean to you to bring VIDA to New York, such an emblematic city for theater?
For me it is a dream come true. After having sung at the Oscars, having participated in Encanto, and so many series, films and plays throughout my career, VIDA represents a very great achievement because it is a very personal project.
It is a project designed for the Latin public of New York. And I say this because it vibrates with salsa, Cuban son, bolero… and because it is a story that the public of this city deserves to be told. I am very proud to present it, since it is a comic drama monologue written and directed by Colombian playwright Johan Velandia.
One might think that a monologue “cuts your nerves,” but that is not the case. You are going to laugh, you are going to be moved and you are going to live many experiences through a single protagonist who plays more than six different characters, each one with different accents.
The entire story develops through musical genres that are so beautiful, deep and melancholic, but at the same time so happy.
VIDA combines theater, live music and Latin American rhythms. What has been the challenge of integrating all these elements into a single stage experience?
It is a spectacular challenge, as you call it, but at the same time it is what I have trained for. I feel like musical theater is my thing.
Although I have done a lot of television and surely many people recognize me from the series, the movies or Encanto, musical theater is like coming home for me. It’s where I can be one hundred percent me: sing, dance, act and interpret.
So VIDA allows me to do everything I love to do on stage.
Your character, María, reinvents herself as Vida Santiago. What part of that transformation is closest or most challenging to you on a personal level?
The character tells the story of Vida Santiago. She starts out as María, but throughout the play she transforms and becomes Vida Santiago, a Cuban woman who is the one who finally narrates the story.
I think that all the characters I play complement, in some way, many fragments of my own life. Here we talk about migration, something that I also experienced when I left Colombia as Carolina.
Obviously, all of this is told through the characters. They also talk about identity: about how one maintains their culture, their idiosyncrasy, but at the same time blends into other more cosmopolitan cultures when they arrive in cities like New York or Los Angeles.
There are many themes that develop throughout the play in this comic drama format, and they are all connected to very human experiences.
The work explores ambition, identity and the price of fame. What message do you hope the public takes away about finding their own voice?
The circle that is built through the work is very beautiful. All the topics covered are very important and very valuable, and that is why I am so passionate about this project.
It is the story that I want to tell, the story that I feel people need to hear, that touches their hearts and that can transform something in their lives. Because those who enter to see LIFE — leave and are not the same ones who entered.
What is something that you think will greatly surprise the audience of the play?
I think what will surprise you the most is seeing a one-woman show in which a single actress plays more than six characters, telling the story through music and different songs.
In addition, topics so pertinent, so current and so important are addressed, that they will surely touch the fibers of each person in the audience.
