Fil-Am theater director gives audiences a peek behind the scenes

Filipino American Jay Españo (left), artistic director of PrideArts, directing the cast of the musical “[title of show]” during rehearsals. CONTRIBUTED

CHICAGO — Filipino American actor and director Jay Españo is inviting audiences to see what it is like to do behind-the-scenes work for a theater organization with, what else, a show that is about putting up a show.

He is helming the musical “[title of show]” for PrideArts, where he is the artistic director.

In this musical by Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell, two self-confessed nobodies in New York, make a pact to create an original musical to submit to a festival. With a looming deadline, the pair decide to follow the adage “write what you know” and set off to write a musical about writing a musical.

The show kicks off PrideArts’ 2024-2025 season. Españo aims to let audiences get to know him and the organization a little better through the show.

“The show is about creating something out of nothing. It deals with the challenges that happens in and out of theater and how it affects the lives of people involved,” says Españo, who is on his third year as artistic director.

“This musical draws a lot of parallelism with what’s happening to us at PrideArts.”

Evolving

“We are still evolving as a company. like the characters in the show, I am still learning as we go. The musical explores the creative process, collaboration, frustration, self-doubt. I’ve experienced all that in my work as an artistic director as I navigate what our next move will be.”

When he stepped into the role of artistic director, Españo made a conscious effort to diversify the organization’s play selection and feature playwrights of different backgrounds, new voices, new stories that local audiences have never seen before.

“Last year, we had a Singaporean play and a controversial play about the HIV crisis in the Black community,” he says. “The challenge is always how to market these unfamiliar shows and entice new audiences to come to the theater.”

The group refuses to become complacent. “After every production, we sit down, debrief and discuss what worked, what didn’t work, what can we do better next time.”

Nurturing

Españo is thankful for the prevailing dynamic of the city’s theater milieu. “The Chicago theater community reminds me of Manila’s,” he says.

Before moving to the US, Españo was part of the actor’s company of Tanghalang Pilipino, the resident theater group of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

“It’s tight-knit and everyone kind of knows everyone else. Unlike New York where the constant energy of competition is palpable, Chicago tends to be more nurturing, more supportive of theater artists.”

This year, PrideArts is also collaborating with Fil-Am theater group Circa-Pintig. “We will be celebrating Filipino American History Month in October starting with a slate of activities,” he says.

“I’m so excited to bring in Filipino stories to our audience. My dream is that, one day, we’ll be able to produce an all-Filipino production.”

“[title of show]” runs Aug. 23 to Sept. 2, 2024. Visit pridearts.org

Walter Ang is the author of Barangay to Broadway: Filipino American Theater. Available at Amazon, Bookshop and other online booksellers.