This week’s campus celebrity is senior Paola Sanchez Abreu who will be performing as Esperanza in the Theatre School’s production of Esperanza Rising. The play will open at the Merle Reskin Theatre on October 8th and will run until November 14th, 2015. More information can be found here.
We’d like to thank Paola for letting us interview her during her busy rehearsal schedule!
Name: Paola Sanchez Abreu
Hometown: Milford, Connecticut
Year, Major: BFA 4, Acting Major with a minor in Latino/Latin American Studies
Tell us about your role as Esperanza. What’s your favorite thing about her?
I’m having an incredible time working on Esperanza Rising. I have a lot of feelings about this play and how it speaks about migration and cultural integration today, and I think that Esperanza can represent the stories of a lot of United States occupants. We are all immigrants here; whether you be from 7 generations ago or you just arrived on the land a year ago, you have a migration story in your history. You share the same story as Esperanza, the story of uprooting and planting yourself in new soil. Esperanza is brave and resilient, however spoiled she may seem at first, and her journey reflects the culture of this country.
How long have you been performing?
I have been performing since the 3rd grade in little things here and there, but I never really became invested in the theatre as a career until high school.
What’s your dream role and why?
My dream role is every-changing depending on where I am in my life, but one role I must play before dying is Madame Armfeldt in A Little Night Music, which is my favorite Sondheim of all. I really would love to experience what it is to be an extremely old, wealthy matriarch who own a huge estate with maids and butlers, and I would really love to explore what it is to regularly liaison with royalty. Elaine Stritch so beautifully performed the role when I first saw the play in 2010, and ever since I have been taken with this character.
Do you have any interests outside of theatre?
I have many interests outside of the theatre! I am a very dedicated yogi, and have been practicing yoga for about 6 or 7 years. I love to run and try to get out as much as possible, as long as it’s above 30 degrees. I also love to read, especially if I can be outside to do so, and writing poetry is also a favorite pastime of mine. I love football, (Go Giants!), so fall is my favorite season because all of these things can happen in the fall! I also, strangely, really enjoy cleaning.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Yikes, that’s a terrifying question for a near graduate! Hopefully, in five years, I will be living somewhere that I love, teaching yoga regularly, booking gigs, singing in a band, spending time with brilliant people, working with urban youth on cultural identity development, maybe writing a play, maybe in an awesome relationship with a gorgeous human? Hopefully, in five years, I will be happy and healthy and functional!
What is the most important thing you’ve learned from The Theatre School?
This is tough because The Theatre School has taught me so much in so many different ways. The one thing that comes to mind right now that is most valuable in my life right now is the importance of building community. I think often, when you are in a school with the same people in your class for four years, it gets really easy to disconnect and become jaded. The Theatre School has taught me how to become reinvested, always, not only in my work, but in the people that surround me. Growing and building relationships within a small community can never be a task that you finish, because there will always be more to learn from another person, even if you’re spoken to them a million times. Not only does it allow you to grow as a person, but also as an independent artist, we must remember that your business depends a lot on the people you know and how well they know, love, and trust you!
What advice would you give to prospective theatre school students?
To prospective Theatre School students, I would say that college is the time to really learn and grow yourself as a human in the greater world. It is okay and exciting to try new things and have your mind blown way by things you never thought you would explore. That being said, always be sure that the choices you make are healthy for your body and mind, and that they bring you happiness.