“Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?” Frida Kahlo, an iconic Mexican painter, once said. She is admired by many and has been the subject of different forms of media, from movies to T-shirts to immersive exhibits. Soon, she’ll be the star of Broadway’s newest addition, a musical that will follow Kahlo’s life from Mexico City to Paris to New York and back again.
Kahlo was born in 1907 and died in 1954, at only 47 years old. At age 18, she got into a streetcar accident, damaging her spine and pelvis. She continued to paint, usually from her bed, and reminisced about her past. She also had an affair with Leon Trotsky during her marriage with Diego Rivera. Her story was filled with suffering, but also persistence and hope.
“Everyone knows a colder Frida, a suffering Frida, but she loved life,” said Valentina Berger, producer of the musical. “She was really, really fun. That’s what we want to portray. I used to have a sad view of Frida, like, ‘Oh, the poor woman.’ Now, knowing how she was so smart and so clever, I look up to her.” The production, entitled Frida: The Musical, will feature music by Jaime Lozano and lyrics by Neena Beber.
Berger and Lozano visited Kahlo’s family, listening to firsthand-accounts and gaining more insight into her life. The family recalled her joyful personality and how she would always tell stories. The playwrights hope to incorporate Kahlo’s light-hearted, passionate humor into the musical, as well as highlight the lesser-known details about her life, like how she would hide in her mother’s basement when her husband got violent.
Lozano, who immigrated from Mexico in 2007, found himself relating to Kahlo’s life. “She is such an inspiration, not only as an artist but also as a warrior,” he said. “With everything she went through, she kept fighting, making her own art, telling her own story. As a Mexican, to be telling this story and bringing this authenticity to the show, I feel really honored.”
10 songs have been written for the musical so far, and 2 of them have already been presented at the “American Songbook” series at Lincoln Center in April. The musical is planned to open on Broadway in 2024.
“Why are people still doing Shakespeare? Why are people still finding ways to make ‘Hamlet’ exciting?” queried Beber. “I think there’s room for multiple Fridas. We want to bring our own passions, love, interests, pain to her story. Let there be many Fridas.”
Kahlo was born in 1907 and died in 1954, at only 47 years old. At age 18, she got into a streetcar accident, damaging her spine and pelvis. She continued to paint, usually from her bed, and reminisced about her past. She also had an affair with Leon Trotsky during her marriage with Diego Rivera. Her story was filled with suffering, but also persistence and hope.
“Everyone knows a colder Frida, a suffering Frida, but she loved life,” said Valentina Berger, producer of the musical. “She was really, really fun. That’s what we want to portray. I used to have a sad view of Frida, like, ‘Oh, the poor woman.’ Now, knowing how she was so smart and so clever, I look up to her.” The production, entitled Frida: The Musical, will feature music by Jaime Lozano and lyrics by Neena Beber.
Berger and Lozano visited Kahlo’s family, listening to firsthand-accounts and gaining more insight into her life. The family recalled her joyful personality and how she would always tell stories. The playwrights hope to incorporate Kahlo’s light-hearted, passionate humor into the musical, as well as highlight the lesser-known details about her life, like how she would hide in her mother’s basement when her husband got violent.
Lozano, who immigrated from Mexico in 2007, found himself relating to Kahlo’s life. “She is such an inspiration, not only as an artist but also as a warrior,” he said. “With everything she went through, she kept fighting, making her own art, telling her own story. As a Mexican, to be telling this story and bringing this authenticity to the show, I feel really honored.”
10 songs have been written for the musical so far, and 2 of them have already been presented at the “American Songbook” series at Lincoln Center in April. The musical is planned to open on Broadway in 2024.
“Why are people still doing Shakespeare? Why are people still finding ways to make ‘Hamlet’ exciting?” queried Beber. “I think there’s room for multiple Fridas. We want to bring our own passions, love, interests, pain to her story. Let there be many Fridas.”
