{"id":196783,"date":"2026-02-27T18:07:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T18:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/196783\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T18:07:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T18:07:14","slug":"how-gaby-moreno-made-it-from-guatemala-to-broadway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/196783\/","title":{"rendered":"How Gaby Moreno made it, from Guatemala to Broadway"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As a powerful blizzard<\/a> blankets the East Coast in snow, another force of nature is preparing to take over the chilly streets of Manhattan.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Gaby Moreno will make her Broadway debut as Persephone, the leading lady of Ana\u00efs Mitchell\u2019s Tony Award-winning musical \u201cHadestown<\/a>,\u201d beginning Tuesday at the Walter Kerr Theatre in New York City.<\/p>\n

Exploring themes of climate change to a New Orleans jazz- and American folk-laden soundtrack, \u201cHadestown\u201d \u2014 a retelling of the Greek myths of Hades and Persephone, as well as Orpheus and Eurydice \u2014 will open just as New York transitions out of the harsh winter. Moreno, 44, takes a video call from The Times during her second day of rehearsals, as she is learning how to play Persephone, goddess of spring \u2014 and in this play, a wine-drunk lush.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the first few minutes I was like, \u2018Can I do this? I feel like a klutz,\u2019\u201d she says of her character\u2019s flailing steps, meant to distinguish the inebriated goddess, who splits her time between the underworld and the surface of the Earth. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never been drunk because I don\u2019t like the taste of alcohol,\u201d says Moreno, giggling. \u201cBut there\u2019s a lot of numbers where I\u2019m drunk-singing and dancing around, so that\u2019s the acting part.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a theatrical performer of her own songs, Moreno feels firmly in her element on Broadway. But she arrives as a decorated musician who has woven Latin American, blues and soul traditions into nine bilingual albums \u2014 including her 2024 Grammy Award-winning acoustic album \u201cX M\u00ed (Vol. 1).\u201d <\/p>\n

For Moreno, who was born in Guatemala City, passion for musical theater was seeded during a trip to New York City with her family when she was 13 years old. That\u2019s when they saw \u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables\u201d and \u201cThe Phantom of the Opera\u201d on Broadway.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went back home [to Guatemala] thinking, this is a dream of mine,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n

But the trip to the Big Apple also illuminated another path for Moreno. Then just a starry-eyed Catholic schoolgirl, she remembers walking down Times Square and hearing a woman singing in the streets in a style unknown to her. Curious, she went up to the busker to ask her what type of music she was singing; it was the blues, she says. <\/p>\n

Moreno scored blues compilation albums she would bring back to her native Guatemala. Locked in her bedroom, the first track that played was Koko Taylor\u2019s 1965 rendition of \u201cWang Dang Doodle,\u201d the party anthem originally composed by Willie Dixon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the moment I\u2019ll never forget,\u201d says Moreno. <\/p>\n

She would absorb every cadence of the African American folk genre, <\/a>transfixed by the bewitching vocals of 1920s blues icons like Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey, as well as luminous jazz ballads by \u200aElla Fitzgerald, \u200aBillie Holiday and Nina Simone.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery musician should always try to find the roots to see where all that comes from,\u201d says Moreno of her early musical explorations. \u201cYou might discover something completely new.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing up as the proud daughter of Lucy Bonilla, one of Guatemala\u2019s most charming radio broadcasters, Moreno starred alongside her mother and sisters in a series of cheeky Salvadoran seasoning commercials<\/a>. She even recorded voice-overs for Central America\u2019s most beloved chicken restaurant chain, Pollo Campero.<\/p>\n

At 10 years old<\/a>, she performed as an opening act for Ricky Martin in 1991, to the credit of her father, a concert promoter who reeled international stars to Guatemala.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was such a wonderful experience. I got to discover that I loved singing on stage,\u201d says Moreno, who sang Disney songs as well as her own compositions. \u201cI felt right at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yearning to start a music career in the States \u2014 \u201cthat\u2019s where the [music I like] comes from,\u201d she says \u2014 Moreno recorded a cover of a popular Guatemalan waltz called \u201cLuna de Xelaj\u00fa.\u201d Her mother sent her demo to a producer in Miami, who then linked the young singer to a music manager in Los Angeles. <\/p>\n

At 18 years old, she signed a recording contract with Warner Brothers and moved to L.A. There she enrolled in the Musicians Institute\u2019s Vocal Certificate program<\/a>, which allowed her to apply for a student visa and remain in the U.S. <\/p>\n

With a deep passion for American blues and folk traditions, Moreno wondered if she could integrate those sounds with elements of Latin American folk music. But her label discouraged her from doing so, believing it would \u201cconfuse [the] audience,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took a while for me to find my own voice and to find where I belonged in this music world,\u201d says Moreno. \u201cBecause at the beginning, [labels] were telling me you can\u2019t sing in both languages \u2014 you gotta pick a lane.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following a disastrous 2001 merger between AOL and Time Warner<\/a>, Moreno\u2019s recording contract fell through. She later signed with Epic Records under Sony Music Entertainment \u2014 then run by Chairman and CEO Tommy Mottola \u2014 but they dropped the singer, following the decline in CD sales and rise of digital file-sharing sites like Napster<\/a> and Limewire<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t even get past recording an album,\u201d she says of this period in her life.<\/p>\n

Behind the scenes, Moreno formulated her own Spanish-language takes on jazz, which listeners can hear in the 2006 funky, spy-like chromatic track \u201cEscondidos<\/a>\u201d \u2014 which includes a kazoo solo in its outro. The enigmatic song earned her the Grand Prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest that year<\/a>, making it the first time a Latin category took home the top prize.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople kept telling me what to do, how to sound, what kind of music I should do, how I should dress. Blah, blah blah,\u201d says Moreno when she was under a label. \u201cAt some point I said, \u2018Screw it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

With nothing to lose \u2014 and no label looking to strip her of tender heart and free spirit \u2014 Moreno saw an opening to release music independently on MySpace, where she uploaded her 2008 debut album, \u201cStill The Unknown.\u201d (Much of Moreno\u2019s music is still archived on the social network<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\u201cIf all should fail you, there\u2019s still the unknown,\u201d sang Moreno with a warm, coffeehouse-friendly cadence in the title track. <\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe it\u2019ll work out, maybe it won\u2019t, but at least I\u2019ll be doing something that I really love,\u201d she adds, looking back on that time. After its debut, she says she gave a copy to her friend, composer Patrick Warren, who was touring with Tracy Chapman. The \u201cFast Car\u201d singer heard the LP and asked Moreno to open for her Our Bright Future tour in the summer of 2009.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just me and my acoustic guitar, going with [Chapman] for three weeks all over the U.S.,\u201d says Moreno.<\/p>\n

Moreno\u2019s ingenuity as an independent bilingual creative allowed her to freely partake in various opportunities in entertainment. Some might recognize her bubbly folk theme from the NBC mockumentary sitcom \u201cParks and Recreation,\u201d which stretched across seven seasons between 2009 and 2015.<\/p>\n

Others might recall her smokey vocals in the song \u201cMal Hombre,\u201d<\/a> as featured in Guillermo del Toro\u2019s \u201cCabinet of Curiosities\u201d<\/a> \u2014 or in the final season of Netflix\u2019s \u201cOrange is the New Black\u201d<\/a> which featured her heart-wrenching cover of the traditional Mexican huapango \u201cCucurrucuc\u00fa Paloma.\u201d She can also be heard in the 2022 animated film \u201cPuss in Boots: The Last Wish,\u201d singing a swooning ballad titled \u201cPor Que te Vas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Moreno declares she hasn\u2019t found mainstream success as a musician.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m perfectly fine with that. I am so happy at this point in my life where I can make music for a living, [which is] hard to do as an independent artist,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

For an indie artist, Moreno boasts an impressive slate of accolades. She\u2019s earned three Grammy nominations, including in the category of Latin pop album in 2017 for \u201cIlusi\u00f3n\u201d and Latin rock\/alternative album in 2022 for \u201cAlegoria.\u201d In 2024, she finally took home the gramophone for Latin pop album for her album \u201cX M\u00ed (Vol. 1),\u201d an acoustic medley of all her previously recorded songs, including the song that started it all: \u201cLuna de Xelaj\u00fa.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s powerful the way that water is flowing and it\u2019s light, but it\u2019s unstoppable and effervescent,\u201d says award-winning actor Oscar Isaac.<\/p>\n

A Guatemalan-born musician himself, Issac befriended Moreno in 2013. Emmy-nominated for his role in \u201cScenes From a Marriage,\u201d the actor was in town for the 2022 awards show when he and Moreno recorded \u201cLuna de Xelaj\u00fa\u201d at the Palace Theater in downtown L.A. The two would later perform the ballad live on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

For Isaac, the stresses of everyday life melted away when the two got to jam together. They\u2019ve performed a handful of times over the years, including live at the Lincoln Center for its American Songbook series in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I think of her, she feels very much like home,\u201d he adds. <\/p>\n

Guatemala \u2014 which is also known as the \u201cLand of the Eternal Spring\u201d \u2014 is always on Moreno\u2019s mind. <\/p>\n

Last year, she starred in \u201cLamento<\/a>,\u201d a musical short film made inside an abandoned Guatemalan beach resort; once a popular seaside destination known as Turicentro Likin, it is now tucked away behind the mangroves. Starring a stacked Guatemalan cast, including actor Tony Revolori, the project underlined the encroaching impacts of climate change that corrode once treasured memories, including those of Moreno, who grew up visiting the vacation destination. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something that brings me joy to work with people from my country,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

It was only fitting that the folk-soul singer would be selected to represent Persephone in \u201cHadestown\u201d \u2014 a victim of environmental destruction, yet whose duality brings life and prosperity back to a world that is constantly freezing or aflame.<\/p>\n

Yet before she can truly represent both the queen of the underworld and goddess of spring, Moreno must first survive the gauntlet that is the New York winter.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I can tell you is: I cannot wait to bring on the spring,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n