That first time I was offered a directing job at GALA, it created some friction in the company itself. They were mostly Latin Americans from South America who were working in the theatre, so they didn’t know much about United States Latinos. It was an opportunity for them to understand that I was part of a Latino culture within the diverse Latino cultures.
But I needed to find that culture, too. I was finding it through arts and theatre. As I became more involved in the theatre, I also started getting involved in the theatre community locally and nationally, and I got into advocacy work. I could see where the arts could create change in the community. I think that is one of the reasons why there’s so little that’s written about our communities: culture has so much power. If you give someone their sense of cultural identity, you can’t take it back. They have it forever.
Jacqueline: Then they’re unstoppable.
Abel: They’re unstoppable. You can lose your political power, social standing, or economic power, but you can’t ever lose your cultural identity once you claim it. That’s a very empowering statement and very threatening for people who are in positions of power.
Jacqueline: Agreed.
I love going to GALA because every time I go, everybody looks so different even though everybody is speaking Spanish. It’s a reminder that we’re not all the same. It’s just wonderful to have that space here in Washington, DC.
Abel: I became involved in theatre because I saw the importance of connecting with our culture through theatre.
Jacqueline: Yeah. Someone asked me once, “Why did you choose producing?” And I was like, “I honestly didn’t choose it.” I just saw these issues, and I wanted to be a part of changing them. It just happened to be producing that I fell into, but I could be doing anything else in the arts and trying to make this change. I really love it, and I’m so grateful to be a producer, but it wasn’t like I sought out to be a theatre producer.
Being here in Washington, DC, you found community at GALA, but then how did you find community on a national level?
Abel: It all started from my involvement at GALA, which led to my involvement in the regional Washington, DC arts community. One mayor appointed me to the DC Commission of the Arts and Humanities, and another appointed me chair. So, I became knowledgeable or aware of issues facing the whole arts area, while still focusing on theatre. I became the chair of the League of Washington Theatres, then Theatre Washington and Theatre Communications Group (TCG). Then, I started getting named to other national boards, and they tended to focus on Latino and arts organizations. At one time, I was on twenty-two boards.
Jacqueline: Oh, my goodness.
Abel: And chaired four boards at the same time.
Jacqueline: Wow.
If you give someone their sense of cultural identity, you can’t take it back. They have it forever.
Abel: It all started from that one climb up those stairs, wanting to be an actor. I never imagined that I would or could be involved at the national level in the arts. However, what I noticed was that there were few of us at the table.
I remember one of my very first panels at the National Endowment for the Arts. The chair kept turning to me when we got to the section about community engagement and saying, “Well, what do you think about the community engagement of this application?” I let it go for a while. Then the next time he asked me, I said, “Excuse me, why do you ask me every time about community engagement section, but you don’t ask me about finances or the artistic side? I’m just as capable of commenting on those areas, but you only ask me about community engagement.” They were pigeonholing me.
Jacqueline: Well, did he have a response?
Abel: He was so embarrassed. He didn’t do it again. It showed that they weren’t comfortable trying to include new voices. So, equity, diversity, and inclusion became a great part of my platform for the national level.
Jacqueline: Did you have any mentors through it?
Abel: Yes. On the artistic side locally, it’s both Hugo Medrano and Joy Zinoman, the founder of Studio Theatre. Having started a small theatre that became known nationally, Joy knew all about the aesthetic. Technical, and structural issues that arise in theatre. Hugo opened up this world of the Latino theatre that I knew nothing about, and he became an entry into that world for me. They both taught me how to listen and that you can’t break rules until you know them.
And in New York, Michael Moore, head of the theatre program at New York University (NYU), and his wife, Sharon Jensen, head of the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, both have been generous with their counsel and encouragement. At one time he talked to me about teaching at NYU, but I went back and said, “I’m not interested in a full-time teaching position, but I am interested in seminars.”
Actually, my business professor in college was a mentor to me. He was the very first person who ever asked me, “Well, what do you want to do?” I had to think about it. All I kept thinking about was enrolling in graduate school. He said, “No, no, I’m thinking long term. What do you want to do? Where do you see yourself?” He was the one who gave me a list of schools I should apply to.
