We had the good fortune of connecting with Markanthony Vallejo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi MarkAnthony, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Perseverance has always been a factor behind every project and journey I’ve ever experienced. Sometimes, the only person in the room who believes in the project is myself, and that is my power. I don’t pretend to be someone I am not nor follow the heard, sometimes, it’s better to create that new path, a new road where I know in my heart, this is where I belong. And it is from this unknown place where I find new worlds, a new canvas, and I honestly continue to ask questions about theatre, about life, about love, about who I am in relation to those around me and of course, to the universe. I persevere even when the light is not as bright or clear because I am not afraid to fail or to fall. And one last thing is prepare. Yes I am nervous about certain situations, but I’ve come to learn that if I prepare, if I stay ready, at all cost, there is nothing to be nervous about. If I am nervous, it’s because I didn’t prepare. Preparation builds your armor, and it’ honestly makes you powerful. And if it doesn’t turn out the way you wanted it, then most likely, you’re called to a different path.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a stage director who happens to be Chicano. And in the words of the great actor, writer, producer, and a million other accolades, straight from his solo show, ¡Gaytino!, Dan Guerrero say’s ‘A Chicano is a Mexican-American who is not kidding’.

My art, my canvas, my studio room is the stage. The theatrical stage. This is the place where I ask the boldest of questions through movement, slow-motion, piercing visions, sharp dialogue, poetic deliveries, and riveting sounds choices.

I’ve directed many stories in and outside of my culture, such as the following: Jewish, German, Greek, Mexican-American, and African-American.

What set’s me apart is my approach to theatrical practice and execution of poetic visions in the theatre. I direct as if my production were a series of paintings on stage. I call them art installations. When you watch my theatre, you will experience pure human expressions. At the same time, you will see the theatre, the space, be alive and bold, and that’s makes it different, because I dare ask the questions and take the route that is not easy or impossible. Sometimes, in a strange way, for me, the choice to make something ‘unrealistic’ is the choice that sucks in the audience, and I dare say, makes it more human than doing the actual thing.

At the same time, I continue to dance. I love to dance and I love choreography. I go to the Millennium Dance Complex almost every month, to train and activate new ways to communicate with my body. Hip-Hop, Dancehall, Afro-Hip-Hop, and Theatre Jazz. Although I do not teach dance, or purse dance as a career (maybe I should!), but in continue to dance because I learn more ways to express love, lust, confusion, etc, and I am able to direct my actors more poetically than to have them just say lines on stage. I am able to bring a physical form, a slam-poetic form, a lyrical form, of movement and acting that I have fuse together thanks to all the dance forms I’ve experience. More so, I am drawn to European dance artist such as: Hofesh Shechter, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and Dimitris Papaioannou, to name a few. They explore feelings and images that are intermittently practice in Western theatre, but although realism literature is the dominant form of Western Drama, when I look at these dancers productions, they seem more human, more universal and magical then ever before, to me, and for that reason I always included movement in my production and I always ask, ‘well why not think this way, what’s stopping us to do so other than ‘common sense’ or whatever that means.

Besides dancing, I love to do stage combat. Being ambidextrous feels amazing on my body and being able to wield rappers, daggers, and even quarter staff is a wholesome feeling. When creating choreography or even being taught it, the feeling is pure bliss. It’s another way of connecting to another human soul and our minds and energy are isync. Thinking on it now, I should do more videos and skits soon. Especially since I am so young. My time is always being pulled into directing projects, career moves, and lesson planning for my students, but I should fight much more. I was trained through the Society of American Fight Directors. It a great skill set to have as a director. From dance to stage combat, to movement experience, it really makes for a great combination as a director because I can depend on any of these three skillset when I run out of ideas or perhaps when I am creating new ones. It’s been of incredible value for me in my career so far.

The last two productions, Anna in the Tropics and Colossal, respectively, and my recent experience at the Metropolitan opera in New York have been the most exciting days so far! Having only stepped into the opera world since the pandemic, I am proud to say I am a two-time, runner up in the country for the directing fellowship at the Met. And as for my productions, it has been a long 4 years since I directed a whole production, the pandemic was the root cause of the delay.

Now, I will say, every production I direct, you actually do get to see how my mind works. My theatrical productions are momentarily a tangible showing of my inner creative self, materializing on stage for a short time. I do believe, a piece of me, is always there to grab when you see my shows. It’s a strange thought, but that’s just how I work; you see version of me on stage, my fears, my interests, my excitement, my down fall, and many other feelings.

The reason I am here today, is owed to those professors I choose to surround myself with and when there was an opportunity, I took it. I am a director today because of a friend of mine in undergrad ask me if I wanted to direct a one-act show, and I said “I am an actor, but I’ll try it!” and I ended up directing a powerful production of The Diary of Anne Frank. That road let me to take directing classes, become a pupil to my directing professors, which lead to outside gigs during my undergrad which then led to attending UCLA and receiving my MFA in stage directing. And of course, my grad career led to further connections and opportunities in the directing world and I took as many as I can.

Asking questions and being an absolute disciple in my field, is the reason why I am in my current position. Studying my craft, and doing it well. Putting in that extra bit of time will go further than putting it away until tomorrow. And it is not an easy path, it’s a time-management path. Again, as I said before, preparation will get you most of the way through, and if your prepare, then you bring more to the table then someone who didn’t. You are options, you are a decision maker and so forth. Understanding deadlines and doing work way ahead of the time is always your best friend. And at the same time, you have to be ready to jump, on opportunity when it is presented. They will be random, place and time, and you have to be ready to pounce and execute. I’ve had many early mornings creating slideshows, blocking my scripts, or filling out applications because of word of mouth information.

If things did become hard, I’d talk it through with a love one, my professor, my parents, or that one friend who will always tell me the truth. And yes, you have these people too, you just have to trust and see them. I always check in on my friends, even when it’s been years, because I value them, I honestly do. And when you have those set of people, you go to them, and ask those questions, deliver your heartaches and confusion, and they will divert you back on track; and In some cases, you will answer your own questions through this practice.

And other times, I was invisible to many folks, or my thoughts were to bold, or perhaps I wasn’t the right person to direct any said piece I was doing at the time, and people definitely voice their frustration and concern with me. It was really hard in these moment, but I put my head down and continue working. I let my work do the talking and my audience will tell me if I was right or wrong.

As for lessons, there have been a couple along the way which have been a stapled in my work. One of them is listening with integrity. When your in class, whether it’s a dance class or a director at work, or perhaps your observing a master class or rehearsal, listen to EVERYONE. What I mean by that is be a sponge and write down exactly what you see, hear, how people communicate, how the dancer moves, how professional actors respond, how do designers speak to one another, etc. Be in absolute focus visually, and listen to what is being said, and it is hard to do both, meaning writing down notes and being in the moment. Every artist does this and you have to be masterful on what you’re absorbing (seeing) versus what you write down. But this practice helps me navigate the rooms with that much more confidence. My notes are my classes, and every time I revert to them, I get better and better at my job.

Another is when traveling over seas, or meeting folks in a field where they are highly respected, make sure to research how to say their name accurately; because I promise you, you say them name correctly, that means your serious and you’ve done your homework. You don’t ever want to mispronounce someone’s name. Another is always do research on the people who you will talk to for potential job opportunities. In every interview I do, I alway know who I am talking to. I research things they have done and how long they have been doing their job. Facebook and YouTube are my best fiends in this realm because they have a vast amounts of logged information that could be useful for you.. Which leads me to another important lesson; always have a questions or two when someone ask you “do you have any questions for us (me)”. I’ve come to realize how valuable these questions are because they do illuminate your prowess and engagement to the company. Even if you know the answer, perhaps word your question in a different way, because questions lead to conversation, and I love conversations.

What I want the world to know is my theatre productions are created and inspired by many bold artist. From film, dance, music, theatre of course, and paintings, And every time I get to direct, I fuse all of these together to bring a perspective that is new, or different, and this is my strength. Perhaps I bring an alternative world. These worlds are viciously beautiful, provocative, radical to some, but what you see is a poem. A poem that grabs your attention, that leans on your engagement, and most of all, a poem that is made for you.

My story was not very clear in the beginning. I didn’t know I wanted to do theatre, but I’ll tell you this one last story or fact about me. I attended Oscar De La Hoya Animo Charter High School at the World Trade Center in DTLA from 2005-2008. One day, during summer vacation in my 10th going into 11th grade, I ditched into Garfield High School.. They had tracks back then, and my tia was in C track, which meant they start their school in the summer. I didn’t want to stay home so I threw on a backpack, hop into my grandpas van, with my tia, and went to school. I walked straight on in, blended with all the students, and sat in a history class until 5th period, I think. My tia said stay here until then, and I did. I did my own work in the corner. Now when it was lunch, she came and grabbed me and we had fun, until it was time to go to the next class. She told me to follow her because the next class was Drama Class, and I didn’t know what that meant, but she said it’s fun. So I went, and when I walked into class, there were no desk, a big open space in the center of the room, elevated steps for chairs, and extremely colorful decorations or theaters, buildings, and random items. So the teacher said who’s this and my tia said this is my sobrino can he stay, and she said yes as long as he participates. We starting playing games, theatre games, and singing, dancing, and more games, and I thought, this is the BEST CLASS EVER! Pretend to be someone else, you got it! After all I am in high school, my energy is through the roof! I get to pretend to be anyone and have fun, let’s do it. So all of summer, that’s what I did, and right before I went back to O.D.L.H. there were auditions for the Tempest at Garfield High. And the teacher said, are you coming, and I said of course why wouldn’t I go. So, I went, I audition, and I got cast as Caliban. However, this is the part that’s exciting. The teacher didn’t know I was not a student at GHS, so when I told her that I wasn’t and that I will be at my other school, she was stunned, angry, in silence, and then she opens her mouth and said “I don’t know how your going to do it, but you better be at rehearsal”, and she walked away from me, and I felt cold and sad.That’s was around September. And for two whole months, I berated my parents to please transfer me to GHS, and to no avail, they would always say no. Always. And then came a day in November, where my mother was away at work, and I told my dad to please let me transfer, and for some reason, I don’t know how or why, but with a straight face said, “grab your books” and he stormed into the car. Now, I was SHOCK. I did it but I didn’t know what that meant. He took me to school, walked in straight into the office, and told the school that I was leaving and to give him all the documents. I placed my books on the counter, and through the side windows all my friends are looking at me, worried, and sad, and confuse. My dad signed a paper, and left and I had to go with him. I was mouthing, in silence, I’ll miss you or I’m okay. Then I get home, my dad goes to work, my mom comes from her lunch break, and takes me to GHS and we walk into GHS office and she enrolls me into the Arts and Humanity C Track. They give me a paper with all my classes, and she storms off back to work. By this time, it was lunch and the next class was drama class, the same teacher who said you better figure it out. And I showed up to class, and just like that, I had transferred into this school just for the sake of pretending to be another person. But what I didn’t know at the moment, was that this change has set me on course for a beautiful, world-traveling, experience of a life-time. Ever since then, I’ve been doing theatre and I would have not change anything. I’ve honestly travel the world because of theatre and the places where I am at right now, starts from that classroom. Ms. Sell, is her name, and I thank her for putting me on this journey!

I want the world to know that although I am a director, I am a stage combatant, a dancer, and an educator. My work is always in response to the following artist : Martha Graham, Pina Bausch, Dimitris Papaioannou, Quentin Tarantino, Christopher Nolan, Hans Zimmer, Arvo Pärt, Ennio Morricone, Ludwig Göransson, Frida Kahlo, Robert Wilson, Phillip Glass, and many more. And always chase your dreams, because you will go further in life reaching, another saying by the legendary artist Dan Guerrero.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my best friend was visiting the city, I hope they like what I like because if not then they will have a long weekend! Let’s start with Sunday. I will take them out to brunch, to Bludso’s BBQ in Hollywood and get them brisket, with corn bread, Texas red hot links, baked beans and mac-n cheese. This place right here is THEE BEST and I love them briskets! After that, will head to the streets of LACMA and La Brea Tar pits to enjoy the sun, outside setting, and enjoy some art work. Wait, how much money do I have in this scenario! OK, back on track, and on Sunday evening will head to Belmont shore and have a s’mores by the bon fire and enjoy the night lights. Come Monday, will head to the race tracks at K1 speed, and race a couple times. Then we can go to Americana, and grab some sushi. Catch a flick, and then maybe we should go get a massage somewhere. I don’t know where, but we will. Tuesday will be a museum day, will start at Getty Center around 10am, and by afternoon, will head to the Getty Villa by Malibu, and then enjoy the sunsets, with some local ice-cream and chicken dinner. Wednesday, will go to Universal City Walk and Universal Studios and definitely eat at the Harry-Potter restaurant. I will order the fish n Chips and they can order the delicious chicken plate (the chicken and fish are so good)! And of course, will stay for the Halloween Horror Nights. Then for the rest of the week, I’ll make sure to spend a day at both Disney Parks, go watch theatre (either local or main stream), some axe throwing in Long Beach, and definitely eat some street tacos in East Los, Boyle Heights, and all of the above! Some of my favorite drinks are Cane Juice, Orange Juice, and mango smoothies. The Broad Museum, LACMA, and Museum of Latin Art, are favorite places I like to go, for these are the places that continue to fuel my creative art works. And some of my favorites places to hang out is a hiking to the Hollywood sign, 2nd street in Long Beach, Universal City Walk, and at home watching motion pictures.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to give a shoutout to Jessica Hansen, who paid my application fee’s to attend CSU Long Beach. Without her, I would have never thought about higher education. I always want to thank Rodney Scott, who’s always been in the trenches of my theatrical works and education. I want to thank one of the most influential directing mentor I have ever had, Michael Hackett. He has truly educated me on the skill set’s of a working director and I am humbly grateful for his continued support throughout my MFA program and recent years. I also want to thank Marike Splint, who sent me a positing about a AD gig in opera, and if I didn’t take that route, and jump on the opportunity, I would have never went to the Metropolitan opera in New York. Furthermore, I wouldn’t have been in this position, of heading to San Jose Opera for a AD position in their upcoming production of Lá Boheme this fall. I want to thank all of my directing professors from UCLA, Trevor Bishop, Bill Rauch, Paula Suozzi, Terry Ganley, Dan Guerrero, Collin Bressie, Tony Carreiro and Peter Mendoza, who is the reason behind this interview! And lastly, I want to thank my friends in East Los, my grandparents, my tia Adela and her partner Robert, my loves ones, and my family, especially my Mom and Dad. Every production I do, they are my trusted advisors and critics.

Website: https://www.markanthonydrama.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markanthonydrama/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.anthony.14/

Image Credits
Rachel Crowl
Nancy Tran and Eddie Blanck (earlynightphoto)

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