By Esther Alaejos
Caguas, Puerto Rico (EFE)
“We are not only the one who cleans or the thug, or those roles that are stereotyped,” emphasizes the dancer, who also denounces having suffered discrimination in the United States because of her accent.
The artist assures that the “only time” that she had no problems with her accent was in her role as Rosalía in Steven Spielberg’s film version of “West Side Story” (2021), in which she felt “like a queen” because they asked him to exaggerate it.
“I said: I am going to work with the great Steven Spielberg, I am going to be a Puerto Rican working on ‘West Side Story’, unlike the first film, which had almost no Puerto Ricans, only Rita Moreno, and for me it was making history. “, remember.
Also from this musical, Ana Isabelle led 80 performances at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota (2018) with the character of “Anita”, winning an award for Best Actress.
The musical is based on the book by American theater director and screenwriter Arthur Laurents. The original Broadway production debuted in 1957, being nominated for six Tony Awards.
New series in Spain
Ana Isabelle is going to be part of the cast of a new Spanish series, of which she cannot offer details as it will be recorded in the coming months between Madrid and Marbella, and which is one of her “biggest dreams”.
The actress comments that, after watching the “La Casa de Papel” series, her mind told her: “Go to Spain, try something new and see what happens, keep opening horizons, don’t settle, you can.”
“I am going to be in Spain from April 8 to July 28 filming this series and I am full of joy, gratitude, emotion”, Ana Isabelle declares euphorically, adding that for her Penélope Cruz is a reference.
Likewise, she “missed” working in her native language, Spanish, she stated during the interview at the Caguas Fine Arts Center, her hometown and the place where, until April 2, she played the role of María Magdalena in the musical “Jesus Christ Superstar”.
“I had always wanted to play Mary Magdalene and support my people. Promoting art here is part of an obligation that I have and that I choose to have and as a cagüeña I want to be an example, I want to be an inspiration ”, she assures.
This “Jesus Christ Superstar” project also has the incentive for her that both professional artists and “young people who are emerging now” have shared the stage.
Focused on her musical career
Currently, Ana Isabelle is focused on her musical career. She is releasing a new single in a few days and, in May, her next album, and she does not hide her enthusiasm for “returning to what music is, to releasing constant music.”
“I have had jobs that have exposed me to different audiences at different times, hoping that this new project will have a massive impact on all those markets and tie them down,” he asserts.
Ana Isabelle has been musically influenced by her family and grew up “surrounded by music on all sides”. Her mother founded the Caguas Children’s Choir, her father was a trumpeter with Puerto Rican salsa singer Gilberto Santa Rosa, and her brother is also a musician.
His song “La vida es bella”, published in 2011, was very successful in Venezuela and Colombia.
“In Venezuela it was crazy, it was number one for more than ten weeks,” recalls the singer, indicating that the album “Mi sueño”, from 2010, was top 10 on the Billboard list.
Ana Isabelle won the first edition of the program “¡Viva el sueño!”, an American format created by Univisión in 2009 where professional musicians put their talents to the test to be a star of Latin music.
