By: Rose Zhao
On Thursday, Broadway announced that Frida Kahlo’s life is going to be made into a musical. The Mexican painter Frida Kahlo has been very popular throughout the world and her life story has been made into many movies and immersive experiences. Broadway still decided to make a musical of her life hoping to portray a more three-dimensional, more human version of the iconic Mexican artist.
The musical in production will be called “Frida, The Musical” and will feature Kahlo’s life from Mexico City to Paris to New York, and back to the famous “Blue House” where she was born and died in 1954. It will also feature music by Jaime Lozano with lyrics by playwright Neena Beber, and will be produced by Valentina Berger.
The musical’s creators said that they want to reveal something different about Kahlo and show more untold details and personal stories that no other form of entertainment has shown. These details will be partially based on her niece Isolda P. Kahlo’s book “Intimate Frida,” and conversations with Kahlo’s family in Mexico. Although there have been many other musicals made about Frida Kahlo, this is the only one her family has officially signed off on.
“In all the stories I heard when I was a little child, our family remembered Aunt Frida as a very joyful woman,” said Mara Romeo Kahlo, universal heiress to the Frida Kahlo legacy, in a statement to The Washington Post. “She was passionate about music, arts and Mexican culture. ‘Frida, The Musical’ honors everything she was: a real woman who fought for her dreams, loved like anybody else and always lived ahead of her time.”
The musical is said to be released in 2024 after regional tryouts next year and is only the latest of many forays into Frida’s life.
Source: ‘Frida, the Musical’ will take the painter’s life story to Broadway – The Washington Post.pdf