Today we’d like to introduce you to Gaby Tortoledo.
Hi Gaby, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. My mom is a ballerina and former pianist and my dad in a professional architect but has spent his free time playing guitar for as long as I can remember. So I grew up surrounded by the arts, especially the performing arts have always been a part of my life. I was in a tutu by the time I was two.
We had a satelite (it was the 90s) so I grew up watching American television, and that’s how I learned most of my English. I knew I wanted to be an actor from a very young age, but the first time I manifested it was after I watched Titanic and vowed I would become one just so I could me Leo DiCaprio (sadly I’m over 25 so that part of the dream has past, but the acting part stuck). Because I grew up consuming American content I never took the Venezuelan acting style seriously. I did some commercial work/modeling in my late teens but I had no intentions of pursuing it professionally.
I got “discovered” in London, while training at City Academy with Pippa Duffy. She said “you could do this professionally if you wanted” and my whole world tilted on its axis right there. I ended up leaving London because I connected with my now hubby, while visiting Venezuela for the holidays, but things were not great over there so after about 18 months in Caracas, my hubby and I decided to move to Miami. It was perfect for me because I needed a student visa, and that was the perfect excuse to restart my life as a performer. Long story short I ended up going to school for music and theatre for about 8 years, and I got really extensive, integral, and wonderful training (some of my Professors, now my colleagues, are still like family today). And so, my career as a professional actor kicked off in 2018 after I finished my Master of Fine Arts in acting. Since then I have been working non-stop in the region, I have had the pleasure of performing in the best theatre houses our region has to offer, from Jupiter all the way to the Keys. Funny enough soon after becoming a professional actor I realized TV and film don’t really call to me (however I did get to do a really cool feature on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, where I got a little scene with the lead cast, and 11 year old me was crying tears of joy and pride). Live performance is where I thrive. I would say I’m addicted to it! …and obsessed with the process. The work, the craft. I am a theatre nerd through and through. But there really is nothing like living someone else’s life for a couple of hours in front of a live audience, knowing that anything can happen and the show must still go on. Some of my career highlights have been starring in the US premiere of Deceived: based on Gaslight (the play turned movie where the term “gaslighting” comes from) at The Maltz Jupiter Theatre, direcrted by the FABULOUS Marcia Milgrom Dodge, and then this season starring as Aldonza in the 30th Anniversary Production of Actors’ Playhouse’s Man of la Mancha. That said, theatres big or small, my favorite role ever played is probably the first I ever did in college Jo, in “Little Women”. That and Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility by Kate Hamil. I am a sucker for a period piece through and through.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Being an actor is not for the faint of heart. It is a profession filled with rejection. Especially for theatre actors, and especially for women theatre actors… simply because there are many more of us than there are men, and conversely, there are so many more roles for men than for women. I used to say “it’s a highly competitive field” but with the years you relize it’s never a competition. Yes, you need to be really good, and very talented, and willing to work super hard. But so many of us fit that description. It’s about showing up and being willing to do the work. But at the end of the day, your ability to even do that work will depend on a laundry list of decision makers that need to create a living, breathing puzzle, and most of the times you won’t fit into it. But sometimes you do, and that is a magical experience.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Like I said, I’m a theatre actor. This means both straight plays and musicals, and I have been praised for being equally adept at both genres. This past season (the theatre season works like the school year so it starts in September and ends in May/June), I was fortunate enough to start off playing a youthful version of Orville Wright (from the Wright brothers, but with the spirit of a 13 year old kid), in a musical theatre adaptation of the story writen for 5th graders that is presented at the Arsht center every year (the kids go wild, you’re performing for 1000 kids per show, you feel like a true Rock Star), then I spent the holidays playing Aldonza in Man of La Mancha, a jaded “wench” as she is described, she’s a hardened woman in prison who’s had a terribly difficult life, but, through Miguel de Cervantes’s stories, learns to hope; not only was this exciting to dive into, but it is also one of the most vocally demanding roles for Women in musical theatre. Fast forward to January where I had the pleasure of tackling the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Proof, in the role of Claire, performed at a luxury resort in the Keys (yes, we got to chill by the pool and enjoy the resort during our time off, can you say dream job?). Then I ended the season doing Side By Side by Sondheim, a hundred word a minute revue (a revue is a musical without a traditional plot/story, it’s a conglomeration of songs that become little vignete scenes), with some of the most iconic and musically challenging songs in the Musical Theatre cannon. Finally, I got to put the cherry on top this year, performing with modern-day legend Marc Shaiman (you might be familiar with some of his music for films like “Adams Family” or “Patch Adams” or “When Harry Met Sally”, or if you’re into theatre you might know about his long time friendship and collaborations with Bette Middler or his international award-winning hit “Hairspray”). Marc and I have been collaborating for years, doing an intimate concert for his family when he visits them in Palm Beach county once or twice a year, but this year I got to be a featured performer on his “Nevermind the Happy” Book Tour at the Kravis Center (I got to be in a poster next to Patti LuPone, that was surreal to say the least!). So that was what this year was like for me, professionally. All while balancing being a full time mom (is there any other kind of mom? No). My hubby is super supportive and him and my kiddo make it work while I work, but nothing is more fulfilling than coming home to them and seeing that big smile on my kid’s face. To summarize: it was a FANTASTIC year, and probably the most challenging yet, but I’m excited to see what’s in store for me next year and finding work where I can continue to grow as an actor and performer.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Theatre has been surviving for 2000 years. And yes, the term is surviving! It’s always underfunded and always struggling. But I’d like to think in the world of AI, it will thrive more than ever. Live performance is one of the very rare corners of our modern world that AI can’t replace. So while the TV and film industry are going insane (and with good reason) worrying about AI involvement, I can at least say I’m not too worried that AI will take my job anytime soon.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.gabytortoledo.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabytortoledo
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gabytortoledo
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/gabytortoledo
