Theater Mu’s new artistic director is bringing a diverse set of skills to Minneapolis

Theater Mu has a new artistic director and her name is Fran de Leon Hailing from Los Angeles de Leon has already begun her transition period before taking the reins of the organization in full alongside Mu s managing director Anh Thu T Pham De Leon is Mu s fifth artistic director filling a role left by Lily Tung Crystal who now leads East West Players in California I sat down with de Leon this week to get to know her a little better and learn what she hopes to explore here in Minnesota and with Theater Mu This interview has been edited for length and clarity Sheila Regan So when do you start the job Fran de Leon I am going to be part time for a little bit I m here now I ve been here for the past couple of weeks and then I also have a directing fellowship with the DramaLeague in New York So I m going to be in residence at Chautauqua Theater in the summer and then I ll be back in the fall for about almost a month and then I go back to L A for my last show there that I m acting in and then full time in December SR Sounds like you ve got a busy year FDL Yeah exactly All the things kind of happened at once between this fellowship and then being offered this position but also there s a serendipity to it as well because the fellowship really has opened up more connections for me SR You re from Southern California FDL Yes I m from Los Angeles I was born downtown L A and then when I was a year old I went to the Philippines with my mom and three of my siblings I was there until I was which is why I kind of consider myself a generation I ve been based out of L A but I ve been touring I have a solo show or had a solo show that I toured for a couple of decades to colleges and area centers and a lot of conferences I hit my th state as a theater maker earlier this year SR Can you tell me about your solo show FDL It s called Faces of America and it was truly created back in the s when I was approached to do a multicultural workshop And I thought well I m not a workshop leader I am a theater maker It was my agent from New York who called and I noted Can I just make a play And she s like I don t know can you And I announced Well let me try So my ex-husband who s also my artistic partner we created this show called Faces of America This was when solo shows were really in their heyday So it was me portraying several different characters all relaying their American experience SR Were you playing a number of different ethnicities FDL This was back in the s when that was part of the art form of solo shows And then times changed As that became evident I retired the show and I declared OK it s played out and I was having to reinvent myself I started doing more full productions as an actor and then shifting over to directing I love new works and I love workshopping new pieces But of syllabus scripted stuff is so fun too And musicals I just did The th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee out in L A Sometimes it s nice to work on a light piece like that Fran de Leon is the fifth person to serve as artistic director of Theater Mu in Minneapolis Credit Rich Ryan SR So you re a singer FDL I was a singer I kind of veered away from that because I wasn t a strong dancer So from musical theater to straight plays I started writing as well I ve had a couple commissions from Center Theatre Group for short plays SR Can you say more FDL I ended up choosing to write about my grandmother in the Philippines and spending Sunday afternoons with her as a child Then that kind of took its own life As I was writing it it felt like this story just really demanded to be explained about the women who weave the mats in the Philippines So I wrote about that and then next thing you know I went on a vision quest type of trip and bought a one way ticket two years ago I went to the Philippines I just sought to meet them an d I didn t know how and I just kept hopping from island to island On my last leg I met these women who sit under the cave from a m to p m and that s their job SR Who are they FDL The show that I wrote was called Lola s Banig Lola means grandmother Banig are the traditional Filipino mats that are set out on the grass That s where we would take our naps after our meals You sit on it and you play cards And they re hand woven by women mostly in the provinces of the Philippines and it s literally backbreaking work because they re sitting on the floor and weaving I certainly took a video it s hilarious of me trying to weave with them and these wonderful women surrounding me cracking up at me They would go Here it s like this and their fingers would just fly SR Tell me about transitioning into directing What prompted that in your journey FDL It really was sitting in rooms with a lot of playwrights and having playwrights come to me and say Will you direct this reading Will you direct this workshop And then from there getting offered main stage shows SR Had you met Lily Tung Crystal before FDL I met Lily when I was here I did a show with the company that I m an ensemble member with Critical Mass Performance Group We were here a couple years ago at Mixed Blood and so a friend of mine who had relocated to New York connected me and Lily when she discovered out that I was coming to Minneapolis We clicked right away She stated me you can make a living as a theater artist here and the cost of living is such that you can buy a house She noted You should just move here I don t think either one of us really were thinking that far ahead But here we are We switched states SR How would you describe your directing style FDL I consistently come in with a plan and I come in with a vision and I know the world and the vibe that I want to create and I translate that to my designers We talk through how are we going to create this world I m really very much into the collaboration I m inevitably open to ideas coming in I think I m really good at assembling an incredible crew so that it s not me constantly micromanaging the different design departments I consistently want each designer to really come in with a super strong pitch That s their expertise Versus me just saying This is what it is SR Will you be directing this next season FDL I won t be directing this next season I really want to focus on learning and getting to know the population and getting to know Mu SR What do you do when you re not doing theater FDL I m really excited that it s such a biking group because I do love to bike I love working out boxing is my thing It s gonna be hard for me to let go of my L A trainers SR There are several places here FDL Yeah so I ve been researching that And family is a big thing which is going to be a shift for me obviously having my family on the West Coast including my -year-old son but thank God for zoom and FaceTime that allows us to feel connected SR There are certain great parks for biking here FDL I went to the falls the day before I took a whole day off I stopped myself from doing any kind of work and I thought let me just have a day and just be outdoors because it was so beautiful I went out to the falls I had lunch at Sea Salt and stood in the very long line It wasn t even that bad So it was sweet And then I sat down and I ended up with a big table These two women came over and mentioned Can we sit on the other end I announced Absolutely you know have a seat And started chatting a little bit Then the other day I walked over to Mother Dough the little cafe right across from Mill City Museum There was a group of four women and I heard one of them start talking about art She saw something I wasn t clear on what exactly it was but she reported she saw something and because it came to her artistically she had more emotional attachment to it And isn t that the power of art And I thought I gotta talk to them I just walked up to them and explained I m gonna give you specific advanced news but I m the incoming artistic director of Theater Mu and I m just so inspired by the fact that you all here are having this conversation And they were so sweet So we chatted I gave them my email I already got an email from them and they re like When can we have dinner And I m like great I love that I want to really immerse myself in this locality I think a big part of leadership is to be in tune with who you are serving The post Theater Mu s new artistic director is bringing a diverse set of skills to Minneapolis appeared first on MinnPost