We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Raguel Gabriel. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Raguel below.

Hi Raguel, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I’ll take you to the year 2014. I’d gone through some pretty turbulent times from 2006 onwards and it seemed life would not let up at trying me. My heart was completely broken and I was hurting really badly on the inside. This even affected me physically the more time went on. One night I went to a bench in a park, looked up at the stars and thought the only way I’m going to get past this is to get far away as I could. Go off into the world. Leave the old behind. So, I waited but actively so, for a sign, the right time. The wonderful thing about art or creating is that you can find release by throwing yourself into something that resonates with you. I happened to be in a production of the musical Les Miserables at the time playing Marius and of course he had his own pain and loss to deal with. It was not hard to relate to this and his music in particular just seemed to get under my skin. The year before I’d been at the amazing London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art for studies and I was able to put what I learned there, into playing Marius. I wanted to transform and really do justice to him. Often times, to this day, when I’m performing and things around me disappear and I feel like I am flying-I know I’ve been lost in the moment. It was always like that with him and so I still attribute my decision to pursue more acting training, to that role. I really wanted to learn more about acting honestly, more natural, without music or singing even. I had become very interested in realism and the work of Stella Adler. I read everything I could about the school and I set my eyes, and heart, on the acting conservatory in New York City. After the run of Les Miserables, I took every cent-and I mean every cent-that I had in my bank account, set up an audition at the school, jumped on a plane and flew to New York City without really telling anyone. I should interject here that the day before my audition I made it a point to see Helen Mirren portray Queen Elizabeth in the play The Audience. I knew it would inspire me to be my best and I left the show with a full cup of focus and strength. Armed with two monologues (and hope) I finished the audition and was in tears, on the floor, in the end. The director looked deep in my eyes and asked me (after a pause) why am I doing this now at this point in my life. I’ll never forget answering “I need to become a stronger version of myself”. He didn’t say too much after that, we wrapped up and that was that. I flew back home to Trinidad and surprisingly in 2015 I was asked to reprise Marius in a remount of the same production. Then one day I got the email I was accepted into the 3 year acting program. What a day that was! I resigned from my good paying, easy day job without even knowing where I’d get money for tuition, flights or really how I’d afford living. I just knew I would. I’d taken the chance and there was no turning back. Since then, my life is a series of continuous risks. Some small but more often they are big because my dreams are. As I’m speaking to you now, I’m smack in the middle of a few big risks that I pray will bear fruit! So, if I didn’t step out in faith, embrace uncertainty, risk it all I wouldn’t be where I am on my path. By no means is it perfect (I could write an entire book on surviving in New York City alone!) and happiness is not always constant but, wonderment is. Being present is. Growth is. For now, I’m still in the US, living a creative’s life, chasing my dreams and trusting the journey. I’m living proof that with crazy faith, big risk and hope, you can keep moving forward.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Music was always my life, my love. As a baby I used to climb up on a chair, stare at the spinning vinyl player and say ‘spin, spin!’. So it’s no surprise I turned out to be a singer. I didn’t think it would involve classical music though. However, you grow, you change. It was really my first role as Tony in a huge production of West Side Story that got the ball rolling. This is also when the acting bug first bit me. It literally felt like ‘Something’ was ‘Coming’ when I found my purpose on stage. Boy did it come! I found myself in production after production in a very short space of time. Eventually, I fell in love deeply with classical music and opera and started to train my voice with a great teacher. My voice grew and I soon got cast in leading roles with a great opera company at home. I still sang some musical theatre now and then. The desire to become a trained actor took me beyond my home country Trinidad to London and then, New York City where I have performed wonderful leading roles in classical music, musicals and theatre. I am proud to have the versatility to fall into different areas that suit me. It takes a lot of work but I love the work. Last year I added ‘Producer’ to my belt and it is definitely a sign of growth because ten years ago I had zero interest in that. It was a different mind set but one that added a specific desire (among others) to ensure that my audience is touched by the work I’m producing and that it’s presented with a certain standard. In that way I’d prefer to work on something extremely long and patiently until it’s ready to be shared in the best way. It became so personal to me that I named my production initiative using the initials of my three names: RTG. There is definitely more just around the corner from me as both performing artist and producer.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

As a creative, pivoting is one thing you are sure to encounter on your journey. Change and discomfort are constant. A big one for me was during the height of the pandemic. The way I set up my life is to have everything around me in line with where I want to go or what I dream about. So even my day job-well night job really- is in the theatre world. When Covid hit NYC in 2020 I suddenly lost my job as all shows were shut down, and money ran out pretty quickly. I went all the way to Oklahoma in a very small town where I ended up staying for almost half a year. I found a way to survive there doing all sorts of work, some familiar, some not at all. Housekeeping, cleaning, painting, woodwork, tiling, cooking-you name it. It was pretty grueling, but I did it while holding onto the dream of getting back to the stage again. I sang and surrounded myself with music while working. A year later I was on stage in NYC singing the very same music that got me through my days. Change is necessary and I’ve learned that ‘nothing just happens’. Everything I went through was for a reason and connected. My time in the south provided not just work, but much needed peace, silence, new goals, skills and some new friends.

: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

There are a number of them actually. Some very personal and deeply rooted that keep me daring greatly. Of course, there are those that have to do with my own achievements, changing people’s idea of what people like me can do with music and so on but there is one I’d prefer to share now. It’s a simple but strong one. I would not be on my path if it were not for my mother. Her name is Maria. Let it be known that Maria Gabriel has sacrificed a lot-and still does, because she believes in me. I cannot express in words the extreme drive and strength that comes into me from that. The mission to make her proud and see that her input into my life was worth it. It gets me into audition rooms, keeps my head up when I feel really small, keeps me training, working when I’m exhausted, never giving up. And I won’t. I keep in my mind the vision of somehow standing in front of the world in a great moment one day, saying: “Thank you mummy, this one is for you”.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.raguelgabriel.com/

Image Credits
All In-Studio Portraits: Andres Hernandez NYC 2022 On stage & Rehearsal Shots: RTG Productions 2021