Angela Leiva is magnetic. Owner of a born sensuality, she walks through the corridors of the Gran Rex Theater with much power. Dressed in red, dark hair and well made up, she does not go unnoticed. She has a very different look than the one she wears on stage, where she plays Rosalie Mullins, the strict director of School of Rock, the Argentine version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical. It is his debut in the genre and he is more than happy.
A lover of cumbia, although she also makes romantic songs, Ángela sold out a Luna Park and toured the United States with the legendary Mexican band cumbiera. The blue Angels. After the experience in School of Rock, will make two presentations at La Trastienda and will tour the country to celebrate his fifteen years of professional career. That is to say, He has a packed agenda. Which in artistic terms implies a golden present.
“I think it is the result of the continuation of a growth that I have been working on for a long time, added to the click I made seven years ago when I decided to get out of a toxic relationship that included gender violence. That opened my mind and many doors, and it was a rebirth as a woman,” she admits.
I suffered psychological violence. He was my manager, my producer, my trusted person, my partner. He was a friend of my father.”
Angela opens her heart and tells the nightmare she experienced: “I suffered psychological violence. He was my manager, my producer, my trusted person, my partner. He was a friend of my father. And once I separate, he drops his mask and I drop the blindfold. There I begin to understand who he was with. AND I begin to discover all the things he had done behind my back when I had complete control of my career, because I gave him control, because I trusted him and felt that he was a God to me.”
Ángela delves into the topic: “The relationship lasted eight years, but I had been bad for four years. I wasn’t happy. She felt: ‘I don’t love him anymore.’ I had been trying to separate myself, but of course, I never could. He always beat me by telling me that it was a shame to finish or he made me understand that without him I was nothing. He knew very well the role he played in my life, so he played with that and always won the game. Night was coming and I didn’t want him to touch me. It was a very big rejection on a personal level and I didn’t deserve it. Neither did he. And one day, crying, I told him: ‘Enough, I can’t take it anymore.’ Until now I didn’t know the things he was doing with my career. For me he was still a great person.”
-What things did you do with your career?
-Mismanagement and differences that will be resolved in court. There is a judicial process in the middle. But, for example, he sent document letters to Polka when I made the novel La 1-5 / 18. As if he owned me. He made me embarrassed. But luckily people trust me and my work.
-How did it affect you psychologically?
-He left me like a floor cloth. Because I ended the relationship thinking that I wasn’t going to sing anymore. Thinking that if I wanted to sing maybe I was going to have to change my name. It was very hard to get out of there.
-How did you recover?
-There were months of going inside, of doing therapy. I tried biodecoding and family constellations. Alternative therapies helped me a lot. Also, talk to friends, feel the support of family and the public. It helped me a lot to understand that he was not right. He called me all over the world to give me his solidarity. I never managed a contract, a cachet, or how long a show would last, or what song I was going to sing…
-How much did it take you in total?
-One year. I continued working the same and it was then that he began to do his best to me. There was economic violence and labor violence.
-Was there physical violence?
-It wasn’t necessary. Luckily there is a new Angela since that moment. That every day reminds that Angela that she was in the dark, so blind, so naive and that she realized that she can, that she achieves what she wants to achieve. The Angela that she always wanted to be and that she wants to be better.
The breakup with my ex left me like a rag on the floor. Because I ended up thinking that I wasn’t going to sing anymore.
-Your real story could very well be a fictional one…
-Yes, my idea is at some point do my series, because unfortunately I think many people could reflect on it. I would like to tell my story in the first person.
-You recently posted on Instagram that you were everything your dad wanted you to be, did he influence your decision to be an artist?
-My parents always took it as something natural that I sang. They never took me to a course, but they supported me. He had a very nice relationship with them. My mother, Viviana, was a housewife and my father, Eduardo Mario, was a carpenter his entire life. We were lower middle class. Very hardworking. We never had our own house. We always rent. We lived in Tandil until I was eight and then we came to Buenos Aires, to Lanús.
-Did you dream of being an artist?
– Do you know that it is? I saw Chiquititas or prime time soap operas and said: “I can do that.” I never studied acting. And it was great for me. My first time as an actress was in the strip The 1-5/18. It was a very crazy opportunity. I learn from my colleagues. I am very observant. After doing the soap opera I realized that I could do whatever I wanted. Do you know what it was like for me to do scenes with Leticia Brédice and Leonor Manso?
–And you have your cumbiero side…
-Always. Cumbia is my genre by choice. In my house we were very cumbieros. My mother listened to cumbia all day: Leo Mattioli, los Charros, Dalila, Karina. I was also self-taught with singing. I started studying when I was older.
-And you end up winning a Gardel…
-Yes, as best album, The Queen, which was my first independent album after all that happened to me with my ex. There doors began to open. The range of achievements opened. I was in the Singing for a Dream and new possibilities arose. In fact, Cantando’s vocal coach proposed me to School of Rock. She said: “I have a singer who can play the character of Rosalie, who has the most difficult thing is to sing a lyrical song.” And so she started the whole process.
-What does it mean to make this musical?
–It’s a mega challenge. I came very afraid of the first rehearsals. I had already assembled my Rosalie. And I had very good direction. Both Ariel (Del Mastro) and Marcelo (Caballero) and castmates.
-Did you feel any look of prejudice for being of a different suit?
-Not at all. I am a popular singer and what is popular moves mountains. I have many people who follow me when I sing in clubs and throughout the country. I’m not into theater, but I come and learn. I like to respect my colleagues. I tell them all the time how I admire them and how I learn from them.
-It was always difficult for me to talk about the future. I am a mine that lives in the present. But my carrot could be to become an international romantic music star (laughs). I’m going to write it down…
-Yes always. I analyze myself with my best friend. He is studying Psychology, does biodecoding and a bit of constellations. He is my guru, my representative and my friend. I love him too much. His name is Alejandro Romero.
-Would you change anything about your story?
-I would not change anything. I honor my story, I honor what happened to me even though I suffered and it hurt me. But if not, I wouldn’t be the Angela I am today and the one who aspires to be better. And I am very proud of the person I am.