Today we’d like to introduce you to Lilliangina Quiñones.
Hi Lilliangina, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Growing up, arts and entertainment were the norm in my home. My father was the lead singer of a world-famous Dominican Merengue band in the 1970’s and 80’s, and my mother was the best manager making everything run smoothly behind the scenes. So I spent my childhood experiencing the artist’s life and business up close. As my parents settled into family life, they began to attend church where I began to sing, spending nearly two decades singing in church choirs and leading praise and worship. Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with musical theatre. I’m pretty sure it had something to do with how cool the kids looked at my middle school’s production of Grease. This love of theatre led me to a road filled with many valuable educational experiences including attending a performing arts high school and completing undergrad and graduate degrees in theatre fields.
Here’s where the road gets twisty – marriage and kids by the age of 19! It’s been a beautiful, twisty road and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Motherhood has given more than I could have ever hoped or dreamed of. Over 22 years of marriage, my husband and I have watched our three daughters grow into talented, driven, and compassionate humans. Nothing has brought us more joy than this. During the early years of motherhood, I led worship and directed children’s choirs at church, participated in community theatre with my babies, and put in over a decade of teaching artist work with elementary school-aged children (read: anywhere I could bring my children to work). For those first 15 years, art was not a career as much as it was a tiny little pilot light waiting for the right moment to ignite.
So when it comes to my career as an actor and musical theatre performer, I am what you’d call a late bloomer. I performed my first professional musical at the age of 35 and booked my first commercial and television jobs at 40. I have zero regrets for the investment that I made into my family. In fact, I am so grateful that I have arrived at this work as a grown woman, completely secure in who I am and what I bring to the table. This woman is unrecognizable to the one I knew 20 years ago. This woman walks into each audition knowing she has everything to learn, nothing to lose, and no one to prove herself to but herself. She performs from her soul and sees art not as a competition but as a portal to joy, story, connection, and shared humanity.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road is never just one thing. At times, it has been smooth. Other times, it has been bumpy, twisty, dark, or stormy. But it has always led me to the next open door. I think I’ve faced a lot of struggles that aren’t unique to just my experience. I live at the intersection of a few identities that haven’t always been welcome in every room. As a Latina plus-size actress, roles have not always been written or envisioned with me in mind, especially in musical theatre. Season programming has not always been designed with my stories in mind. So the onus has usually fallen on me to walk into the audition room with a reimagined version of what these characters could be and how someone who looks like me can make a traditionally white-centered story become universal. While it is exciting to see Atlanta theatres making a concerted effort to do the work of seeing us first, the growth in this area still feels like a slow crawl. We still see casting announcements that are minimally reflective of what our community looks like in this city and experience practices that directly contradict written equity statements. Atlanta theatre is a rich, diverse, and wildly intelligent community. We have the potential to become a model for other American cities of a truly equitable, justice-driven theatre scene. My hope is to be part of this shift and to see it working at its full capacity in my lifetime.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My work is a full and joyous life of singing, acting, teaching, and directing. When the world shut down in 2020, I was playing Gloria Fajardo in the production of On Your Feet at Aurora Theatre. Pre-pandemic, you might have also seen me performing in regional theaters throughout Atlanta in such productions as Mary Poppins at City Springs Theatre Company, The Wedding Singer at Atlanta Lyric Theatre, and In the Heights at Aurora Theatre/Theatrical Outfit. While life has changed significantly since then, I have had the pleasure of participating in many streaming productions, virtual readings, workshops, concerts, and cabarets. But my greatest joy has been being entrusted with directing two incredible productions in summer of 2021 – Chess in Concert at Jennie T. Anderson Theatre and Song & Dance at Aurora Theatre. These were such personally pivotal moments for two reasons. First, working from the other side of the table with some of this city’s most intrepid artists has taught me so much about courage and artistry. Second, it has been an honor to be part of creative teams that put people before product and make intentional space to celebrate humanity. When I am doubting myself, I pull from these experiences and immediately feel reinvigorated.
As an educator, I currently serve as the Theatre Department Chair at School of the Arts, a new performing arts high school in Gwinnett County. In this role, I have the absolute pleasure of hosting a place of discovery and growth for students as they shine in and outside of school. Our theatre students spend the afternoon immersed in an intensive theatre arts curriculum that includes classes in acting, musical theatre, dance for theatre, technical theatre, theatre history and literature, dramatic writing, and various rehearsals. This school year alone, we have produced a one-act play, musical theatre showcase, ten-minute play festival, and full length play. Our One-Act Play, The Night Witches by Rachel Bublitz and directed by Emily McClain, was selected as a featured production at the Georgia Thespian Conference. As I write this, we are working on our inaugural spring musical, The SpogeBob Musical, which will play at the Lawrenceville Arts Center on April 22 & 23, 2022. We are rocking and rolling at SOTA Theatre!
Finally, I am a fierce advocate for diversity, equity, justice, and belonging across all areas of my life and work. I believe that arts education has the power to help young people make sense of their world, develop empathy, recognize beauty, deepen their connection with self and others, and navigate the often messy process of identity development. My personal mission is to align with schools and organizations that strive to provide equitable access to educational and artistic opportunities, develop diverse local and national talent pools, and shatter ceilings for women and people of color in this industry. To this end, I have facilitated conversations on anti-bias education both at the local and national levels. I have served in facilitation and advisory roles for the National People of Color Conference, International Thespian Festival, Georgia Thespians, Aurora Theatre, Georgia Department of Education, Atlanta Public Schools Fine Arts, and the Coalition for Race & Equity in Atlanta Theatre.
What am I most proud of? Hmm…showing up every day. Being an artist is no walk in the park. Teaching high school during a pandemic isn’t exactly rainbows and butterflies. But I have this gift of being able to sift through the bullsh*t and find my way to the heart and joy of why we do what we do. When I show up, my students do too. And when I have fun, I give them permission to play and perform with complete abandon. I could list projects and awards but there is no accolade that really captures what it takes for us to bring our full selves to each day, lesson, rehearsal, performance. My hat goes off to every artist and teacher that is showing up. I feel lucky to have a circle full of the best artists, educators, and arts leaders in Atlanta. You are truly my heroes.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Just like I am now. Full of energy, very talkative, a heart for people, a little rough around the edges, and a lover of all foods!
Contact Info:
- Email: lilliangina.quinones@gmail.com
- Instagram: @lilliangina AND @sota_theatre
- Facebook: Lilliangina Quiñones
Image Credits:
Sydney Lee Robert Mitchell Owenby Casey Gardner Ford
