Disclosure: Daniel Diaza, one of The Daniels Review’s regular review team members, serves as Stage Manager on this production. To maintain editorial independence, he was not involved in discussing, drafting, or editing this review. This review was written solely by Daniel Hunt.
Some stories feel larger than life. Vida, currently playing at Repertorio Español, takes that idea and runs with it, blending music, comedy, drama, and plenty of theatrical flair into an entertaining journey that follows one woman’s extraordinary rise from rural Colombia to international stardom.
Presented in Spanish with English supertitles, Vida opened to a full house at Repertorio Español, bringing a fresh burst of energy to one of New York’s most important homes for Spanish-language theatre. The atmosphere was buzzing before the show even began, and that excitement carried right through the evening.
At the centre of it all is Carolina Gaitán, who is simply fantastic as Vida Santiago. Over the course of ninety minutes, she takes the audience on a whirlwind journey that is funny, moving, shocking, and often completely over the top in the best possible way. Gaitán has a huge amount of energy and barely leaves the audience a chance to catch their breath. Her comic timing is excellent, her singing is powerful, and she switches effortlessly between different characters, emotions, and stages of Vida’s life.
One of my favourite touches was her use of different accents to bring the many characters in the story to life. These shifts are often very funny, but they also help keep the audience grounded as the narrative jumps between places, people, and time periods. It is a demanding role, but Gaitán handles it with confidence, charm, and seemingly endless stamina. Whether she is singing, dancing, delivering a punchline, or sharing a more emotional moment, she completely commands the stage.
The story itself is packed with twists and turns. Written and directed by Johan Velandia, Vida follows its title character from a small Colombian town through Cuba and eventually to the United States as she chases a career in entertainment. Along the way it explores themes of identity, ambition, fame, family, and survival. The show tackles some difficult subjects, but never loses its sense of humor or its love of storytelling. It is a complex and fast-paced piece with very little downtime, yet it remains surprisingly easy to follow thanks to the clarity of both the writing and performance.
Music plays a huge role throughout the production. Multi-instrumentalist Nicolás Raimont provides live accompaniment from the stage and becomes part of the world of the show rather than simply sitting off to one side. I particularly enjoyed the moments where his reactions to Vida’s stories added extra laughs. His presence creates a wonderful sense of connection between the music and the storytelling.
The production itself is impressively well put together. With a show moving at this speed, everything needs to land at exactly the right moment, and the creative team from Monqui Bizness, LAGAITA and MAS+ Theatricals clearly know what they are doing. The lighting, sound, and visual effects all work together to support the storytelling and often help underline the comedy without ever feeling overdone. The set design by Mónica Piñeros is beautiful and makes excellent use of Repertorio Español’s intimate but ornate theatre space. Every element feels carefully considered, helping maintain the show's momentum and high energy from beginning to end.
As a non-Spanish speaker, strong supertitles are essential, and Vida handles them extremely well. Despite the speed of the dialogue and the constant shifts between characters and locations, it was easy to keep up with the action throughout. I also thought the decision not to translate the musical numbers was a clever one. Rather than dividing attention between reading text and watching the performance, it allowed me to focus completely on Carolina Gaitán’s singing, stage presence, and emotional connection to the songs. It is a small choice that makes a surprisingly big difference. For fellow non-Spanish speakers, I would recommend choosing seats upstairs if possible, as this provides the clearest view of the supertitles while still offering an excellent perspective on the performance.
What makes Vida work so well is that it fully embraces the joy of theatrical storytelling. It is funny, dramatic, musical, emotional, and never afraid to go big. At the heart of it all is a magnetic performance from Carolina Gaitán, supported by a talented creative team and a production that runs with impressive precision. The result is a lively, entertaining, and thoroughly enjoyable evening that had the opening night audience cheering from start to finish.
Vida continues at Repertorio Español through June 21. Tickets and additional information are available from Repertorio Español at https://repertorio.nyc/show/2340/vida
Daniel Hunt's Rating: 5 D's (D D D D D)
Cast & Creative
Carolina Gaitán as Vida Santiago
Text and Direction: Johan Velandia
Original Idea: Carolina Gaitán, Johan Velandia and Juan Muñoz
Musical Direction: Thomas Zuluaga
Musician / Multi-Instrumentalist: Nicolás Raimont
Scenic Design: Mónica Piñeros
Lighting Design: Humberto Hernández
Choreography: Alex Cortés
Costume Design: Felipe Guzmán
Wig Supervision: Jorgelis
Stage Manager: Daniel Diaza
Assistant Stage Manager: Zeth Bolaño Cervantes
Production Management: Majo Ferrucho
Executive Producer: Mónica Piñeros
Producers: Mónica Piñeros, Majo Ferrucho and Carolina Gaitán
Production Associate: Jorge Pérez
Supertitles Operation: Rodolfo Santamarina
Public Relations: iVoice Communications
Legal Services: PlayLegal
Presented By
Repertorio Español
Fusion Productions
The Piñeros Guthier Family
Florie Huppert Design
LaChanze Productions
Produced By
Monqui Bizness
LAGAITA
MAS+ Theatricals
Repertorio Español
Repertorio Español Leadership
Executive Artistic Director: Rafael Sánchez
Founders: Gilberto Zaldívar and René Buch
Executive Producer Emeritus: Robert Weber Federico