Actor, director, screenwriter, producer and even presenter of Channel 9 at the beginning of the chain. Diego Braguinsky brings Luis Aguilé’s songs to Talia with the show “Working is a drag.”
How did the idea of honoring Luis Aguilé through his songs come about?
It actually comes from an assignment. Enrique Fayos, from the Teatro Olympia, proposed to Jaime Pujol and me to put on a show that pays homage to Luis Aguilé. We gave it a spin and thought that, since the younger generations don’t know who he is, it was better to build a story of other characters and for Aguilé to appear tangentially, as a magical thing that helps the characters who live that adventure. The protagonists are two brothers who inherit a bankrupt tie factory.
“Working is a can” has already had a few performances at the Talía, and has passed through theaters in Torrent, Catarroja and Vall d’Uixó. How is the reception?
The answer is very good because it is a comedy and people are entertained. In addition, the music is wonderful, the work of Víctor Lucas. Some viewer has told me that you go out moving your feet, wanting to dance and sing, and with the songs in your head and that’s good. It is a story of love and overcoming that works.
«Between Jaime and me there is no vanity, jealousy or nonsense, each one enriches the work of the other»
The public that is going to see them, how is it?
There is everything. On the one hand, being a tribute to Luis Aguilé, it attracts an older audience, but having Gisela and Naim Thomas, they are a claim for younger people. We trust that word of mouth will make even more young people come. It is a white function, even families can come.
I understand that “Working is a can” is not the typical show that Diego Braguinsky would sign.
(Laughter). No, what happens is that the shows I do with my company are usually more about pure theater, not musicals, and functions with a more social commitment. Although Jaime and I also have a history with musicals. We did «Awakening yesterday», with which we were shortlisted for the Max awards. It is a genre that we enjoy and I am also interested in doing this type of work and taking it to a point of sufficient quality. We must not detract from musical theater.
The work is written in four hands with Jaime Pujol, and they also direct it together. Is it more complicated to have another opinion?
On the contrary, it is very enriching. We have been working together for many years and we complement each other. We don’t always agree but that’s the grace. By having the critical opinion of your colleague, everything goes through two filters, in this way the quality is higher. Also, between us there is no vanity, jealousy or such nonsense, so it is a collaboration in which each one enriches the other’s work.
At the presentation of the play, last week at the Talía, they said that it was the best team of Valencian actors. How has it been working with them?
We have a great cast. First, the protagonists, Gisela and Naim Thomas, are two people who, since they became known with Operación Triunfo, have continued to train and are two great actors. And the Valencians are the best that can be found in musical theater. That we have all the best cannot be said either, but the ones that exist are the best. In other words, not all of them are there, but they are all of them.
«Going on stage or being on a movie set is my prize, it’s where I feel best»
Would you say that working is a drag for you?
No, no, not for me. I have the immense luck of working in what I like and it is not a drag, on the contrary, for me it is a pleasure to work. I do not identify with the title of the function (laughs). I have a great time in any of my different occupations, for me it is a pleasure to work.
Theater director, but also television, film and theater actor, screenwriter, producer… What do you prefer?
Where I feel most fulfilled is as an actor. Let’s say that’s the prize. What happens is that it is very difficult to survive as an actor. There are very few who can make a living from their profession, so I also dedicate myself to producing, directing, writing, sometimes I teach… Let’s say that I like everything and I enjoy it, but for me, going out on stage or being on a set of cinema is the prize, it is where I feel better.
Going back to «It’s a drag to work», what is the next stop of the musical?
There are some towns and cities where we have been called. And there is a project to go to Madrid and Barcelona in the not too distant future. The goal is to get out, and we are fighting for these two cities. The prospects are good, the work seems to work and the programmers like it, so we hope it will be a success and can be seen throughout Spain.
And, in addition to this work, what other projects are you working on?
I have two functions in which I am as an actor and producer. They are “El plan”, by Ignasi Vidal, and “Elmethod Grönholm”, by Jordi Galcerán, which we premiered in 2020. On the other hand, “L’Alqueria blanca” returns with daily chapters, and to those of us who were in the first period, when it was broadcast on Channel 9, they called us back to write and that’s where I’m going, crazy writing scripts. Because of course, in a daily series many scripts are needed (laughs).
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