Daniel L. Melo, Sebastian in the upcoming TWELFTH NIGHT, O LO QUE QUIERAS in CONCERT event at Rodney Square shares a few thoughts about preparations for the program.

DEL SHAKES: We’ve been developing this musical for 2 1/2 years, but this is your first experience with it. What are some of things that you’ve appreciated about the adaptation?

DANIEL: I’m super amazed! Listening to a lot of the lyrics of the songs, the cadence of the voices that are singing, it’s beautifully written, honestly. The composition is amazing. The lines that are written, I think, tell the Shakespeare story really, really well. 

There are times as an actor, of course, you’ve got to figure out how to tell the story using Shakespeare, using Spanish, using English, all at once – and even in song. Shakespeare isn’t normally written to be a musical. The way that the compositions have been written, there are very tender moments. I think you get the relationship between Sebastian and Viola, or Violeta in this case. You really get the relationship between them when you hear the music, especially when Violeta sings a part of the song in the beginning of the concert and then Sebastian sings it later. You really feel what the brother and the sister are feeling throughout the story.

DEL SHAKES: What excites you about the upcoming concert performances?

DANIEL: I’m super, super excited to put it on.

I’m grateful to Delaware Shakespeare for doing something bilingual because you don’t normally get that. For me, as an actor, I don’t always sing in Spanish on stage. So, to have that opportunity is awesome. 

I grew up singing a lot of Spanish, just in my family. I never sang in Spanish for theatre. I’m super excited to sing in a language I was raised up with. That means a lot to me. I’m grateful for it, and I’m amazed by the experience and am happy to be here.