Interview: Angela Travino Debuts WHEREVER IS YOUR HEART at Joe's Pub

Angela Travino is making her solo-show debut at Joe’s Pub after spending eight years serving drinks in the very same space. Her cabaret centers on her community as a way to showcase the people who have supported her all these years, weaving a story of love and grief through songs both old and new.

She has recently performed in the world premiere productions of Suffs and The Seat of Our Pants at The Public Theatre.

Below, read a conversation with Angela Travino about Wherever is Your Heart.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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How did you get started in the world of theatre and cabaret?

This is actually my first venture into cabaret specifically, but I have been doing theatre since I was six years old. Both of my parents met in college doing extracurricular theatre, so it was around my home growing up. I was invested in it very early on.

For cabaret specifically: I’m very familiar with Joe’s Pub because I worked there for eight years starting in 2012, when I moved to New York City. I got to know cabaret through working the room for that long. It’s where I learned that cabaret could be anything, whether that’s a musical act, a dancing act, or someone just standing up on the stage interviewing people. It was kind of my introduction to what cabaret could be.

You mentioned that you spent eight years working at Joe’s Pub. What is it like getting to now perform on that stage in your solo show debut?

It’s an amazing feeling. I’m still very close with Kevin Abbott, who helps run the NoHo Hospitality—the restaurant associated with Joe’s Pub. For years, even when I was working in the restaurant, they would have these annual talent shows there. A lot of the people that worked there were artists, so it was our little time to shine. Ever since those talent shows, Kevin Abbott was always like, “When do you want to do your own?” and I was always like, “Yeah, no, that would be so much fun!” but I never really had anything in place. I didn’t think I was ready for the amount of work it takes to actually put a cabaret together. 

Eventually, I knew I had something to say and offer as an artist, and I decided I was ready. I emailed Kevin Abbott and Alex Knowlton—who I also have a relationship with from working there—and I was like, “Guys, I think I’m ready. This is the date I’d love, and I’m just wondering if it’s available.” And fifteen minutes later they emailed me back and told me I was set.

I can’t say that’s probably a normal thing for setting up a show at Joe’s Pub. It’s a pretty reputable stage that a lot of people want to perform their show on, so I feel very fortunate that I’ve got that inside connection—which also means I really can’t screw it up.

Can you tell me a little more about what you’re planning on doing in Wherever is Your Heart?

There’s not necessarily a running theme, but my concept is showcasing not only my original music but also lifting up the other artists I’ve worked with all these years. I wanted it to be a night of showing the community I’ve built in New York—the people who have kept me afloat and inspired me all these years. So even though I am the soloist on that stage, I wanted to feel as if everyone that has impacted me artistically is also being featured, whether or not they are actually there. I’m including one of the songs of my music director, Jonathan Brenner, that I sang the original demo for back in 2020. I was so moved by it that I had to include it. There’s an original piece that I did approximately two years ago called The Postman’s Daughter—a two-hander original musical about a newly postpartum mother completely sung through—and I’m going to include one of those songs. I’m also going to include about four of my original songs, so it’s a way to showcase that other side of me that not many people know, as well.

You’ve worked as a swing and understudy on multiple productions, including the world premieres of Suffs and The Seat of Our Pants. What is it like creating a cabaret show instead of playing a character in those productions?

In a way, there’s a bit more freedom when you’re performing your own material and creating your own show. If I mess up a lyric or the script I’ve written for myself, no one knows. No one has heard the show before or has an expectation of what it’s supposed to sound like. Everyone that is in the audience is there in support of whatever I am offering them, so it’s comforting, in a way, that whatever happens becomes a part of that show. 

When it comes to offstage understudying and swinging, there is not so much freedom. There is an expectation that you have your shit together, and if they need to call you up day of as a mid-show swing, you have to get into costume, makeup, and hair in five minutes and be able to jump on in without anyone really noticing. Of course, you as the performer will know everything you did wrong, but you’re basically able to keep the show and the momentum going. So there's a responsibility and expectation that you know all of your marks, all of your music, and that is the name of the game as a swing. 

What would you say the most rewarding part of creating Wherever is Your Heart has been so far?

The collaboration of it. My music director and I set up a schedule two months out from the show for when we’d get together, meet with the band, and start arrangements on the songs. Up until that point, I basically had to figure out what my setlist was going to be and how I wanted to connect the songs I had chosen, and that was through my own writing. It had been all about me and putting it together, but the second I actually sat down with my music director and figured out what I wanted it to be, it was the most exciting thing.

I live for collaboration, and that’s probably why I’ve done so many original musicals, too. I love the process of it being brand new and ideas coming about in the room. I love nothing being set in stone yet and the freedom of that. And I just love how some of these songs that I wrote six or seven years ago are taking on a new life because he’s added instrumentation to it besides the piano that I wrote for it. He’s just filling out these songs and making them so much more. That has been my absolute favorite thing about it.

And then, when we get to have a rehearsal with the band, it’s going to be another level.

Collaboration is my favorite thing in all of theatre. It is something that truly moves me, and if I had to take collaboration out of it, I don’t know that I would enjoy doing it anymore.

Do you have anything else you would like to add?

If people are reading this to see if they actually want to come see the show, I would say, if you’re looking for an honest and entertaining evening, then come on down. If anyone is kind of on the fence on whether they want to create their own work, if they are curious about it or have an inkling, I would say maybe just witnessing some new work is the way to move forward with that. I would highly recommend it for any working artist. If there’s this back-of-your-mind desire that maybe you want to do something that comes from you and your abilities and brain, this might be something that would interest and inspire you. 

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Tickets for Angela Travino: Wherever is Your Heart at Joe’s Pub on September 27th at 8:00 PM are available here.

You can find out more about Angela Travino at her website here.

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