Sergio Antonio Maggiolo grew up queer in Catholic Latin America. Opposing beliefs, conflicting feelings and navigating identity all led him to create JEEZUS!, a musical about a boy’s developing love for Jesus Christ. Partnering with musical director Guido Garcia, the queer Latinx show explores love, myths, Christianity and faith through magnificent song. Nominated for a Stage Debut Award this year, JEEZUS! is resonating with audiences and is currently touring the UK. Here, we learnt a bit more about the show from Sergio and Guido and how it came to be.
Tell us a bit about yourselves and how the Alpaqa team came together to make it work.
We are Sergio and Guido, both Latin American theatre makers living in London. We like to make theatre that means something but is also really, really funny.
Alpaqa is also formed with other amazing theatre artists who devise with us in the room, and through years of learning to work together (and how to get funding!), JEEZUS! was born.
Tell us a little bit about the show.
JEEZUS! is a musical about a Peruvian altar boy who is in love with Jesus and, on his way to his first communion, starts to feel the hots for the man on the cross.
If you had to describe the show in three words, what would they be?
Hilarious. Unhinged. Holy.
What should audiences look out for/expect?
Great Latinx tunes. Laugh-out-loud moments, and for the Catholics in the house, hopefully some teary healing at the end.
Where did the initial spark for this show come from?
It came from my real experience growing up queer in conservative Catholic Latin America and growing up in a family that was both very religious and very loving.
Can you walk us through the creative process of putting the show together?
It started as a one-person autobiographical show; I had been writing it from 2021 into 2022. We did a first work in progress in 2023 where I invited Guido to be a musician in it. The show was not originally a musical, but it had one or two songs in it. Audience feedback told us the songs were the best bits. So, in 2024 we developed it into a musical integrating orchestration, choreography and re-writing it to be a two-person, multirole musical. With that version, we won the Untapped Award to take it to Edinburgh in 2025 where we sold out the run and were able to book this tour. In 2026, we added live music for our London run and UK tour!
Why should audiences come out and see JEEZUS!?
Because it is really funny, the songs are great and the story is beautiful. Also, it’s probably something you haven’t seen in musical theatre before, so you should come and see it!
Are you excited to take the show out on tour to the REWRITES venues like Norwich Theatre?
We are SO excited. It’s our first tour with the company, and we cannot wait to hit those amazing venues. Also, presenting the show to a different audience, we can’t wait to see what you make of it.
What do you think is the importance of programmes like REWRITES to get new work out to audiences?
It’s super important to have pipelines like REWRITES in a landscape that keeps getting more difficult every day. For independent musicals to have a future life like ours, the producing support and showcase opportunity we get from REWRITES is invaluable. It lights a fire inside of us that makes us want to keep making good work.
Photos credit: Alex Brenner
