August 30, 2022 • 32 mins
Get on your feet because we've got some Cuban rhythms shaking up Morenita, okay? Mika Secada is a true triple threat, and she's gracing us by sharing her journey to take over the industry. Mika shares with us her upbringing, her relationship with her parents, and what she would like her legacy to be.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Oh yahmi hint it. I just want to give you
a heads up. The program you are about to hear
may have some explicit language, it may not. It also
depends on where the vibes and the spirit leads us.
Hope you enjoy. Welcome to Morenita, a deep dive into
the Latin X experience. With mot Anita. We want to
(00:22):
create a community and a shared space with you while
sharing knowledge and inspiration. The show is about celebrating our
culture with guests who exemplify the best of us. I'm
Darrylene Gastillo Vito. Oh yeah, me hint it. Today we
have someone who may or may not sound familiar to you,
(00:47):
Mika Skada. Mika is currently paving her own path and singing, dancing,
and acting. That's right. She's a triple threat and she
comes from a family line of performers themselves. Nika has
just finished starring in Kinky Boots at the Bucks County Playhouse,
and her father, John Sava, is a Cuban American singer
(01:10):
actor who has graced many Latino households through music by
songwriting for household names such as Gloria Stefan, Ricky Martin
j Lo. He's performed on Broadway stages, has Grammys. You guys,
the resume goes on and on and on. But it's
Mika's time now, and she is stepping into the spotlight
(01:34):
with us and gives us here at Monanita a closer
look on how her journey is going. I had the
absolute honor of working with Mika during our time at
the Kennedy Center preparing for a musical called Beast Girl,
based on the writing of the amazing after Latina poet
Elizabeth Asvado. I got to know Mika and immediately bonded
(01:58):
with her throughout our experience, dances in the industry, and
our own personal life experiences. Mika hailes from Miami, Florida,
and opens up to us about her time while she
was studying at the prestigious Musical theater program at the
University of Michigan. She reveals to us the wake up
call that she received that truly humbled her. She rose
(02:21):
to that occasion and shifted her energy into putting the
work in now. I absolutely related to this story because
when I was coming up in this industry, some humbling
moments were absolutely necessary for my growth, and I think
those moments are extremely important as you go through life
(02:42):
in general. How do you handle a moment that has
required you to humble yourself? Do you attack it with
ego or do you self reflect and see what you
can do better. Mika shows exactly how she has dealt
with this herself and how those moments have helped your
growth as an artist. Mika not only discusses growth, but
(03:05):
she touches base on the insecurities and pressures that come
along with coming from an incredibly talented and successful family.
And don't fret. We also touch on the relationship dynamics
between her parents and how that dynamic flows into their
relationship as artists. Get ready and put your shades on
(03:27):
for this one, honey, because Mika Sekava is shining bright
in her own light. Same beetle Boy has finally entered
more like I've been waiting for this forever since Beast Girl,
(03:48):
since Baschool in December when we got shut down. Because
it will look on As I mentioned, y'all, Mika and
I know each other from doing a production called Beast Girl.
Um well, I should say the workshop of the show,
um the second workshop at the Kennedy Center, and I
literally saw her walking the room, and I was like
(04:08):
Latino coming into the room. I was like, who is she?
And I was like, I know her face and I
remember seeing her face from other friends from Hamilton's who
had also went to college with you at Miss Karina,
who I'm actually going to get lunch with today coincidentally
is and that's so funny, said hello, I know that
friends connecting with friends. Um, But anyways, I was just like, so,
(04:32):
I was like, just so fascinated with watching her work
in the room. And she's an incredible dancer, an incredible performer.
I present to you, guys, Mika that um sis, you
just finished Kinky Boots. I just finished doing Kinky Boots
at Bucks County Playhouse. I was playing Nicola, who's kind
of the estranged fiance character in the story, but also
(04:57):
like epic that you are playing that role. Yeah, it
was a very interesting take on the character in general
because she's kind of misunderstood, especially with me playing Nicola.
She is an Afro Latina woman who's going from living
in this small factory town where there aren't many opportunities
(05:19):
or space to grow, and she's really trying to like
set out moved to London and make this whole new
life for herself. As an audience member, I think most
people kind of perceive her as money hungry, unloving, uncaring
in general, especially like from the way she's been written
into the show. But I was actually got the opportunity
(05:40):
to sing a cut song from the production, which honestly,
in my opinion, gave her so much more dimension and
depth as a person who knows exactly what it is
she wants. I think it definitely created a whole new
life for the character. But that also sounds like the
people you were working with were really finding how to
(06:01):
meet that connect with this character and how can we
make this authentic and realistic and make this feel real
for you, which is not a normal experience. The co
director was Cheryl Coller, So when I went in and
I kind of like did my first initial take on
the sides, she was like, I'm stopping you. I'm stopping
(06:23):
you right there. Make it real. And if this was
your fiance who you thought that you were going to
marry and have a completely new life with, and all
of a sudden, he's just turned the tables on you,
and without any communication of his own, kind of set
out and said I'm doing this this certain thing without
your approval. When you guys are supposed to be in
a partnership, how would you react to that? And so
(06:46):
that kind of like once I was given that freedom,
that was it, Like I was kind of able to
completely take the character into myself. And then it was
totally Cheryl and Hopes the decision to put that song
into the show. It was actually they talked about how
important it was for them to kind of um unify
(07:08):
the whole story instead of making it like I'm the
pure antagonist, stopping the plot from moving forward, giving the
women some more layers. Exactly When we actually started rehearsals
and we started reading the script from beginning to end,
it was like, oh wow, this is extremely male centric.
I mean queer centric as well, but there are a
(07:32):
lot of male characters that get full development and the
females not so much. Listen, and we see it all
the time. It's something that I think is also like
still relevant in musicals. I mean we can talk about
that with Hamilton's right, like, and there's just there's so
much of that in in a lot of the work
that we're seeing. But we started really heavy and turn
(07:55):
right there because I want to make sure that our
listeners get a taste to like who you are and
where you come from and how did we get to
be Skirl? And I know that you went to mish
Um and you studied theater there, but I also know
that you're from Miami, So Miami. How is that transition
(08:19):
Miami to Michigan. Obviously I know what made you want
to go to mish Um. It being like one of
the top musical theater schools and having that on your
resume is such a huge thing, as we all know
in the industry. But I'm just so curious for you.
I know those two worlds of Miami and being Latina
and after Latina right culture and sais. I know, I
(08:42):
know miss all right, I know I know lots of
people from mish energy there. Well. At first, I probably
around junior year is when I decided that I was
going to pursue musical theater as a career. So I
went to an all girls Catholic school. Okay, so we're
already starting out with the fact that I was going
(09:04):
to an all girls Catholic school which extremely valued academics
and going to college and so on and so forth.
So it was pretty much around like the end of
my sophomore year beginning of junior year, where they were like,
what do you want to do? Let's start strategizing. So
I remember going to a college fair with my dad. Um,
and my dad comes from the music world. Um, we'll
(09:28):
get there anyway. So he had kind of already went
around and asked friends of his asking musical theater college,
what are the best places to go? So it was
a lot of like the Carnegie and the UH Penn
State and of course Michigan if you asked my like
(09:48):
sixteen year old self, I was dead set on moving
to New York City when I was eighteen, whether that
was doing college or whether that was just moving and
beginning the audition process and like die head first into
musical theater. I knew what I wanted to do was
musical theater. And so when we passed by the Michigan
table at the college convention, my dad was like, you
(10:11):
should look into this school. A lot of my friends
are recommending it, that you should look into it, and
I was like, absolutely not. Why would I decide to
go to the Midwest, in the middle of nowhere to
do musical theater, which is known that New York is
the at the center of musical theater, and shouldn't my
(10:33):
education be in the at the center of where all
the magic is happening? And so I was super anti
at first, and then the summer going into senior year, UM,
I went to a college attensive at uh Florida State
University and it was kind of like a college audition prep,
(10:55):
and that's where I realized that I was not nearly
as prepared for the real world of musical theater. My
dad obviously had done Broadway in the past and things
like that, and so I kind of had an idea
of it, but I didn't realize what it was like
to start from the bottom up, and the fact that
(11:16):
a lot of kids are really really hungry and have
been working towards this goal of getting into a top
tier musical theater program since they were probably twelve years old.
And so I had a very heavy dance training, but
I needed to improve my voice and I needed to
get in acting classes. And so also while is there
(11:39):
at the time, I realized how prestigious the University of
Michigan was because once we as as a group started
talking about what our dream schools were, everybody's number one
dream school was the University of Michigan and go Blue Like. So,
I quickly realized how daunting a task it was going
(11:59):
to be to apply and get into all of the
musical theater colleges, and so I did the whole process.
I would never wish it upon my worst enemy to
do that process, and so I did it all. I
got into a couple of my top choices, uh F
(12:21):
s U flor Sta being one of them, which I
knew at the time was going to be free, which
was a big deal um, And so I was pretty
much committed to going to F s U. And I
finally got the paw from Michigan and literally I got
the call. I freaked out. I called my parents and
(12:43):
the first thing my dad said was like, we're going
to make it work. You're gonna go because and it
makes the emotional thinking about it, because I knew it
wasn't gonna be easy, um, especially financially from my parents,
and then also just the distance it was gonna be.
I'm gonna be close to home, I'm going to be comfortable,
(13:04):
or I'm about to go to the number one musical
leader school in the country, which is coveted and I
realized the privilege and the opportunity that I was given
to do that, and so I did it. It was
jarring at first. I mean, going there in August was great.
I was like, Oh, this is awesome. I think if
I could go back, I would spend a little more
(13:26):
time like preparing myself for the commitment that it is
to be a musical theater major um time wise too.
And it wasn't until I got to winter that I
really realized how hard it was. I think I realized
I was falling behind in my musical theater classes, and
(13:48):
I realized that I am actively choosing to be here.
No one's forcing me. I'm putting up with the winter,
I am dealing with being away from home. I am
completely creating a new life for myself, which is it's
really what it was. I was completely separated from the
(14:09):
reality that I thought it was going to be a
year before. So I realized, oh, girl, you have to
decide what it is that you want from life. I
(14:30):
think it's also like growing pains, right, Like, it's like
especially and I feel that with you, because like I
can look back on my career on moments and be
like I really thought I was hot ship, but I
really wasn't. But but I could be if I just
put a little more work into this department, or if
I cut this out of my life, or if I
(14:51):
just reshaped some things of where I'm at and how
I'm thinking. So like when I hear all of that
for you, I'm like that that's just like growing pain
of like figuring it out in this industry, like how
to take care of yourself, how to carrey your body,
how to how to like fill your cup with like
what you really need in the moment, because honestly, since
like to like there's times where I'm like, I just
(15:13):
want to do a play for six months. I don't
want to sing, I want to do that. I don't
want maybe I don't want to do this X y Z.
I'm not gonna you know what I mean, Because sometimes
you don't want to negotiate those things because as an actor,
we give up so much of our lives to what
it is that we do. We give our time, we
give our emotions, everything we give to this craft, and
(15:34):
sometimes you're not willing to let go of certain things
in your personal life or in the life that you live,
even if it just means like going to a restaurant
and like eating dinner with your partner, with your family, Like,
those are things that people give up in order to
sustain being on Broadway eight shows a week and being
able to sing and do it all. You know, So
(15:58):
I totally get you too. So I know you talked
about it a lot just now, But touching base on
your incredible father, which I'm a huge fan of, and
I'm pretty sure a lot of the listeners know who
John Sava is, um, But if you don't know, um, Mika,
could you give us a little bit of a insight
on what it was like growing up with your father
(16:21):
and the entertainment industry and the obviously the extensive resume
that your dad has. Totally I'll take the humble brag.
My dad definitely taught me the art of humility and
staying humble because in this industry you're not owed anything
even if you deserve it, you know what I mean.
(16:42):
So I'll start with that. Um My dad is a
singer songwriter based in Miami, Florida. He was born in Cuba,
and he got his start um singing background for the
Miami saw Machine, which is famous to Gloria and Amelia
Stefan and yeah, yeah, anyway, so he got to start
(17:07):
with them and then he finally broke out with Emilio
as his manager and he kind of went for his
solo career and doing that, he's won many Grammys. Um.
I think he's at four now. Um. But he went
on to be on Broadway. He did Greece. He was
(17:28):
like Afro Latino Danny Zuko, which is like so fierce
if you think about it, like exactly like mid nineties.
I think it was like him doing that. When I
was growing up, I didn't even realize what kind of
opportunity that was, And being where I'm at now, I
appreciate it even more because that's the kind of role
(17:52):
obviously not Danny Zuko, but like that kind of like lead,
iconic white usually role for him to be able to
step into that, I'm like so proud of him and
Broadway back then. I mean, we know how it is
right now, I know, like you can only imagine. I
can't even imagine. And he's made a career for himself
(18:14):
for I think it's like thirty something years now, which
is amazing. So growing up with that was very unique.
But I took it for granted, and I kind of
thought of it as the norm. So yeah, Like I
was very used to my dad being at the piano
(18:35):
all the time and musician friends of his coming over
and then jamming and hanging out backstage literally at studio theater.
Um yea anyway, so that's how I grew up, and
I think I was very Again, my one fault is
that I like refused to accept my voice and I've
(18:58):
already touched upon it and for a long time as
I was growing up, I was very drawn to performing.
My mom put me in dance from literally the age
of three, so I was always very comfortable with dance,
and I was always dancing and the dance competitions and
the recitals and everything, so I was used to being
on stage. When it came to singing, I was so
(19:21):
hyper insecure about my voice. I think it was because
my dad had such a beautiful voice and everyone lauded
him for his voice that I was like, there's no way,
I'm half that good. And I think my insecurity stopped
me from even beginning to study it until I was fourteen.
(19:42):
I literally did not decide to go into musical theater
till I was in high school, which was a big
deal because I was so drawn to it, Like all
of my dance solos looking back were literally me lip
sinking to like Liza Minnelli. But she's giving you a
full performance, honey, She's giving you a full on performance.
I'm so curious for you, Like, is it something that
(20:02):
you're that you're still battling with a little bit, like
as you're creating a name for yourself in this industry. Yeah,
let's be real, it helps to have your dad, you know,
in your corner and like growing up with that experience,
like there's so much there for you to take away
or even just somebody to have to talk to you,
which I even definitely rely on him so much for that,
(20:24):
especially in the harden, Right, do you still struggle with
some of that intimidation, some of that pressure. I know
that you and your dad have a great relationship. Is
there sometimes that moment still for you as we're growing
(20:49):
in the industry in making your own name for yourself.
I think I was way more insecure about how it
would be. I think I was. I was building up
this anxiety about it, especially towards my later years in college,
where I was like, oh, I'm about to enter this
field for real. Now I'm going to be auditioning, I'm
going to have an agent, I'm going to be doing
(21:10):
all this stuff. And I was so scared that I
don't know that I was gonna have to live up
to Cicada. You know, I was going to have to
graduate and immediately book something huge, you know what I mean,
because of the way would be perceived. Um. I think
(21:30):
once I graduated, I realized how much people don't care
where they don't notice, for example, with a crossing at
Barrington Stage. I book the show, did the whole production
and it wasn't ntil like the last day, the last
few days of rehearsal that Josh Burgoss, our director, and
our writer and composers always Sarr and I were like,
(21:53):
wait a second, what when they found out that my
dad was school he was so and in like amongst
the amongst casts and amongst other creative teams as well.
I think Beast Girl they knew, but it's because it's
such a Cuban, Dominican Caribbean centric show that they knew.
(22:16):
But um, for other stuff, it's been like so late
into the process once I've already like gotten the job
on my own. Accomplishments are on my own like self
that people find out, and those moments are the most
reassuring because there's gonna be people who know who who
I am and where I come from, But there's also
(22:36):
people who like as much as they know where my
who my dad is and where my dad comes from,
they don't know that I'm connected to him yet. So
I would say I struggle with it more in my
personal relationship with my dad and more like when like,
for example, when he came to see Kinky Boots, like,
I just get ten times more nervous. Really, is your
(23:00):
dad like a critic though when he sees you? Or
it's only when I asked him specific questions like hey,
in this in this certain part, what did you think
you know what I mean? Or like that when I
was doing a lot when I was back at home
before I moved to New York City and still doing
self tapes and like singing, and he would he would
(23:22):
hear me because he was in the other room, and
I'd be like, Oh, what do you think you know?
And and that that's the insecurity, you know what I mean?
Like that's my inner self asking what he thinks of
my performances where I think the insecurity of art um
of our dynamic is you know, but honestly, it's two artists.
(23:44):
It's the dynamic of two artists. Right. Here's moving the
father and daughter thing. And here's the thing. I know
in a way because he's active of course in the past,
but I think since I went and I got a
formal acting training at school, he relies on me for
acting stuff. So I feel like at this point we've
(24:06):
created this really cool bond where he can give me
his opinion, but it's it's never comes from a bad place,
and it's usually always commenting on how much I've grown
because he's been listening to my voice since I was
fourteen years old. There was at one point, like when
I was like maybe thirteen, that like he was gonna
(24:26):
start giving me voice lessons, and I think that lasted
like twenty five minutes, um, because it's like when they
teachers had to drive, You're like, why are you teaching
me how to drive? I was too mature for that,
Like there was no way I was going to begin
getting voice lessons with my dad as my teacher. But um, yeah,
they were definitely harder moments when I was younger. But
(24:48):
now I feel like, because I've matured and I've grown,
We've built like this really cool artistic relationship where like
he relies on me, I rely on him. It's such
a beautiful relationship to have with your parents or with
your family member like that, that artistic understanding of each
other where you don't have to explain yourself you you
can artistically be free. And then when it comes to dancing,
(25:11):
that's my mother's expertise. Oh so you have, so you
have both of it. Okay, Yeah, my mom was a
dancer until she was twenty something years old. She choreographed
a bunch of glorious stuff. She's like choreographed different movie
projects and stuff like that, and so she knows what
she's talking about when it comes to dance. And I
(25:33):
already had that relationship with her established since I was young,
because she would be the one taking me to dance
classes and the auditions, I mean in the competitions and
stuff like that. So I was constantly getting feedback from her,
which annoyed me a lot. But now where I like,
I am like in this like triple threat kind of
musical theater world where like dance isn't everything. It's more
(25:55):
like dance, how is it infused with your acting and
your personality? Kind of thing where I literally send my
mom options of like different dance self tapes that I
have and I'm like, which would you like better? And
she doesn't need to tell me much. It doesn't need
to be all about the technique or whatever. I'm just like,
which one just looks the best. It's such a privilege
(26:15):
and it's such a blessing and it's also like really
amazing to hear the positive vibes around it. And I'm
just curious for you, like, what is the legacy that
you want to continue to leave, the one that your
father has started and the one that your mother has
started for the scads? Oh my god, that's such a
good question, Darlyn, Oh my god. All right. One thing
(26:37):
I haven't really talked about is my great aunt. Her
name was Mora Macada. She is my dad's aunt on
his dad's side, um, and she got her start singing
in a girl group in Cuba and when the nineteen fifties,
forties and fifties, and she eventually went on to have
(26:58):
a solo career and she was beloved amongst the Cuban
community and like Cuba in the country in general, but
she never really got to break out of that. And
I know that when she was with the girl group,
they kind of had like a couple opportunities to like
perform in New York and things like that. Um, But
(27:20):
once she got her solo career going, she kind of
didn't get the opportunity anymore and she died young. Um.
I never got to meet her, but when I watched
videos of her performing, that woman was an actress. And
again I'm getting emotional because there's so much in her
that like I identify with and it's unspoken and so
(27:43):
I feel like with every like generation that has gone
on to be and it's so crazy because it really
lives in our blood. Like my dad was going to
be a dentist until he was like eighteen or nineteen
years old and he was like, you know what, you know,
I'm gonna sing. And before that he hadn't really ventured
into the arts. And so it's funny because it's like
(28:04):
a calling. And so from her generation to then my
dad's and now mine, I just I kind of I
like live through her a little bit, and it's beast
Girl is also a funny connection because um, we were
able to like put like something meaningful for us on
(28:25):
stage whenever we did the show every night, and I
would put her picture at the altar because whenever I perform,
like I'm literally performing for her. And I wish I
could have met her because of course, like my dad
and I have this amazing connection, but like with a
woman with a black, Latina Cuban woman, and so I
(28:48):
think about her a lot when I think about what
I want my career to be and who I'm honoring, um,
when I'm doing the things that I love. So moving
forward in my career, I want to keep doing stuff
that feel is really real to who I am and
to where it came from and my family. It's just
because our stories hit different, you know what I'm saying,
And when it's authentic, is hits different? Absolutely, Mika, this
(29:16):
is the moment we've all been waiting for. This is
our speed questions moment. Are you ready? I'm ready? Okay,
If you could have lunch with Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt
or Meryl Streep, who would you pick? Meryl Streep? Obviously?
Are you kidding me? The Queen? Also because your favorite
(29:37):
movie is Devil words products that we had to ask
second question. I feel like you kind of answered this
one already, but maybe you have a different answer to it.
Who's someone you look up to? And why I really
look up to Jane Fonda. I think she's a chameleon
and she like she's lived so many lives in one
(29:57):
and she never let herself be defined by just one thing.
And she can go from being a workout superstar to
Oscar Award winning actress, to an activist to whatever it
is that she wants to be. And I if I
could live that life. I want to Three. What reminds
you of home or makes you feel at home? Oh,
(30:20):
I mean I think anything Cuban food, like Va, Like
that's that's exactly what puts me right back in Miami.
I mean, you can't go wrong with that with that question.
Food is like the best answer that. Okay, So if
you have one plate that you had to only survive
(30:41):
off of, what would it be? You can only choose
one Cuban dish? Oh my god, it has to be
my grandmother's anybody else's, and I don't want it. Like
that is like chefs kiss, chef's kiss, make up my love.
If people want to follow your journey and follow you
and see what you're up to and check you out.
(31:04):
What are your social plugs? Was the with the Twitter?
Was the thing? Was a tickety talk? What is it?
Unfortunately my Twitter got half like five years ago and
I don't have one anymore, but follow me on Instagram.
I like basically post everything there at Sada and I
K A S E C A t A that's me. Ka.
(31:25):
Thank you so much for coming and hanging out with us.
Thank you for taking the time. I can't wait to
see everything that you do as you're taking over the world.
That can't wait to play sisters again. Um, we're fans,
we love you, We stand Mika Sada, thank you. Thank
you so much for having me and inviting me. It's
been amazing. It's like a therapy session. Yeah. Monamita is
(31:53):
a production of Sono in partnership with I Heart Radios
Michael Uda podcast Network. For more podcast from I heart
rate Dio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcast,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Oh yahmi hint it. I just want to give you
a heads up. The program you are about to hear
may have some explicit language, it may not. It also
depends on where the vibes and the spirit leads us.
Hope you enjoy. Welcome to Morenita, a deep dive into
the Latin X experience. With mot Anita. We want to
(00:22):
create a community and a shared space with you while
sharing knowledge and inspiration. The show is about celebrating our
culture with guests who exemplify the best of us. I'm
Darrylene Gastillo Vito. Oh yeah, me hint it. Today we
have someone who may or may not sound familiar to you,
(00:47):
Mika Skada. Mika is currently paving her own path and singing, dancing,
and acting. That's right. She's a triple threat and she
comes from a family line of performers themselves. Nika has
just finished starring in Kinky Boots at the Bucks County Playhouse,
and her father, John Sava, is a Cuban American singer
(01:10):
actor who has graced many Latino households through music by
songwriting for household names such as Gloria Stefan, Ricky Martin
j Lo. He's performed on Broadway stages, has Grammys. You guys,
the resume goes on and on and on. But it's
Mika's time now, and she is stepping into the spotlight
(01:34):
with us and gives us here at Monanita a closer
look on how her journey is going. I had the
absolute honor of working with Mika during our time at
the Kennedy Center preparing for a musical called Beast Girl,
based on the writing of the amazing after Latina poet
Elizabeth Asvado. I got to know Mika and immediately bonded
(01:58):
with her throughout our experience, dances in the industry, and
our own personal life experiences. Mika hailes from Miami, Florida,
and opens up to us about her time while she
was studying at the prestigious Musical theater program at the
University of Michigan. She reveals to us the wake up
call that she received that truly humbled her. She rose
(02:21):
to that occasion and shifted her energy into putting the
work in now. I absolutely related to this story because
when I was coming up in this industry, some humbling
moments were absolutely necessary for my growth, and I think
those moments are extremely important as you go through life
(02:42):
in general. How do you handle a moment that has
required you to humble yourself? Do you attack it with
ego or do you self reflect and see what you
can do better. Mika shows exactly how she has dealt
with this herself and how those moments have helped your
growth as an artist. Mika not only discusses growth, but
(03:05):
she touches base on the insecurities and pressures that come
along with coming from an incredibly talented and successful family.
And don't fret. We also touch on the relationship dynamics
between her parents and how that dynamic flows into their
relationship as artists. Get ready and put your shades on
(03:27):
for this one, honey, because Mika Sekava is shining bright
in her own light. Same beetle Boy has finally entered
more like I've been waiting for this forever since Beast Girl,
(03:48):
since Baschool in December when we got shut down. Because
it will look on As I mentioned, y'all, Mika and
I know each other from doing a production called Beast Girl.
Um well, I should say the workshop of the show,
um the second workshop at the Kennedy Center, and I
literally saw her walking the room, and I was like
(04:08):
Latino coming into the room. I was like, who is she?
And I was like, I know her face and I
remember seeing her face from other friends from Hamilton's who
had also went to college with you at Miss Karina,
who I'm actually going to get lunch with today coincidentally
is and that's so funny, said hello, I know that
friends connecting with friends. Um, But anyways, I was just like, so,
(04:32):
I was like, just so fascinated with watching her work
in the room. And she's an incredible dancer, an incredible performer.
I present to you, guys, Mika that um sis, you
just finished Kinky Boots. I just finished doing Kinky Boots
at Bucks County Playhouse. I was playing Nicola, who's kind
of the estranged fiance character in the story, but also
(04:57):
like epic that you are playing that role. Yeah, it
was a very interesting take on the character in general
because she's kind of misunderstood, especially with me playing Nicola.
She is an Afro Latina woman who's going from living
in this small factory town where there aren't many opportunities
(05:19):
or space to grow, and she's really trying to like
set out moved to London and make this whole new
life for herself. As an audience member, I think most
people kind of perceive her as money hungry, unloving, uncaring
in general, especially like from the way she's been written
into the show. But I was actually got the opportunity
(05:40):
to sing a cut song from the production, which honestly,
in my opinion, gave her so much more dimension and
depth as a person who knows exactly what it is
she wants. I think it definitely created a whole new
life for the character. But that also sounds like the
people you were working with were really finding how to
(06:01):
meet that connect with this character and how can we
make this authentic and realistic and make this feel real
for you, which is not a normal experience. The co
director was Cheryl Coller, So when I went in and
I kind of like did my first initial take on
the sides, she was like, I'm stopping you. I'm stopping
(06:23):
you right there. Make it real. And if this was
your fiance who you thought that you were going to
marry and have a completely new life with, and all
of a sudden, he's just turned the tables on you,
and without any communication of his own, kind of set
out and said I'm doing this this certain thing without
your approval. When you guys are supposed to be in
a partnership, how would you react to that? And so
(06:46):
that kind of like once I was given that freedom,
that was it, Like I was kind of able to
completely take the character into myself. And then it was
totally Cheryl and Hopes the decision to put that song
into the show. It was actually they talked about how
important it was for them to kind of um unify
(07:08):
the whole story instead of making it like I'm the
pure antagonist, stopping the plot from moving forward, giving the
women some more layers. Exactly When we actually started rehearsals
and we started reading the script from beginning to end,
it was like, oh wow, this is extremely male centric.
I mean queer centric as well, but there are a
(07:32):
lot of male characters that get full development and the
females not so much. Listen, and we see it all
the time. It's something that I think is also like
still relevant in musicals. I mean we can talk about
that with Hamilton's right, like, and there's just there's so
much of that in in a lot of the work
that we're seeing. But we started really heavy and turn
(07:55):
right there because I want to make sure that our
listeners get a taste to like who you are and
where you come from and how did we get to
be Skirl? And I know that you went to mish
Um and you studied theater there, but I also know
that you're from Miami, So Miami. How is that transition
(08:19):
Miami to Michigan. Obviously I know what made you want
to go to mish Um. It being like one of
the top musical theater schools and having that on your
resume is such a huge thing, as we all know
in the industry. But I'm just so curious for you.
I know those two worlds of Miami and being Latina
and after Latina right culture and sais. I know, I
(08:42):
know miss all right, I know I know lots of
people from mish energy there. Well. At first, I probably
around junior year is when I decided that I was
going to pursue musical theater as a career. So I
went to an all girls Catholic school. Okay, so we're
already starting out with the fact that I was going
(09:04):
to an all girls Catholic school which extremely valued academics
and going to college and so on and so forth.
So it was pretty much around like the end of
my sophomore year beginning of junior year, where they were like,
what do you want to do? Let's start strategizing. So
I remember going to a college fair with my dad. Um,
and my dad comes from the music world. Um, we'll
(09:28):
get there anyway. So he had kind of already went
around and asked friends of his asking musical theater college,
what are the best places to go? So it was
a lot of like the Carnegie and the UH Penn
State and of course Michigan if you asked my like
(09:48):
sixteen year old self, I was dead set on moving
to New York City when I was eighteen, whether that
was doing college or whether that was just moving and
beginning the audition process and like die head first into
musical theater. I knew what I wanted to do was
musical theater. And so when we passed by the Michigan
table at the college convention, my dad was like, you
(10:11):
should look into this school. A lot of my friends
are recommending it, that you should look into it, and
I was like, absolutely not. Why would I decide to
go to the Midwest, in the middle of nowhere to
do musical theater, which is known that New York is
the at the center of musical theater, and shouldn't my
(10:33):
education be in the at the center of where all
the magic is happening? And so I was super anti
at first, and then the summer going into senior year, UM,
I went to a college attensive at uh Florida State
University and it was kind of like a college audition prep,
(10:55):
and that's where I realized that I was not nearly
as prepared for the real world of musical theater. My
dad obviously had done Broadway in the past and things
like that, and so I kind of had an idea
of it, but I didn't realize what it was like
to start from the bottom up, and the fact that
(11:16):
a lot of kids are really really hungry and have
been working towards this goal of getting into a top
tier musical theater program since they were probably twelve years old.
And so I had a very heavy dance training, but
I needed to improve my voice and I needed to
get in acting classes. And so also while is there
(11:39):
at the time, I realized how prestigious the University of
Michigan was because once we as as a group started
talking about what our dream schools were, everybody's number one
dream school was the University of Michigan and go Blue Like. So,
I quickly realized how daunting a task it was going
(11:59):
to be to apply and get into all of the
musical theater colleges, and so I did the whole process.
I would never wish it upon my worst enemy to
do that process, and so I did it all. I
got into a couple of my top choices, uh F
(12:21):
s U flor Sta being one of them, which I
knew at the time was going to be free, which
was a big deal um, And so I was pretty
much committed to going to F s U. And I
finally got the paw from Michigan and literally I got
the call. I freaked out. I called my parents and
(12:43):
the first thing my dad said was like, we're going
to make it work. You're gonna go because and it
makes the emotional thinking about it, because I knew it
wasn't gonna be easy, um, especially financially from my parents,
and then also just the distance it was gonna be.
I'm gonna be close to home, I'm going to be comfortable,
(13:04):
or I'm about to go to the number one musical
leader school in the country, which is coveted and I
realized the privilege and the opportunity that I was given
to do that, and so I did it. It was
jarring at first. I mean, going there in August was great.
I was like, Oh, this is awesome. I think if
I could go back, I would spend a little more
(13:26):
time like preparing myself for the commitment that it is
to be a musical theater major um time wise too.
And it wasn't until I got to winter that I
really realized how hard it was. I think I realized
I was falling behind in my musical theater classes, and
(13:48):
I realized that I am actively choosing to be here.
No one's forcing me. I'm putting up with the winter,
I am dealing with being away from home. I am
completely creating a new life for myself, which is it's
really what it was. I was completely separated from the
(14:09):
reality that I thought it was going to be a
year before. So I realized, oh, girl, you have to
decide what it is that you want from life. I
(14:30):
think it's also like growing pains, right, Like, it's like
especially and I feel that with you, because like I
can look back on my career on moments and be
like I really thought I was hot ship, but I
really wasn't. But but I could be if I just
put a little more work into this department, or if
I cut this out of my life, or if I
(14:51):
just reshaped some things of where I'm at and how
I'm thinking. So like when I hear all of that
for you, I'm like that that's just like growing pain
of like figuring it out in this industry, like how
to take care of yourself, how to carrey your body,
how to how to like fill your cup with like
what you really need in the moment, because honestly, since
like to like there's times where I'm like, I just
(15:13):
want to do a play for six months. I don't
want to sing, I want to do that. I don't
want maybe I don't want to do this X y Z.
I'm not gonna you know what I mean, Because sometimes
you don't want to negotiate those things because as an actor,
we give up so much of our lives to what
it is that we do. We give our time, we
give our emotions, everything we give to this craft, and
(15:34):
sometimes you're not willing to let go of certain things
in your personal life or in the life that you live,
even if it just means like going to a restaurant
and like eating dinner with your partner, with your family, Like,
those are things that people give up in order to
sustain being on Broadway eight shows a week and being
able to sing and do it all. You know, So
(15:58):
I totally get you too. So I know you talked
about it a lot just now, But touching base on
your incredible father, which I'm a huge fan of, and
I'm pretty sure a lot of the listeners know who
John Sava is, um, But if you don't know, um, Mika,
could you give us a little bit of a insight
on what it was like growing up with your father
(16:21):
and the entertainment industry and the obviously the extensive resume
that your dad has. Totally I'll take the humble brag.
My dad definitely taught me the art of humility and
staying humble because in this industry you're not owed anything
even if you deserve it, you know what I mean.
(16:42):
So I'll start with that. Um My dad is a
singer songwriter based in Miami, Florida. He was born in Cuba,
and he got his start um singing background for the
Miami saw Machine, which is famous to Gloria and Amelia
Stefan and yeah, yeah, anyway, so he got to start
(17:07):
with them and then he finally broke out with Emilio
as his manager and he kind of went for his
solo career and doing that, he's won many Grammys. Um.
I think he's at four now. Um. But he went
on to be on Broadway. He did Greece. He was
(17:28):
like Afro Latino Danny Zuko, which is like so fierce
if you think about it, like exactly like mid nineties.
I think it was like him doing that. When I
was growing up, I didn't even realize what kind of
opportunity that was, And being where I'm at now, I
appreciate it even more because that's the kind of role
(17:52):
obviously not Danny Zuko, but like that kind of like lead,
iconic white usually role for him to be able to
step into that, I'm like so proud of him and
Broadway back then. I mean, we know how it is
right now, I know, like you can only imagine. I
can't even imagine. And he's made a career for himself
(18:14):
for I think it's like thirty something years now, which
is amazing. So growing up with that was very unique.
But I took it for granted, and I kind of
thought of it as the norm. So yeah, Like I
was very used to my dad being at the piano
(18:35):
all the time and musician friends of his coming over
and then jamming and hanging out backstage literally at studio theater.
Um yea anyway, so that's how I grew up, and
I think I was very Again, my one fault is
that I like refused to accept my voice and I've
(18:58):
already touched upon it and for a long time as
I was growing up, I was very drawn to performing.
My mom put me in dance from literally the age
of three, so I was always very comfortable with dance,
and I was always dancing and the dance competitions and
the recitals and everything, so I was used to being
on stage. When it came to singing, I was so
(19:21):
hyper insecure about my voice. I think it was because
my dad had such a beautiful voice and everyone lauded
him for his voice that I was like, there's no way,
I'm half that good. And I think my insecurity stopped
me from even beginning to study it until I was fourteen.
(19:42):
I literally did not decide to go into musical theater
till I was in high school, which was a big
deal because I was so drawn to it, Like all
of my dance solos looking back were literally me lip
sinking to like Liza Minnelli. But she's giving you a
full performance, honey, She's giving you a full on performance.
I'm so curious for you, Like, is it something that
(20:02):
you're that you're still battling with a little bit, like
as you're creating a name for yourself in this industry. Yeah,
let's be real, it helps to have your dad, you know,
in your corner and like growing up with that experience,
like there's so much there for you to take away
or even just somebody to have to talk to you,
which I even definitely rely on him so much for that,
(20:24):
especially in the harden, Right, do you still struggle with
some of that intimidation, some of that pressure. I know
that you and your dad have a great relationship. Is
there sometimes that moment still for you as we're growing
(20:49):
in the industry in making your own name for yourself.
I think I was way more insecure about how it
would be. I think I was. I was building up
this anxiety about it, especially towards my later years in college,
where I was like, oh, I'm about to enter this
field for real. Now I'm going to be auditioning, I'm
going to have an agent, I'm going to be doing
(21:10):
all this stuff. And I was so scared that I
don't know that I was gonna have to live up
to Cicada. You know, I was going to have to
graduate and immediately book something huge, you know what I mean,
because of the way would be perceived. Um. I think
(21:30):
once I graduated, I realized how much people don't care
where they don't notice, for example, with a crossing at
Barrington Stage. I book the show, did the whole production
and it wasn't ntil like the last day, the last
few days of rehearsal that Josh Burgoss, our director, and
our writer and composers always Sarr and I were like,
(21:53):
wait a second, what when they found out that my
dad was school he was so and in like amongst
the amongst casts and amongst other creative teams as well.
I think Beast Girl they knew, but it's because it's
such a Cuban, Dominican Caribbean centric show that they knew.
(22:16):
But um, for other stuff, it's been like so late
into the process once I've already like gotten the job
on my own. Accomplishments are on my own like self
that people find out, and those moments are the most
reassuring because there's gonna be people who know who who
I am and where I come from, But there's also
(22:36):
people who like as much as they know where my
who my dad is and where my dad comes from,
they don't know that I'm connected to him yet. So
I would say I struggle with it more in my
personal relationship with my dad and more like when like,
for example, when he came to see Kinky Boots, like,
I just get ten times more nervous. Really, is your
(23:00):
dad like a critic though when he sees you? Or
it's only when I asked him specific questions like hey,
in this in this certain part, what did you think
you know what I mean? Or like that when I
was doing a lot when I was back at home
before I moved to New York City and still doing
self tapes and like singing, and he would he would
(23:22):
hear me because he was in the other room, and
I'd be like, Oh, what do you think you know?
And and that that's the insecurity, you know what I mean?
Like that's my inner self asking what he thinks of
my performances where I think the insecurity of art um
of our dynamic is you know, but honestly, it's two artists.
(23:44):
It's the dynamic of two artists. Right. Here's moving the
father and daughter thing. And here's the thing. I know
in a way because he's active of course in the past,
but I think since I went and I got a
formal acting training at school, he relies on me for
acting stuff. So I feel like at this point we've
(24:06):
created this really cool bond where he can give me
his opinion, but it's it's never comes from a bad place,
and it's usually always commenting on how much I've grown
because he's been listening to my voice since I was
fourteen years old. There was at one point, like when
I was like maybe thirteen, that like he was gonna
(24:26):
start giving me voice lessons, and I think that lasted
like twenty five minutes, um, because it's like when they
teachers had to drive, You're like, why are you teaching
me how to drive? I was too mature for that,
Like there was no way I was going to begin
getting voice lessons with my dad as my teacher. But um, yeah,
they were definitely harder moments when I was younger. But
(24:48):
now I feel like, because I've matured and I've grown,
We've built like this really cool artistic relationship where like
he relies on me, I rely on him. It's such
a beautiful relationship to have with your parents or with
your family member like that, that artistic understanding of each
other where you don't have to explain yourself you you
can artistically be free. And then when it comes to dancing,
(25:11):
that's my mother's expertise. Oh so you have, so you
have both of it. Okay, Yeah, my mom was a
dancer until she was twenty something years old. She choreographed
a bunch of glorious stuff. She's like choreographed different movie
projects and stuff like that, and so she knows what
she's talking about when it comes to dance. And I
(25:33):
already had that relationship with her established since I was young,
because she would be the one taking me to dance
classes and the auditions, I mean in the competitions and
stuff like that. So I was constantly getting feedback from her,
which annoyed me a lot. But now where I like,
I am like in this like triple threat kind of
musical theater world where like dance isn't everything. It's more
(25:55):
like dance, how is it infused with your acting and
your personality? Kind of thing where I literally send my
mom options of like different dance self tapes that I
have and I'm like, which would you like better? And
she doesn't need to tell me much. It doesn't need
to be all about the technique or whatever. I'm just like,
which one just looks the best. It's such a privilege
(26:15):
and it's such a blessing and it's also like really
amazing to hear the positive vibes around it. And I'm
just curious for you, like, what is the legacy that
you want to continue to leave, the one that your
father has started and the one that your mother has
started for the scads? Oh my god, that's such a
good question, Darlyn, Oh my god. All right. One thing
(26:37):
I haven't really talked about is my great aunt. Her
name was Mora Macada. She is my dad's aunt on
his dad's side, um, and she got her start singing
in a girl group in Cuba and when the nineteen fifties,
forties and fifties, and she eventually went on to have
(26:58):
a solo career and she was beloved amongst the Cuban
community and like Cuba in the country in general, but
she never really got to break out of that. And
I know that when she was with the girl group,
they kind of had like a couple opportunities to like
perform in New York and things like that. Um, But
(27:20):
once she got her solo career going, she kind of
didn't get the opportunity anymore and she died young. Um.
I never got to meet her, but when I watched
videos of her performing, that woman was an actress. And
again I'm getting emotional because there's so much in her
that like I identify with and it's unspoken and so
(27:43):
I feel like with every like generation that has gone
on to be and it's so crazy because it really
lives in our blood. Like my dad was going to
be a dentist until he was like eighteen or nineteen
years old and he was like, you know what, you know,
I'm gonna sing. And before that he hadn't really ventured
into the arts. And so it's funny because it's like
(28:04):
a calling. And so from her generation to then my
dad's and now mine, I just I kind of I
like live through her a little bit, and it's beast
Girl is also a funny connection because um, we were
able to like put like something meaningful for us on
(28:25):
stage whenever we did the show every night, and I
would put her picture at the altar because whenever I perform,
like I'm literally performing for her. And I wish I
could have met her because of course, like my dad
and I have this amazing connection, but like with a
woman with a black, Latina Cuban woman, and so I
(28:48):
think about her a lot when I think about what
I want my career to be and who I'm honoring, um,
when I'm doing the things that I love. So moving
forward in my career, I want to keep doing stuff
that feel is really real to who I am and
to where it came from and my family. It's just
because our stories hit different, you know what I'm saying,
And when it's authentic, is hits different? Absolutely, Mika, this
(29:16):
is the moment we've all been waiting for. This is
our speed questions moment. Are you ready? I'm ready? Okay,
If you could have lunch with Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt
or Meryl Streep, who would you pick? Meryl Streep? Obviously?
Are you kidding me? The Queen? Also because your favorite
(29:37):
movie is Devil words products that we had to ask
second question. I feel like you kind of answered this
one already, but maybe you have a different answer to it.
Who's someone you look up to? And why I really
look up to Jane Fonda. I think she's a chameleon
and she like she's lived so many lives in one
(29:57):
and she never let herself be defined by just one thing.
And she can go from being a workout superstar to
Oscar Award winning actress, to an activist to whatever it
is that she wants to be. And I if I
could live that life. I want to Three. What reminds
you of home or makes you feel at home? Oh,
(30:20):
I mean I think anything Cuban food, like Va, Like
that's that's exactly what puts me right back in Miami.
I mean, you can't go wrong with that with that question.
Food is like the best answer that. Okay, So if
you have one plate that you had to only survive
(30:41):
off of, what would it be? You can only choose
one Cuban dish? Oh my god, it has to be
my grandmother's anybody else's, and I don't want it. Like
that is like chefs kiss, chef's kiss, make up my love.
If people want to follow your journey and follow you
and see what you're up to and check you out.
(31:04):
What are your social plugs? Was the with the Twitter?
Was the thing? Was a tickety talk? What is it?
Unfortunately my Twitter got half like five years ago and
I don't have one anymore, but follow me on Instagram.
I like basically post everything there at Sada and I
K A S E C A t A that's me. Ka.
(31:25):
Thank you so much for coming and hanging out with us.
Thank you for taking the time. I can't wait to
see everything that you do as you're taking over the world.
That can't wait to play sisters again. Um, we're fans,
we love you, We stand Mika Sada, thank you. Thank
you so much for having me and inviting me. It's
been amazing. It's like a therapy session. Yeah. Monamita is
(31:53):
a production of Sono in partnership with I Heart Radios
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