What if the fastest way to the heart—and to hard truths—was a laugh? In this week’s episode of Dreaming Big, Working Hard, Assemblymember David Alvarez welcomes longtime friend Macedonia Ortega—artist, poet, educator, and co-founder of Teatro Scully—for a candid conversation about art that teaches, heals, and belongs to the people it portrays.

Macedonia traces the troupe’s beginnings to sketches literally written on napkins and refined through community workshops. The method is simple and radical: take stories from the neighborhood, shape them with humor, and put them on stage so audiences finally see themselves. That representation is still rare; many first-time attendees tell him it’s the first Chicano/Indigenous theater they’ve ever witnessed. The result is laughter that opens doors to history, identity, and difficult topics—from ICE raids to mental health.

The dialogue turns deeply personal: losing loved ones, surviving cancer, and rebuilding after the pandemic pause. Through it all, Macedonia centers legacy—training young performers, flying alumni back to join shows, and envisioning the day he watches a new generation carry the work forward. Beyond the stage, he describes rites-of-passage circles where men talk honestly, normalize therapy, and reconnect with community values.

Art, activism, belonging—this episode holds all three. Listen in, share with a student or educator, and join the ongoing work of making space where every kid can see themselves on stage.

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