Liesl Lar entered the Broadway industry with a bang. With her husband Townsend Teague, Lar is one half of the nascent production team Teague Theatrical Group. The 2023-2024 season marked the team’s first producing on Broadway: they invested in the eventual Tony Award-winning Best Revival of a Play, “Appropriate,” and co-produced the future Tony-winning Best Play, “Stereophonic,” the latter under the banner Emerald Drive.
“These, in two completely different ways for me, are shows that are moving and talk to different audiences and showcase what theater is,” said Lar, who is just getting started: Teague Theatrical is a co-producer on the upcoming new musical “Real Women Have Curves,” and has other irons on the fire. Lar’s passion for theater is palpable, perhaps because it was cultivated from such a young age.
Originally from Mexico City, Lar grew up in a theater family. Her grandmother was an actress and a singer, her grandfather a pianist. Her father ran a nonprofit children’s theater company for kids ages six to 19, called the Thomas Jefferson Musical Theatre Company. “The whole idea of this production company was to teach kids how to live life passionately, learning how to work in a team and that it’s okay to be afraid,” Lar said. “They hire one professional in each area, and the kids would do the costumes, sets and lighting with one professional guiding them.”
Lar quite literally grew up in this theater company. At three months old, Lar played a baby in its production of “Tom Sawyer.” By 19, Lar was cast in a television series known as “Playground” with Disney Latin America. She eventually moved to the U.S., simultaneously working in production for film and television while auditioning.
After years of freelancing in production, Lar earned a job producing video content for Hearst magazines. Today, in addition to her work for Teague Theatrical, Lar works full time as the senior video producer for Cosmopolitan. Her determination and passion have gotten her far, but Lar is far from done.
As a Broadway producer, Lar aims to bridge the gap between her Latin and theatrical communities. In this Q&A, Lar tells Broadway News about her producing goals, “Real Women Have Curves” and the artistic exchange between Mexico and the U.S.
