Minnesota Now with Nina Moini

In new musical, St. Cloud playwright explores identity through complicated figure in Paraguayan history

Poster for REINA: A New Musical
St. Cloud's Jorge Delgado explores the life of Eliza Lynch in his new production, "REINA: A New Musical."
Jorge Delgado

This weekend actors in St. Cloud will take the stage to sing out scenes from a fascinating life. Eliza Lynch was an Irish woman who moved to Paris in the 1850s. There, she met Francisco Solano Lopez, the future authoritarian president of Paraguay. They returned to the South American country together. While they never married, Lynch was by Lopez's side as he led Paraguay into a catastrophic moment: a war estimated to have killed two-thirds of Paraguay's population.

Eliza Lynch is the subject of “REINA: A New Musical” by Jorge Delgado. He talked to MPR News host Nina Moini about what drew him to Lynch’s story and what he hopes audiences will take away from the musical.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

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