Interview with Anne DiGiovanni
- Yani Perez
- Jun 4
- 4 min read
Anne DiGiovanni’s EXES: The Musical is a bold, high-energy pop punk rock opera that turns past heartbreaks into raw, hilarious, and cathartic performance. After a NYC run earlier this spring, the one-woman show heads to Hollywood Fringe, bringing diary entries, catchy hooks, and emotional truth to the stage. I asked DiGiovanni about the evolution of EXES, performing through pain, and the unexpected ways the show continues to heal and empower.
What inspired you to create this one-woman pop-punk rock opera? What was that emotional process like for you?
EXES: The Musical started as a concept album. I was going through The Artist’s Way with one of Paulina Pinsky’s awesome groups and got inspired to look back at my old online journal, where I found tons of entries about my past relationships. My current husband is my songwriting partner, and luckily, he was down to turn these into a song for each ex and hear me process all my coming-of-age trauma. And then we were playing the songs in our live show at clubs and I would read from the diary entries, and we decided we needed to turn it into a full one-woman show. It’s been a very emotional process! Writing each song kind of put me back in the headspace of being with that ex and going through the breakup all over again. I’m finally in a place where I’ve gotten distance from the stories and wish these people who shaped me the best, wherever they are now.
What do you hope audiences take away from the show?
I hope everyone who can look back on their ex(es) or is still looking for love can laugh and relate to my experiences in some way - if we have to go through heartbreak as humans, we might as well do some of it together and feel understood. Maybe some of the men in the audience who identify more with my exes will think about the ways they’ve treated their partners and be inspired to do better. There’s a deeper message, too, about unplugging the patriarchal programming that gets installed in all of us through family, religion, and popular culture. I’ve done my job if anyone walks out rethinking some of the beliefs they have about the importance of being in a relationship and not being alone.
You’ve called EXES “a scrapbook of my life, but one I want to glue shut forever,” yet you’ve also mentioned that the songs are addictive to perform and that sharing your story, including the trauma of sexual assault, might help other survivors. Do you ever see yourself stepping away from the show, or do you feel called to keep performing it because of its message and impact?
I do want to give the show the widest impact it can have because I believe the message is so important, and if the best way of doing that for now is to keep performing it myself, that’s what I’ll pursue. But I would love to get to workshop it to allow someone else to play the role of deegie, or to license it to be produced regionally so it can have a life of its own.
After performing such a deeply personal and emotionally charged show, what do you do for self-care? How do you unwind or protect your emotional space?
The show is high-energy rock music, and I get adrenalized performing it, so I’ve stopped trying to go to sleep immediately after. I’ll usually take some time to myself to just scroll social media (unfortunately) or read until my body regulates, and then try to sleep in late the next morning. Morning pages, meditation, hot herbal tea with honey, and foam rolling are some of my next-day self-care practices. And I’m also learning about the idea of protecting my mental health while inviting a safe space for other SA survivors to unpack their impressions of the show and heal. Everyone so far has been totally appropriate and respectful in sharing how it’s impacted them, but just telling myself I get to have boundaries reminds me to listen without over-investing or going back into my trauma response. It’s a tricky needle to thread for sure.
What’s next for EXES: The Musical or for you as an artist? Are there future performances, recordings, or projects we should look out for?
Next up is Hollywood Fringe Fest on June 7, 20, and 25. We’re excited to be at The Actor’s Company in their Other Space and to check out so many other amazing shows in June.
Meanwhile, I’m recording new music for my EP Feminism 101, which I’ve already started rolling out, and looking ahead to future songs and show ideas.
Thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions and for bringing such heart and honesty to the stage. We wish you a wonderful run in L.A!
Written and Performed by Anne DiGiovanni
Hollywood Fringe Festival
June 7, 20 and 25, 2025
Actors Company (Other Space Theater) (916 N.Formosa Ave, L.A)
Yani Perez, M.F.A., is a poet, playwright, translator, and educator. Her plays have been presented in various theaters in the United States, such as La Mama and Yale University, as well as internationally in Bogotá, Colombia. She works at IATI Theater, one of the oldest Latinx theaters in NYC. She is currently working on translations of Latinx artists in hopes of introducing them to English-speaking audiences.
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