Two performers are engaged after a surprise proposal live on stage at the Edinburgh Fringe. Sergio Antonio Maggiolo got down on one knee to propose to his partner, Guido García Lueches, in the final moments of their award-winning musical JEEZUS! at the Underbelly Cowgate on Thursday night. “It was very overwhelming. We don’t usually do speeches at the end of the performance, we usually run away,” said Guido, who said they had no idea about the proposal. “So when he told me not to run away, I was like why?” “It was a lovely surprise.” Sergio first had the idea to propose when visiting his family in Peru at the start of the year. “We’d been joking about it a for a while. Guido was in Peru, and I thought about doing it then. Then at some point I thought, well, we’re going to the Fringe, that would be a fun thing to do,” he said. “It’s our first show together, so it just felt very special.” The pair’s musical, which received a five star review from The Scotsman, is inspired by Sergio’s experience of growing up as a queer person in a strict catholic society in Latin America. Sergio plays a young alter boy who falls in love with Jesus - and is battling his internal conflict in the run up to his first holy communion. Meanwhile, Guido deftly flits between the boy’s family, the priest and Jesus himself. “It’s funny, it’s sexy and it’s silly. But ultimately it’s about love, our love,” said Guido. “We’re making people laugh throughout the whole thing, but then at the end we kind of reveal that we’re together.” Sergio proposed with a ring passed down from his mum. “It was really special to get that blessing from her. I think the fact that she got super excited about it, I was like ok maybe I will do this then,” he said. “It’s so cute. We’re literally telling a story about your mum,” added Guido. JEEZUS! won the Edinburgh Untapped Award this year, designed to discover and support hit-making talent at the Festival Fringe. The show is running until August 24 at the Underbelly Cowgate.
