By Bel Hernandez Castillo
Why is it American Mariachi? Because the play takes place in the U.S. and there is a difference between Americans of Mexican descent and Mexicans from Mexico where the Mariachi music tradition began. Therefore it is American Mariachi directed by Jose Luis Valenzuela and presented by the Latino Theater Company at The Los Angeles Theater Center. It is a story of many revelations.
American Mariachi, written by Jose Cruz Gonzalez takes place in 1970’s, a little over 30 years ago, when a woman mariachi group was unheard of, here in the U.S., and certainly in Mexico. It was an age where women were just beginning to ask why? They could not get a credit card on their own, why not? They could get fired for getting pregnant. Why? They were protesting wearing bras…why not? And a group of young Mexican-American girls were wondering why they couldn’t be in a Mariachi group. At least they do in Gonzalez’s play American Mariachi.
“The play is about a group of women who adopt mariachi during a time when that wasn’t permitted,” explains González. “Mariachi was always male-dominated; for women to enter that world was a challenge on many fronts. The characters in the play come together because of their love of the music.”
Family looms large in American Mariachi, however, in this case the family is a bit fractured. While the patriarch (Sal Lopez) is out earning money for the family as a mariachi musician, Lucha (Elia Saldaña), his daughter watches over her mother who has onset dementia. When Lucha discovers her mother’s reaction to one particular song, she sets out to figure out why, and a way to play that song for her. She decides to form her own mariachi band and to learn how to play the song and sing it. But she must do this stealthy as her father would not approve.
Lucha enlists her cousin’s help, played by Esperanza América. Both go on a mission to find the right ladies for their all-girl Mariachi. They struggle to get them on board, but ultimately they find the repressed Isabel (Alicia Coca), who suffers under the thumb of her macho husband, the exceedingly shy Gabby played by Vaneza Mari Calderón (who is in fact is a real-life mariachi musician), and the much older sexpot, hairstylist Soyla played by Crissy Guerrero. Fidel Gómez, plays a total of four characters, all distinctly different and delightful.
Geoffrey Rivas plays the family friend who for some reason has been on the outs with Lucha’s father for years. Lucha secretly enlisted him to teach the wanna-be Mariachi band how to play the instruments and sing in the mariachi style.
American Mariachi had its world premiere in 2018 at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, and has been produced across the U.S., including at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago; Alley Theatre in Houston; The Herberger Theater in Phoenix, AZ, and the Old Globe, South Coast Repertory and PCPA in Southern California.
An early staged reading at Denver Center’s Colorado New Play Summit featured América, Saldaña, Guerrero and López in the roles they now inhabit six years later in Latino Theater Company production.
Ruth Livier who powerfully and effectively plays Amalia Morales, the dementia afflicted mom, takes center stage in this production. She literally plays almost all her scenes as Amalia, center stage, becoming a focal point in this production of American Mariachi. This is accentuated by a sort of “alter ego” played by mariachi, model, drag and theater performer Yalitza “Yaya” Vasquez-Lopez who plays Lucha’s Tia Carmen. Vasquez-Lopez opens the play dressed in all black, singing a haunting rendition of “La Llorona” (the weeping woman). Livier also completely transforms into Doña Lola for a quick scene and before you realize it is the same actress, the scene is masterfully delivered.
At the end of the play, Livier appears center stage as Amalia, all dressed in white, she elevated to the highest level shining above all on stage. Both the end of the play and the opening bookend the production with the most beautiful tableaus in the play. Another stand out moment also comes towards end, when Lopez belts out in song accompanied by the Mariachi, which pays tribute to his wife.
The heartbeat of the mariachi music is provided by the on-stage mariachi band with original arrangements by music director Cynthia Reifler Flores. “American Mariachi speaks loudly to Latino Theater Company’s core audience, but also to women everywhere,” says Valenzuela. “The live music and comedy guarantee that American Mariachi remains highly entertaining — but there’s a tough story underneath the surface.”
American Mariachi opened on May 11 at The Los Angeles Theatre Center in downtown Los Angeles and continues through June 9.
The American Mariachi creative team includes scenic designer Maureen E. Weiss; lighting designer Pablo Santiago; sound designer John Zalewski; and costume designer Maria Catarina Copelli. The production stage manager is Alexa Wolfe, who is assisted by Martha Espinoza..
The Latino Theater Company runs The Los Angeles Theatre Center, a landmark building in Downtown’s Historic Core, since 2006. Earlier this month, the company was honored with six Stage Raw awards for four different plays produced in 2023.
American Mariachi runs Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. through June 9. Tickets range from $10–$48.
The Los Angeles Theatre Center is located at 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013. Parking is available for $8 with box office validation at Los Angeles Garage Associate Parking structure, 545 S. Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90013 (between 5th and 6th Streets, just behind the theater).
For more information and to purchase tickets, call (213) 489-0994 or go to www.latinotheaterco.org.