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.

The post ‘American Mariachi’ Dares to Ask Why Not? first appeared on .

Whittier Boulevard is a funny and poignant commentary on ageism, presented in Latino Theater Company’s members Fernández, Lopez, Rivas and Rodriguez with Valenzuela directing.

In this ensemble-devised work, the company uses its trademark blend of comedy, drama, music, dance and theatrical magic to transport us to Los Angeles in the year 2042. Years of fires, torrential rain, anarchy and bloodshed have led to a totalitarian city-state where the elderly disappear, their stories forgotten. When authorities make a surprise visit to the home of faded Chicana starlet Veronica Del Rio on the eve of her 75th birthday, she enlists the help of her loudmouth nurse, a kindhearted policeman-fan, and a down-on-his-luck poet. Will Veronica disappear and be forgotten before she finds true love?

“This ensemble of actors has been working together for the last 38 years,” says Valenzuela. “In this play we look at ageism, but we also explore finding the divine within ourselves so that we can create a better society. It’s fun and campy, but we also address serious social issues, such as the current whittling away of civil rights in this country.”

Whittier Boulevard feature original music by Robert Revell and choreography by Urbanie Lucero. The creative team includes scenic designer François-Pierre Couture; lighting designer Pablo Santiago; sound designer John Zalewski; projection designers Yee Eun Nam and Yuki Izumihara; and costume designer Naila Aladdin Sanders. The production managers are Nathan Edelman and May Fei.

Whittier Boulevard opens on Saturday, April 29 at 8 p.m., with performances thereafter taking place on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. through May 28. Six preview performances take place April 20 through April 28 on the same schedule. There will be two additional performances, on Monday, May 1 and Monday, May 15, both at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $22–$48, except opening night (April 29) which is $58 and includes both pre- and post-performance receptions. Previews are $10.

The Los Angeles Theatre Center is located at 514 S. SpringSt., Los Angeles, CA 90013. Parking is available for $5 with box office validation at Joe’s Parking structure, 530 S. Spring St. (immediately south of the theater).

For more information and to purchase tickets, call (213) 489-0994 or go to www.latinotheaterco.org.

The post Latino Theater Company Takes A Trip Down ‘Whittier Blvd’ in Satirical Comedy first appeared on .

Los Angeles — The Latino Theater Company announces their Fall 2020 Virtual Season. Over the next five months, the company will stream a combination of archival footage of past, fully-staged hit productions; live streamed, “sneak-peek” readings of plays set for on-stage production in 2021; live online conversations with company members and live readings of new plays selected for the company’s annual Unmasking New Works playreading series.

Now in its 34th year, LTC has operated The Los Angeles Theatre since 2006. All events are scheduled, on the respective dates listed below, to take place at 7 p.m. PST. All events are free and will be available for viewing at www.thelatc.org/.

Opening on Tuesday, Aug. 18 with with a production of Premeditation, a dark romantic comedy written by resident company playwright Evelina Fernández and directed by LTC artistic director José Luis Valenzuela. Fifty percent of marriages end in divorce, but how many end in murder? 

Aug. 25 – Streaming of production of Solitude, also written by Fernández and directed by Valenzuela. Inspired by a collection of essays on Mexican thought and identity by Octavio Paz, Solitude explores love, death, destiny and family through a contemporary lens, accompanied by live music from cellist Semyon Kobialka.

Aug. 28th – A sneak-peek reading of August 29, exactly 50 years ago, when Los Angeles Times columnist Ruben Salazar was killed while covering a large Chicano-led anti-war demonstration in East L.A. A university professor is writing a book on the life of Salazar. As she writes, those days from the late 1960s and early 1970s come to life, helping her recall the past and challenging her to renew her activism. Written and first produced in 1990 by members of the Latino Theater Company, then known as the Latino Theater Lab, August 29 was initially announced to open this month at the Los Angeles Theatre Center and is now scheduled to receive a fully staged production in 2021.

September will bring archival video of La Olla. Fernández and Valenzuela team up again for La Olla, adapted from the Roman comedy The Pot of Gold by Plautus and inspired by the Rumberas films of the golden age of Mexican Cinema. Also, Playwright’s Alfredo Ramos‘ The Last Angry Brown Hat by has four former members of the Brown Berets, a 1960s militant Chicano civil rights group, who get together after the funeral of a pal. Together, they confront the dichotomy between their youthful anger and radicalism, and their current, more conformist lives.

This is a Man’s World, a semi-autobiographical coming of age story written and performed by LTC founding company member Sal Lopez, is scheduled for Sept. 8 and a sneak-peek reading of SHE, a new coming-of-age drama by Los Angeles-based emerging playwright Marlow Wyatt on Friday, Sept. 11. ike August 29, the on-stage world premiere of SHE has been postponed until next year.

La Victima created by El Teatro De La Esperanza, a story infused with humor, music and dance, with the background of history of Mexican-US immigration from the intimate perspective of two families. Watch archival footage of the 2010 revival featuring the late Lupe Ontiveros (Selena, Desperate Housewives), who was one of LTC’s founding company members, on Sept. 15.

On Sept. 18, catch a sneak-peek reading of the newest play by Evelina Fernández: Sleep with the Angels. Molly is separated from her husband and in desperate need of a childcare provider. Then she discovers Juana standing at her doorstep. Soon, Molly and her kids are swept up into Juana’s magical and charming ways. But, who is Juana, really.

Sept. 22 brings archival video footage of last season’s Home, writer/performer Nancy Ma’s coming-of-age tale about growing up sandwiched between two cultures. Join Ma and director Geoffrey Rivas for an online conversation on Sept. 23.

A sneak-peek reading of Just Like Us by Karen Zacariás is set for Sept. 25, with the online conversation preceding it on Sept. 24. Based on Helen Thorpe’s bestselling book of the same name, this documentary-style play follows four Latina teenage girls, two of whom are documented and two who are not, through young adulthood. The previously announced Los Angeles premiere will now take place at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in 2021.

Archival footage of Fernández’s Los Angeles Times “Critic’s Choice” The Mother of Henry will stream on Sept. 29. Travel back to the working class melting pot of East LA of the 1960s where five diverse employees in the returns department at the iconic Boyle Heights Sears form a tight bond as they cope with upheaval in their personal lives, their community and the rapidly changing world around them during the course of one tumultuous and historic year – 1968.

The Unmasking New Works play reading series will stream from Oct. 1st – Nov. 20th, every Friday, with a preceding on-line conversation set for the Thursday prior to each reading. Plays to be read will be selected and the final schedule will be announced in September.

In October, the LTC will stream Evelina Fernández’s epic A Mexican Trilogy. Part 1, Faith, will stream on Oct. 6; Part 2, Hope will stream on Oct. 13; and Part 3, Charity, will stream on Oct. 20. Travel with the Morales family through decades of the Mexican-American experience.

Archival footage of Dementia, written by Fernández will stream on Oct. 27. The play tackles topics taboo in the Latino community, including homosexuality, AIDS, teen pregnancy and euthanasia.

Closing out the season on Friday, Dec. 11will be archival video of Latino Theater Company’s signature holiday pageant, La Virgen de Guadalupe, Dios Inantzin. Join the tens of thousands who have become transfixed by the story of Juan Diego, a simple peasant to whom the Virgin Mary appeared on four occasions in the mountains of Tepeyac near Mexico City in 1531. A Los Angeles Times “Critic’s Choice,” the production has been featured by The New York Times, American Theatre, Univision, Telemundo and Fox News among many others. 

All Fall 2020 Virtual Season events are free and will be available for viewing at www.thelatc.org/.

The post Latino Theater Company Offers Virtual Online Season first appeared on .