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.

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 Oscar season is upon us as Latin Heat Entertainment launches “For Your Consideration” screenings conceived to highlight Oscar-qualified Latino films, filmmakers, and entertainment professionals.  The series launches with the Oscar-qualified, Shura, the documentary short film directed by David Damian Figueroa and Kayvon Derek Shanian, and executive produced by Pepe Serna. 

The documentary short film Shura is about an eighty-four-year-old black belt in karate who leads by example and her unwavering commitment inspire hundreds of other humanitarians to provide life-saving aid to stranded migrants crossing the harsh Sonoran U.S./Mexico border near Nogales. 

The screening will take place on Saturday, December 9, 2023 at the Los Angeles Theater Center in DTLA located at 514 South Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013.  Arrivals will be at 4:30 pm followed by opening remarks and introduction of the trailers. 

 “Latino filmmakers can easily get lost in the campaign process with limited Hollywood connections. Most lack the financial and networking resources to run a competitive Oscar campaign, including coveted reviews”, said Latin Heat Media CEO Bel Hernandez. “The screenings are intended to bring awareness to deserving films and talent and to level the playing field for Latino filmmakers”. 

A recent study conducted by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative found that Latino representation in the film behind and front of the camera remains stagnant with no improvement in the last 16 years. Even when movies did feature Hispanic or Latino characters, the study found Latino characters were represented on-screen with depictions that were often rampant with stereotypes. 

“It is so important for filmmakers to get the visibility needed to be competitive”, Dr. Jose Luis Ruiz, President and founder of the Mexican-American Film & Television Festival and the sponsor of the FYC Screenings.  “The talent is there, the projects and films just need a chance to be seen.”

Congressman Joaquin Castro penned a recent open letter titled, “Dear Hollywood,” in Variety to film studios: “This year, stands as a testament to the vibrancy of Latino stories, showcasing a range of artistic excellence. In the face of profound barriers to entry, Latinos have shown up and taken center stage, leading or supporting beautiful storytelling that transcends cultural boundaries.”

A short Q&A will follow the screening with the subject of the documentary Shura Wallin, David Damian Figueroa and Kayvon Derek Shanian, and executive produced by Pepe Serna and moderated by Bel Hernandez.

SHURA – Film Trailer

SHURA is an eighty-four-year-old black belt in karate, who leads by example. Her infectious emphatic spirit and her unwavering commitment inspire hundreds of other humanitarians to provide life-saving aid to stranded migrants crossing the harsh Sonoran U.S./Mexico border near Nogales. 

Since 1992 Latin Heat Media, a multimedia company, has been providing media content focused on Latinos in film, television theater, publishing, and all other aspects of the entertainment industry.

SCREENING TIME:

ARRIVALS: 4:30PM REMARKS & TRALIERS: 5:30PM SCREENING OF SHURA: 6:00 pm

LOCATION:

Los Angeles Theater Center, 514 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013

PARKING:

Los Angeles Garage Associate Parking Structure at 545 S. Main St., LA, CA 90013, positioned between 5th and 6th Street, just behind the theater.

RSVP: INFO@latinheat.com

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Every year about this time, the cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels is abuzz with the production of La Virgen de Guadalupe presented by the Los Angeles Theater Center’s Latino Theater Company. This year the tradition continues virtually and will continue to be free of charge starting on December 11 and streaming through to December 20th.

La Virgen de Guadalupe, written by Evelina Fernandez has become a Christmas family tradition in the City of Los Angeles. It is widely known for its majesty and magical story of Juan Diego, an indigenous peasant who in 1531 witnessed the apparition of the Virgin Mary. The Virgin chose Juan Diego to carry a message to the Bishop of Mexico about building a cathedral in her honor.

The presenting of this play during the holidays has become a cornerstone of the Latino Theater Company and is presented as a “gift” to the L.A. community, free of charge.

The cast is a blend of professional actors in the lead roles and commuity members including children who also make up some of the choir and the “pueblo”. This beautiful pageant play features Aztec dance and music with a universal message of faith, love and perseverance.

Featured photo of Sal Lopez who plays Juan Diego is courtesy of The Los Angeles Theater Center

The post ‘La Virgen de Guadalupe’ LATC’s Christmas Pagent Play first appeared on .

Given the current national climate, the Latino Theater Company feels the responsibility to bring theater to the people–the community under attack, and fulfill their mission to create a place where the convergence of people, cultures, and ideas contribute to the future. Created in 1976 by the theater collective El Teatro De La Esperanza, La Victima could not be more relevant.

From November 11 to December 8, the company will tour Los Angeles to bring our art to the heart of our community, opening our arms and welcoming you into the lives of these characters whose stories reflect our own hopes, fears, and insecurities. We invite you to consider partnering the Latino Theater Company so that we can continue to uphold the voices of our community.

Community performance locations to be determined at this point.
Performances will take place Thursdays-Saturdays at 8pm / Sundays at 4pm.
Contact Angela Scott at angela@thelatc.org or (213) 489-0994 for booking your venue to host a performance.

RSVP

MORE INFO

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By Bel Hernandez

It was taco Tuesday at the Homegirl Cafe, when two Chicanas from Boyle Heights/East L.A. sat down to talk about The Mother of Henry, playwright Evelina Fernandez’s latest play, which opens Saturday, March 23rd at the Los Angeles Theater Center in downtown L.A.

Fernandez is at it again.  They say to “write what you know” and she knows a lot about growing up in East Los Angeles.  A native of Arizona, she came to Los Angeles as a nine year old. Being raised by a single mother in the predominately Latino neighborhood of East L.A. in the 60’s has shaped Fernandez’s perspective of the world. Actress turned writer, Fernandez shares her perspective in the stories she chooses to tell, whether it’s on stage, on film or TV.

Although she first gained prominence as an actress, she was one of the original cast members of the acclaimed Luis Valdez play Zoot Suit, then went on to star in two films produced by Latinos, about the Latino community.  

After landing roles on television and a couple of major studio films, one of which was the female lead in American Me which was directed by her former Zoot Suit cast mate, Edward James Olmos, she became frustrated with the lack of work and the quality of roles, and decided it was time to make some changes. 

Her first foray into writing was in 1996 when she wrote the play How Else Am I Supposed to Know I’m Still Alive.  In 2000 she wrote, produced and played the lead in the film Luminarias, which was a commentary about race, sex and love from the perspective of single Chicana and her three friends.  Groundbreaking for its time, Luminarias was written, funded, acted and directed by the Latino community — and this was almost 20 years ago.  

Instinctively, Fernandez always knew she was a writer.  As a sickly child, she remembers her mother reading to her while in the hospital, filling her mind with the magic of storytelling.  And although she started acting in high school, she was a writer first, recalling that she was already writing short stories while attending Rowan Elementary in East L.A.

Embracing the power of the written word, Evelina has now realized her true calling.  “I used to describe myself as an actress who writes. Now I say I am a writer who acts,” she declares.

A founding member of the Latino Theater Company (LTC), for the past 20 years she has written plays with the members of LTC in mind, tailoring the characters around their strengths. Two of those plays, Solitude and Dementia have made the Los Angeles Times Critic’s Choice list.

Fernandez’s The Mother of Henry takes place 1968, a year of watershed moments in the United States. Connie, a single mother gets a job at Sears in Boyle Heights, an economic hub in Los Angeles where people of all cultures and nationalities shop and work. When Connie’s son gets drafted and is sent to Vietnam, her mother learns to pray to La Virgen de Guadalupe for his protection.

On the eve of the premiere of The Mother of Henry, Fernandez talks about the inspiration for her characters, the casting, and ther return as a writer to the Los Angeles Theater Center stage after a small hiatus.

Latin Heat:  After working as an actress why did you decide to become a writer?

Evelina Fernandez: I started writing for the people in our company [The Latino Theater Company].  I guess my first play was for Lupe [Ontiveros] and Angela [Moya], How Else Am I Supposed Know I Am Still Alive.  I wanted to write a play because they were such great actresses and they never got a chance to play anything of substance.

LH:  Tell us about The Mother of Henry?  Where does the inspiration for this play come from.

EF:   The Mother of Henry is about a time I lived through.  It was inspired by my mother who used to work at Sears on Olympic and Soto in East L.A. My brother enlisted in the Navy and he ended up going to Vietnam.  It was a very stressful time for all of us. My mom was a single mom in her late 30’s early 40’s at the time, as is the character of Connie in the play.

The story is also inspired by the times we lived in. 1968 was such a shattering year for our country. We lost Martin Luther King, and then Bobby Kennedy was assassinated. It’s when the Black Athletics raised their fist in the Black Power protest at the Olympics in Mexico, which was such a big deal.  There was also the massacre in Tlatelolco in Mexico, and the “burn your draft card” demonstrations. Then at the end of that year the country elects Richard Nixon. All that happened in 1968.

LH:  You take us back to a very important time in our country’s history. As you did with your Mexican Trilogy plays.

EF:   This play kind of fills in the blanks. The Mexican Trilogy kind of skips over the 60’s.  It starts in the early 60’s and ends when President John F. Kennedy is assassinated [in 1963].

The late 60’s was a time when the world was changing.  My mom’s generation was really patriotic, they lived through World War II,  they were all pro America. And then our generation, we were totally against the war, because people we knew were dying.

LH:  A time of extreme division.  And then there was your grandmother’s generation.  She also an inspiration for this play. In what ways?

EF:  We weren’t raised very religious.  We never went to mass or anything like that.  Not until we moved in with my grandparents. My grandmother was a “Guadalupana” she used to pray to the “Virgen de Guadalupe” all the time.  So my grandmother was always telling my mother ‘Tienes que rezar,’ ‘You need to pray the rosary. You need to confess your sins. You need to go to mass’.  

So in the play when Connie’s son goes into the service, his mother, the character inspired by my grandmother, is nagging her that she is not a good Catholic, so Connie begins to pray to the Virgen de Guadalupe, and the Virgen appears to her, they become friends, and they develop a friendship.  There is a bit of magical realism in there.

LH:  That’s just what I was thinking!

EF:  It’s part of our culture and our reality. That we believe — we believe in signs when something happens.

LH:  Tell us about the cast of The Mother of Henry.

EF:  A lot of our cast have been part of our artistic family for quite a while. Xavi Moreno, my daughter Esperanza America, Ella Saldaña North…they were all in The Trilogy. Cheryl Umaña Bonilla was Jose Luis’s student at UCLA. We have experience with them. They’re young actors who are very talented.

Also, this is a very diverse cast of characters, from different backgrounds. Because when my mom worked at Sears, her best friend was Italian and her other best friend was Canadian and there is also a Jewish character. A departure from what I usually write.

LH:  So this play takes place in East L.A.

EF:  Yes. The play takes place mostly at Sears, at Connie’s house, and at a “burn your draft card” demonstration that Connie goes attends.

LH:  A lot of your plays center around women.  Do you think that growing up without a dad influenced your writing?

EF:  Absolutely.  Jose Luis [her husband and artistic director of the LATC] says ‘Every time you write a Latino character, he’s bad’.  And I guess it’s true, there is a bad Latino character in this one too. [Laughing]. He’s a womanizer, like my father was.  My father didn’t drink, he didn’t have any “vicos” [vices] but man he was a womanizer. He cheated on my mom all the time. But you know, when they got married she was 15 and he was 18.  What do you know when you’re that age.

LH:  If you could, what would you say a young Evelina growing up in East L.A.?

EF:  I would say ‘Have more confidence; look at the beauty in your community;  and, create your own work. Don’t sit around waiting for someone else to offer you a job’.

Fernandez is a testament to what she believes.  Her plays are unapologetic portraits of Latinos in her community and they create work for her and her fellow Latinos. Her plays have garnered critical acclaim and awards. They encompass many issues plaguing society as a whole, but with a bird’s eye view of Latinos; stories about life, from military, to civil rights, family, AIDS, and matriarchy, and so much more.

So what’s left to write about? The focus of Fernandez’s next play has already been decided. As the baby boomer generation finds itself taking on the caregiving for their parents, it is a hot top of debate, and one that resonates with all audiences and with Latinos who tend to want to be there for their parents in their golden years. Told thru the Fernandez Latina lens, it will be another slice of Mexican culture we can look forward to enjoy.

The post “The Mother of Henry” Evelina Fernandez’s New Play Opens at LATC [Extended] first appeared on .