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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Chino, a young and ambitious Korean American who grew up in a foster family on Los Angeles’ Eastside, hopes to grow his successful taco stand, “Chino’s Underground Tacos,” into a brick-and-mortar restaurant. When Yesenia Tapia, a Mexican-American social media influencer, accuses Chino of cultural appropriation and pandering to a gentrifying neighborhood, he must convince the community of his cultural authenticity in a multi-faceted and complicated city.

With its vibrant ‘L.A. River Night Market’ setting and easy flow between three languages (English subtitles provided), Tacos La Brooklyn looks at cultural identity, interracial dynamics, gentrification, street vendors, social media and cancel culture — all through a distinctly Los Angeles lens.

”There’s a huge crossover between Latino and Asian cultures on L.A.’s East side,” Fidel Gomez, Director of Tacos La Brooklyn says, recalling a recent commemoration event for the 80th anniversary of the Zoot Suit Riots held in Little Tokyo. “It was attended not only by Chicanos but by Japanese “Cholos” and lowrider enthusiasts — a subculture touched on in the play. To be able to tell a story from multiple cultural viewpoints is really exciting.”

“I wanted to celebrate the different neighborhoods of L.A. through street vending, language, and the overlap between cultures that we often experience in our city,” explains Ulloa. “In the end, this is a story about exploring identity and how we find (or choose) our family.”

Tacos La Brooklyn stars Gavin Lee as Chino; Esperanza America as Yesenia Tapia; Xavi Moreno, Zilah Mendoza and Alejandra Flores as fellow LA River Night Market vendors Mike, Monse and Lencha; Sal Lopez as Chino’s abuelito; Paul Dateh, Ariel Kayoko Labasan and Sayaka Miyatani as Japanese Cholos Whisper, Benjiro and Mariko; and Jesus “Chuy” Perez as El Musico.

The creative team includes scenic designer Natalie Morales; lighting designer Pablo Santiago; sound designer John Zalewski; projection designer Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh; and costume designer Maria Catarina Rodrigues. The assistant director is Nicolas Ruano. The stage manager is Alexa Wolfe assisted by Valerie Vega.

Tacos La Brooklyn opens on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 8 p.m., with performances thereafter on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. through October 29. Six preview performances take place from September 21 through September 29 on the same schedule. Tickets range from $22–$48, except opening night which is $58 and includes pre- and post-performance receptions, and previews, which are Pay-What-You-Will starting at $10.

Tacos La Brooklyn was developed by Latino Theater Company’s Circle of Imaginistas playwriting group and produced in association with East West Players. Fidel Gomez directs the world premiere of performances will continue through Oct. 29, with six low-priced previews taking place from September 21 through September 29.

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 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.

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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.

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(Un)Documents is the lyrical tale of Valles’s journey across both sides of a river with two names, moving between languages to find their place in a nation that demands sacrifice at the altar of citizenship. In doing so, they create a new kind of documentation written with anger, fierce love, and the knowledge that what makes us human can never be captured on a government questionnaire.

Currently based in Providence, Rhode Island, Valles immigrated to the U.S with their family at the age of nine. Their multiple award-winning solo work was adapted from a series of 20 poems they wrote following their brother’s deportation in a workplace raid — poems about their brother, citizenship, identity and the LGBTQ community.

“I learned early on what some people are able to do or unable to do, all based on a few pieces of paper and, you know, some holograms on some plastic,” said Valles in an interview. “(Un)Documents asks the audience rethink how they watch and talk about migrant communities, queer people of color, systems of oppression. And to ask questions of themselves and those in positions of power.”

(Un)Documents opens on Friday, Oct. 14 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 November 20. Two preview performances take place on Wednesday, Oct. 12 and Thursday, Oct. 13, each at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $10–$48, except opening night which is $58 and includes a reception, and previews, which are Pay-What-You-Choose starting at $5.

TheLos 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).

To purchase tickets and for more information, including up-to-date Covid-19 safety protocols on the day of each performance, call (213) 489-0994 or go to www.latinotheaterco.org.

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Sixteen Latino theatre companies and performers from across the U.S. are taking part in RE:Encuentro 2021, a virtual, national theater festival hosted by the Los Angeles Theatre Center running Nov. 12 through 21. The event, which will also feature discussion panels, will be streamed for free.

Encuentro is the Spanish word for “meeting.” In addition to performances and live-streamed panel discussions that are open to the public, participating artists will work together during the residency to share creative methodologies in private workshops. This year’s fest is the third one of a series under the Encuentro theme by LTC, including a national Encuentro in 2014 and an international Encuentro de las Americas in 2017.

The participating companies and artists hail from American states with large or sizeable Latino populations, including California, Colorado, Illinois, Oregon, Pittsburgh and Texas. They are Latino Theater Company, Cornerstone Theater Company, Carrero Creatives, 24th Street Theatre and Casa Verde Collective, all from Los Angeles; Los Rivax Project from Pittsburgh; Moriviví Theatre from Portland; Teatro Audaz from San Antonio; Franky D. Gonzalez from Dallas; Anthony J. García and Su Teatro from Denver; Teatro Alebrijes from San Jose; Melissa DuPrey from Chicago; Gabriel G Torres and The Tank NYC, Pregones Theater and Puerto Rican Traveling Theater from New York; and Irma Herrera and Marga Gomez from San Francisco.

The festival’s live-streamed panels explore issues of identity, immigration, gender and health. They are: “Reclaiming Your Culture: Creating Narratives Beyond Stereotypes,” “Reframing How We View Immigration Through Art” and “Latinx Queer Voices in Theatre,” “Healing and Grief, “Afro Latinidad,” and “Celebrating Latino Culture Through Music.”

The final day of the festival, Nov. 21, will offer opportunities for participating companies and artists to meet with one another and wrap up virtually, according to organizers.

Each of the public events will remain available to view on demand for ten days following the initial festival streaming date. 

Admission to all public events is free at www.latinotheaterco.org.

Featured Photo: ‘The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano’ by Los Rivax Project from Pittsburgh (Credit: Renee Rosensteel)

Check out this video of the the previous Encuentro de las Americas:

FESTIVAL’S FULL PROGRAM

Friday, Nov. 12 at 6 p.m.:
RE:Encuentro 2021 kicks off with a streaming performance of Whittier Boulevard, a new, ensemble-devised work-in-progress by festival host Latino Theater Company (Los Angeles, CA). Employing its trademark blend of comedy, drama, music, dance and theatrical magic, the company takes us to Los Angeles, 2042. Years of fires, torrential rain, anarchy and bloodshed have led to a totalitarian city-state where the elderly disappear, their stories forgotten. On the eve of her 75th birthday, faded Chicana starlet Veronica Del Rio enlists the help of her loud-mouth nurse, a kind-hearted police-man fan and a down-on-his-luck poet. Will Veronica find love before it’s too late? 

Saturday, Nov. 13 at 6 p.m.:
Calle de la Resistencia is a musical film from Carrero Creatives (Los Angeles, CA) about the struggle of the Puerto Rican people to regain their dignity. Real-life footage is blended with a staged musical production, shot during the Covid-19 pandemic, that features 20 original songs. The story of nine Puerto Ricans whose lives are forever changed by Hurricane Maria picks up the pieces of a tragic history and transforms them into hope.

Sunday, Nov. 14 at 6 p.m.:
Double Feature:

Entre tu familia y tu corazón … who are you going to be? The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano, adapted from Sonia Manzano’s award-winning young adult novel by Tlaloc Rivas and featuring original music and songs by Sartje Pickett, tells the story of a young Latinx girl keeping two secrets from her family — her true feelings about growing up in Spanish Harlem, and her attitude about her grandmother who has come from Puerto Rico to live with them. Through a series of events as sudden as an earthquake, Evelyn learns important truths about her Latinx identity, her family and the history-makers who shaped the Nuyorican identity forever. Presented by Los Rivax Project (Pittsburgh PA).

What does distance mean to you during a pandemic? Moriviví Theatre (Portland, OR) explores feelings of isolation, separation anxiety, and loneliness in Distancias, a devised digital theater project created and performed by Latino artists Geo Alva, Robi Arce and Michael Cavazos.

Monday, Nov. 15 at 12 p.m.:
The murals, the music, the taqueros and tamaleros and lowrider parades, the gardens, the hills, the arroyo and, most of all, the people. Highland Park is Here takes us on a virtual journey from York to Figueroa and the Arroyo, from yesterday to tomorrow, from fact to fantasy, all told through the stories of the people who live there. Performed by a cast of locals from Highland Park, students from Occidental College and Cornerstone Theater Company (Los Angeles, CA).

Monday, Nov. 15 at 3:30 p.m.:
Live-streamed panel discussion presented in partnership with the theatremakers online platform Howlround: “Reclaiming Your Culture: Creating Narratives Beyond Stereotypes.”

Monday, Nov. 15 at 6 p.m.:
Double Feature:

In (Un)Documents, presented by Teatro Audaz (San Antonio, TX), award-winning actor and poet Jesús I. Valles journeys across both sides of a river with two names, moving between languages to find their place in a nation that demands sacrifice at the altar of citizenship. In doing so, they create a new kind of documentation written with anger, fierce love, and the knowledge that what makes us human can never be captured on a government questionnaire. (Un)Documents is a multiple B. Iden Payne Award winner for outstanding actor in a drama (Valles), outstanding director of a drama (Rudy Ramirez) and outstanding original script, and it was named one of Robert Faires’s “Top10 Theatrical Treasurers of 2018” in the Austin Chronicle. Currently celebrating its sixth season in residence at the Public Theater of San Antonio. Teatro Audaz presents diverse monolingual and bilingual theater in a bold, audacious, and fearless way.

Paletas de Coco is an exploration of the meaning of fatherhood in all its complexities by playwright/performer Franky D. Gonzalez (Dallas, TX), as he searches for his biological father across four Christmas eves and three generations. Coconut popsicles, Santería, buffet robbing, wagers with life and death stakes, childbirth and so much else in between.

Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 12 p.m.:
Inspired by Gustavo Arellano‘s ¡Ask a Mexican! column and adapted for the stage by Anthony J. García for Su Teatro (Denver, CO), Interview with a Mexican rolls up live music, video, projections, dance, satire, humor and political incorrectness into one juicy taco, exploring stereotypes, anti-immigration politics and misconceptions about Mexican culture along the way. The third oldest Chicano theater company in the United States (only Teatro Campesino and Teatro de la Esperanza precede it), Su Teatro has established a national reputation for homegrown productions that continue to speak to the living history and experience of Chicanos and all Americans.

Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 3:30 p.m.:
Live-streamed panel discussion presented in partnership with Howlround: “Reframing How We View Immigration Through Art.”

Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 6 p.m.:
Teatro Alebrijes (San Jose, CA) explodes legacies of homophobia by celebrating our jotería of yesterday, today and tomorrow in Canción de Cuna Para un Niño Herido / Lullaby for a Wounded Boy by Rodrigo García and Ugho Badú. Following a one-night stand, a young gay man faces his fears about HIV and AIDS in a febrile dream, where he encounters historical characters and situations including La Santa Inquisión, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, General Zapata and María Félix. Performed in Spanish with English subtitles. Teatro Alebrijes is a one-of-a-kind theater ensemble that produces plays inspired by the queer Latino experience.

Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 12 p.m.:
Commissioned by the award-winning 24th Street Theatre (Los Angeles, CA), the company’s 2018 world premiere production of ICE is a bilingual, humorous journey in search of what it means to be “American.” Two baseball players from Sinaloa, Mexico arrive in the U.S. with big dreams — but no documents. Armed with their Tia’s famous salsa recipe, the pair works day and night to make their taco truck the “Uncle Sam” of mobile restaurants. Will a contest to be “the most American food truck” at Dodger Stadium for the 4th of July prove to Immigration and Customs Enforcement that they belong?

Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 3:30 p.m.:
Live-streamed panel discussion presented in partnership with Howlround: “Latinx Queer Voices in Theatre.”

Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 6 p.m.:
Part performance, part mental wellness resource exchange, Good Grief, written and performed by Melissa DuPrey (Chicago, IL) is a warm, loving, and unflinching reflection of Duprey’s life with her single mother, who struggled with bipolar disorder — a condition that went undiagnosed until five years before her untimely death. DuPrey recounts her complicated path towards healing and survival in times where there were little-to-no resources for her or her mother. By recounting how she draws on community and spiritual traditions in her own healing journey, Good Grief is a response to the trauma that perpetuates intergenerational violence in communities of color and demands new frameworks for self and community care.

Thursday, Nov. 18 at 12 p.m.:
Multidisciplinary artist Elisa Noemí, a self-described “Guategringa” of Guatemalan and German-American descent, weaves poetry, puppetry, music and movement to explore bicultural identity, anorexia and recovery in ENOF: Ya Basta. With whimsical playfulness, Noemí challenges the expectations that surround mental health and cultural identity; inviting audiences to step out of the boxes society tries so hard to keep us in. Presented by Casa Verde Collective (Los Angeles, CA).

Thursday, Nov. 18 at 3:30 p.m.:
Live-streamed panel discussion presented in partnership with Howlround: “Healing and Grief.”

Thursday, Nov. 18 at 6 p.m.:
“We are dust and to dust we shall return.” Gabriel G Torres and The Tank NYC (New York, NY) present Haus of Dust, a coming-of-age fantastical docu-mixed media installation by Gabriel G Torres. Enter the abysm, a bar in a world between the living and the dead, where selected souls will entertain you with stories about their lives before they overdosed. The story of “G,” a writer learning to cope with his personal journey as an immigrant, a gay man and a substance user, touches on themes of trauma, violence, spirituality, grief, sacred South American plants and overcoming with resilience. 

Friday, Nov. 19 at 12 p.m.:
In Why Would I Mispronounce My Own Name?, writer, performer, civil rights lawyer and journalist Irma Herrera (San Francisco, CA) weaves lessons from American history and laugh-out-loud comic insights into stories about names. Shedding light and throwing shade on societal prejudices and assumptions, Herrera illuminates the toll that stereotyping and dehumanization take on individuals and communities.

Friday, Nov. 19 at 3:30 p.m.:
Live-streamed panel discussion presented in partnership with Howlround: “Afro Latinidad.”

Friday, Nov. 19 at 6 p.m.:
Writer/performer Marga Gomez (San Francisco, CA), returns to The Los Angeles Theatre Center, where she was last seen as part of Encuentro 2017, with Spanking Machine, her sometimes funny, sometimes painful memoir of growing up brown and queer in Washington Heights. Dulce De Leche, sadistic nuns on poppers, a Cubana mother’s loud post-nasal drip, childhood pranks, sexual assault and suppressed memory play their parts in Marga’s shift across gender, latitudes and generations.

Saturday, Nov. 20 at 3:30 p.m.:
Live-streamed panel discussion presented in partnership with Howlround: “Celebrating Latino Culture Through Music.”

Saturday, Nov. 20 at 6 p.m.:
The dream of becoming an artist and the risk of breaking with family in pursuit of that dream brings four Cuban artists together for one night at a club in San Francisco in We Have Iré, a multidisciplinary theater work by award-winning poet, performance artist and playwright Paul S. Flores. Presented by Pregones Theater and Puerto Rican Traveling Theater (Bronx, NY), We Have Iré celebrates the triumph of immigrant voices in a new country through live Cuban jazz, traditional Yoruba songs and dance, Latinx hip-hop and spoken word.

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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/.

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