City of Lights in a Flash

Noo-Yawk Thee-der (New York Theatre)

Let's see...I saw:

The Crazy Mexican Show @ the NuYorican Poets Café... ... ... June 10th

Dominizuelan @ the NuYorican again... ... ... June 12th

El insolito caso de Mis' Piña Colada @ El Repertorio Español... ... ... el 14 de junio

In the Heights @ the Richard Rogers Theatre... ... ... June 15th

[Fela! June 16th (But it's not Latino theatre)]

The Elaborate Entrance of CHAD DEITY @ 2nd Stage Theatre... ... ... June 18th

Best things about each one...

The Crazy Mexican Show... the laughs

Dominizuelan (the show was called People in the City) ... the characters were so real. The duo really transformed and did justice to real people from a quintessential Latino city community.

El insolito caso de Mis' Piña Colada ... the homage to soap operas in one of the last scenes

In the Heights ... the songs "Inutil", "Everything I know", and "Breathe"--actually most of Nina's songs. I identified with the women's dreams to leave home and become more than their small pond allows.

[Fela! (the dancing)]


CHAD DEITY... umm...AMAZING! The pace, the story, the message, the spectacle. It was well-written, well-executed, just well-done in most aspects.

I got something out of each show. El insolito caso... had the biggest gestures though the comedy was pretty set in reality. I didn't need translation, but I know El Repertorio offers simultaneous translation for those who request it. CHAD DEITY seemed to be the most up-to-date, projecting live recordings on stage... Characters came in and out of the audience.

A similarity I could note on many of the shows I've seen: many Latino shows recognize their audiences, in different ways (i.e. coming out of the audience, addressing the audience, etc...)
In El insolito caso... the characters expressed many punch lines out to the fourth wall, not making eye-contact with the audience, but looking out beyond the stage. In the Heights has a narrator guiding the audience. The Crazy Mexican Show was broken up with small vignettes and monologues that the characters would use to share their real feelings with the audience.
During some vignettes some audience members were encouraged to call out or dance. Dominizuelan would walk out and act within the audience and there was minimal interaction. Though most theatre tells a story, Latino theatre storytelling reaches out to the audience, breaks character to transform into a new character, stereotype, tableau. It usually captures the audience with the story, not the reality of the story. The reality is in the message--the freedom to share the message of struggle.

New York seems very comfortable with its Latinos and Latino theatre. It's off-Broadway and on Broadway, in full Spanish teatros, not just tucked away in comfortable festivals. Actually, subtitles weren't used in New York, even on Broadway, though some texts self-translated. But Latino theatre is not set aside, it's becoming mainstream there. I HEART Nueva York Theatre (but who doesn't?)