Entrepreneurs bet on nostalgia for Mexico and Mexican humor for the immigrant to attend
It is an effort rarely seen, rural communities in California will have the opportunity this weekend to connect with Mexican mischief and laugh at ease through a comedy play in Spanish.
A Mexican theater company with a team of more than 30, including actors, dancers and production elements, ventured to take the comedy "Cleopatra screwed up" to Salinas, Bakersfield and Ventura where Access to theatrical entertainment in Spanish is usually very limited.
“This work is a leak against daily pressures. People have fun, laugh, clap, shout and leave very happy because it is very well mounted with a first-class theater production as our countrymen deserve it, ”says Mexican actor and comedian Luis de Alba.
The cast also includes the first actor Alexis Ayala, Salvador Zerboni, Carlos Espejel, Ninel Conde, Alejandro Suárez, Cecilia Galeano, Alex Ibarra and Bárbara Torres best known for his role as Excelsa in the television show "La Familia Peluche".
Luis de Alba travels two or three times a month from Zapopán, Jalisco where he lives to participate in the rural tour of the United States of "Cleopatra screwed up".
“Here the public is much more grateful than the one in Mexico, not because they are not, but because there they are more accustomed to seeing quality theater. Here you admire the pleasure that our countrymen give to attend level theater, ”observes the comedian.
“When I finish, I go out with love to take pictures with people. The vast majority ask me to bring more such events. Don't leave us here! They tell us. So I ask businessmen to do decent things to offer them to the migrant people. ”
And he says that with this work "Cleopatra screwed up", they take migrants a bit of their origin and the stars they admire.
The actors travel from Mexico, and many times they have to be part of the vehicle tours for long hours.
Luis de Alba has traveled half the country with this play, and he also has time to do stand-up comedy in the United States. “To my pride, I am the first Mexican comedian hired in 140 theater bars from Nebraska to San Diego. There was no one in Spanish, and I opened the door, ”he says.
“As long as I can walk and God gives me powers, I will not retire. Theater is my life and an injection of life fueled by people's love, ”he says.
Wonderful effort
The actor Alexis Ayala considers a "wonderful effort of entrepreneurs, producers and promoters, to bring Mexican picardy theater with great figures to the United States," he says.
"Cleopatra screwed up ”is a comedy of sapwood – phrases and expressions of double meaning – that is not the same as vulgarities, and that has no other purpose than to entertain and make people laugh, so that the first generation Mexican can connect with its history and culture ”, exposes.
The rural migrant public with whom he has met through the tours is very grateful and wants to see them. “They lead a very hard life. This work wants to bring you some fun and to forget your problems, ”he observes.
Sometimes they sleep poorly and have few hours for rest when they have to take a plane or grab a road, but Alexis, is a very grateful actor, and reveals that they are very happy to have work and bring joy to Mexicans living in this country .
Alexis will inaugurate on February 8 the restaurant El Peladito in San Diego, specialized in Sinaloa style seafood, in which he will have as a partner the actor José Ron.
A risky company
Juan Manuel Cortés, the promoter and show entrepreneur who has bought the play to take it all over California, says that it is a very big risk to bring theater in Spanish to rural communities because they don't know what the people's response will be, but he has taken the challenge with great desire and determination.
“Normally these types of works are taken to Los Angeles, San José, Chicago, New York and other big cities, but dare to go to small communities in rural areas, presents many challenges. We fight even against the weather, ”he observes.
However, it encourages and encourages them to know that country people are hungry for good theater shows.
“I hope they support us and attend to continue bringing more theater because it really is very difficult and stressful. We are risking a lot. We hope that the countrymen support us and go to see their favorite television stars who also make a real effort to come from Mexico, ”he says.
"Cleopatra screwed up" is directed by Benny Ibarra who has been determined to bring entertainment and fun to the migrant community that in many cases cannot travel to Mexico.
Maribel Guardia also participates in this work, but in this section of the tour, he will not accompany them.
This theater group have performed successfully in various rural communities in Texas, Nevada, Kansas and Missouri.
On Friday, January 17, he will be at the Fox Theater in Salinas; on Saturday, January 18 at the Majestic Ventura in Ventura; and on Sunday, January 19 in Bakersfield at the Fox Theater. On Friday, January 24, they will be at the Bob Hope Theater in Stockton; and on Saturday, January 25 at the Warnors Theater in Fresno.
