presents la posada magica - south coast repertory€¦ · angel goes first, followed by two more...

LA POSADA MAGICAwritten and directed by Octavio Solis

music by Marcos Loya

Christopher Acebo Shigeru Yaji Lonnie Rafael Alcaraz Marcos LoyaSCENIC DESIGN COSTUME DESIGN LIGHTING DESIGN MUSICAL DIRECTOR

Linda Kostalik David Leavenworth Jamie A. Tucker*CHOREOGRAPHER PRODUCTION MANAGER STAGE MANAGER

Pam and Jim MuzzyHONORARY PRODUCERS

The Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund has provided major support for the commissioning, workshop and production ofLa Posada Mágica through its New Works for Young Audiences Program.

JULIANNE ARGYROS STAGE / DECEMBER 7 - 23, 2007

David Emmes Martin BensonPRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

presents

La Posada Mágica • SOUTH COAST REPERTORY P1

´

CORPORATE PRODUCER

CAST OF CHARACTERS(In order of appearance)

Horacio ...................................................................................... Miguel Najera*Eli/Bones/Lauro ...................................................................... David DeSantos*Gracie ...................................................................................... Gloria Garayua*Mom/Mariluz ................................................................................ Erica Ortega*Papi/Jose Cruz ............................................................................ Danny Bolero*Refugio/Buzzard .............................................................................. Sol Castillo*Consuelo/Widow ........................................................................ Denise Blasor*Caridad/Widow .......................................................................... Teresa Velarde*Musicians/Ensemble .................................... Marcos Loya, Lorenzo Martinez*

SETTING Christmas Eve. The present.

LENGTHApproximately two hours, including one 15-minute intermission.

PRODUCTION STAFFCasting Director .................................................................................. Joanne DeNautProduction Assistant ........................................................................... Kristin CalhounCostume Design Assistant ....................................................................... Merilee FordAssistant to the Lighting Designer ............................................................. Kelly SmithStage Management Intern .................................................................... Leia CrawfordDresser ......................................................................................................... Ryan ChinAdditional Costume Staff ................................................................... Catherine EseraDeck Crew .............................................................................................. Mark Johnson

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTLas Amigas de la Cultura, Sylvia Krenzien, Teri Rocco and Alice Rumbaugh

for the special exhibit in the Julianne Argyros lobby.

Cellular phones, beepers and watch alarms should be turned off or set to non-audible mode during the performance. Please refrain from unwrapping candy or making

other noises that may disturb surrounding patrons.

The use of cameras and recorders in the theatre is prohibited. Smoking is not permitted anywhere in the theatre.

* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

P2 SOUTH COAST REPERTORY • La Posada Mágica

Official Airline

When I was commissioned to write a familyChristmas play for South Coast Repert o ry, Ihad no idea there would be deep synchronici-

ties with my own life. I simply thought I would writeanother play for another theatre and that would bethat. But while my talented collaborators (directorJosé Cruz González and composer Marcos Loya) and Itoiled away on our first draft of Po s a d a at the Sun-dance Theatre Lab in Utah, I received a call from mywife Jeanne that she was pregnant with our daughter,and that changed everything.

The play suddenly revealed to me the essentialuniversal sanctityof life, the glowingsense of hope andlove that babies al-ways suggest forthe world. But theconfluence of thisplay with my wife’snews also trans-formed the holidayof Christmas forme. The adorationbestowed on theinfant Jesus spokemore deeply anddirectly tomy

new status as a fa-ther. The Nativity be-

came a metaphor forthe profound responsi-

bility we all owe to thefragile innocent children we

dare to bring into this brutal world.Later that spring, as I continued to write Posada

and Jeanne pored over all the books of baby names,she told me that she wanted to name our baby girl Gra-ciela, or Gracie, for short. This stunned me because I

had just settled on that name for my protagonist. Howcould she have known? She hadn’t read the play, norhad I spoken of it to her. And yet here now, ourdaughter was not only cominginto our house, she wasfilling our play. Itseemed fitting.

Gracie was bornon September 24,1994, and the play it-self was deliveredthree months later.

We brought her for one of the first performances, andto this day, I can’t help but feel that the wide browneyes of the infant Graciela have shone their grace onLa Posada Mágica.

–Octavio Solis

T he Gift of Grace

Gracie has been played by four actresses since its pre-miere in 1994: Ruth Livier (1994), left; Crissy Guerrero(1995-1998), top; and Tiffany Ellen Solano (1999-2006),with Mauricio Mendoza as Papi and Crissy Guerrero asMom in 2002; and Gloria Garayua this season (2007).



The familiar story ofJoseph and Mary’slong-ago search forlodgings is related

every year at Christmas-time in churches andhomes the world over.But in many Latin coun-tries, it actually comes tolife again each December,reenacted for nine con-secutive nights in the fes-tive ritual of Las Posadas,which means inns, orl o d g i n g s .

The idea of com-memorating the HolyFamily’s journey to Beth-lehem can be traced to St.Ignatius Loyola, in the16th Century. He sug-gested a Christmas nove-na, special prayers to besaid on nine successivedays. In 1850, St. John of the Cross made a religiouspageant out of the proceedings, and seven years laterthe nine-day remembrance was introduced to the Indi-ans in Mexico by Spanish missionaries.

Solemn and deeply religious in feeling at first, theobservances soon became imbued with a spirit of funand, eventually, left the church and began to be cele-brated in people’s homes. The p o s a d a s have becomecommunity affairs with friends, relatives and neighborssharing in the festivities and visiting a different houseeach evening.

The p o s a d a begins with a procession that sets offas soon as it gets dark. Often a child dressed as anangel goes first, followed by two more children carryingfigures of Mary and Joseph on a small litter adornedwith twigs. After more boys and girls come the lead fig-ures, then come the grown-ups and last of all the musi-

cians. Singing or chanting special p o s a d a songs, theyall walk slowly along, each person carrying a lightedcandle. When the procession reaches the house cho-sen for that evening, it divides into two groups, onerepresenting the holy pilgrims, the other the innkeep-e r s .

The pilgrims line up behind the angel and thechildren bearing the figures of the Holy Family, andthey file through the house until they arrive at a closeddoor, behind which the innkeepers have stationedthemselves. The pilgrims knock on the door and callout in song, asking for shelter. A chorus of voices onthe other side asks: “Who knocks at my door so late inthe night?”

The pilgrims respond. “In the name of Heaven Ibeg you for lodging—my beloved wife can no longertravel, and she is weary.” But the response is a stony,

The 2004 cast of La Posada Mágica featured from left: Crissy Guerrero, Mauricio Men-doza, Denise Blasor, Sol Castillo, Carla Jimenez, Tiffany Ellen Solano, Miguel Najera,Kevin Sifuentes, Lorenzo Martinez and Marcos Loya.

T he Historical Procession of Las Posadas


hardhearted refusal. “This is no inn. Goaway!” After repeated requests for shel-ter, the pilgrims explain who theyare and that Mary will soon givebirth to the Son of God. Theinnkeepers relent and welcomethe exhausted travelers: “Enter,Holy pilgrims. Come into ourhumble dwelling and into ourhearts. The night is one of joy, forhere beneath our roof we shelterthe Mother of God.”

Everyone enters the room andkneels in prayer, after which the partymoves out to the patio for fireworks andfun. Small baskets of sweets, called c o l a-c i o n e s , are offered along with sandwich-es, cookies and a fruited punch. Andthen it’s time for the most exciting mo-ment of all, the breaking of the fancifullydecorated candy and nut-filled piñata.

Sometimes thereare separate parties fordifferent age groups—one forteenagers and another for the younger chil-dren. In Mexico City, especially, so manyp o s a d a s are held that active partygoers canmanage to attend four or five in one evening…and the festivities often go on until dawn.

Over time, p o s a d a s have been tailoredby their respective communities, so that a re-markable variety of p o s a d a styles can be foundthroughout Mexico and theSouthwestern United

S t a t e s .

Denise Blasor, Carla Jimenez, CrissyGuerrero and Mauricio Mendoza,above and Marcos Loya and LorenzoMartinez, at right.

The Christmas Candle“It begins with one simple candle—so full of golden light”

– La Posada Mágica

After Gracie reluctantly joins her church’s p o s a d a,she sets about trying to extinguish not only thecandle that has been lit in her honor, but all

those that represent the other members of her group.With each flame she blows out, another character dis-appears until Gracie is left lost and alone.

The tradition of candles at Christmastime beganin medieval Europe, where a very large Christmas can-dle was burned until the Twelfth Night in remem-brance of the arrival of the Wise Men to Bethlehem. InVictorian times, candles represented good will towardthose less fortunate. They were placed in windowsfrom December 25 to January 6 to wel-come any passersby need-ing shelter and food.

Some people believethat flames from burningcandles frighten away evilspirits during the darkestdays of the year. In Nor-way, candles that burn outon Christmas Eve arethought to bring bad luckfor the family. Anotherancient tradition suggeststhat placing a candle inthe window symbolicallylights the way of the HolyFamily as it provides awelcome for fr iends,neighbors and holidayguests.

Po i n s e t t i a s

Afavorite flower for the p o s a d a celebration is the

poinsettia, with its beautiful red star shape. Thelegend of the poinsettia relates the story of a girl

named Maria and her little brother Pablo. They werevery poor but always looked forward to the Christmasfestival each year, when a large Nativity scene was setup in the village church and the days leading up toChristmas were filled with p o s a d a s . But the two chil-dren were saddened because they had no money tobuy presents. They especially wished to give some-thing to the church, but they had nothing.

One Christmas Eve, Maria and Pablo set out forchurch to attend Midnight Mass. On their way theypicked some weeds growing along the roadside to pre-sent as their gift to the church. They were mercilesslyteased by the other children when they arrived withtheir humble offering, but Maria and Pablo knew they

had given everything they had. As theybegan to place the weeds around the Nativi-ty scene, the green top leaves turned intobright red petals. Soon the manger was sur-rounded by the bright red, star-shaped flow-ers and everyone in the church believedthey were witnessing a true Christmas mira-cle. Since that day, these beautiful flowersthat bloom during the Christmas seasonhave been known as Flores de Noche Buena

or “Flowers of the Holy Night.”N o c h e b u e n a , the Mexican name of

the flower English-speakers call poinsettia,was discovered in Taxco and the valleys sur-rounding Cuernavaca. Known by the Aztecsin their native Nahuatl language as c u e t l a x o-chitl, it is believed that they brought theplant from the tropical climate of Cuernava-ca to their Aztec highlands for cultivation in

T he Magic of the Celebration



special nurseries.Prized for thecurative proper-ties of the milkthat drippedfrom the leaves,stems and flowerswhen cut, the plant also pro-duced pigment from the red leavesused to dye cotton fibers.

The poinsettia plant was brought from Mexico toAmerica by Dr. Joel Roberto Poinsett (1770-1851), whoserved as U.S. ambassador to Mexico following thatcountry’s independence from Spain. Poinsett fell in lovewith the n o c h e b u e n a plant when he first saw it adorningthe churches of Taxco in 1823. He sent specimens backto the States to decorate his mansion in South Carolinaone Christmas, and upon his return home several yearslater, he was astonished to find the entire town ofCharleston growing the festive red flower.

Papel Pi c a d o

Paper cutting has been a folk art ever since paper

was invented in 105 A.D. by Ts’ai Lun, an official inthe court of Ho Ti, emperor of Cathay. The hum-

ble nature of its origins and the anonymity of its prac-tice has caused paper cutting to be ignored as an artform, though artists, artisans and collectors are becom-ing increasingly aware of this valuable folk heritage.

In Mexico, the technique is called papel picado,which means “pierced paper.” After the Spanish Con-quest of Mexico, papel de China (tissue paper) was in-troduced and became the material of choice for Chris-tian holiday decorations. Paperwork was apparentlyamong the imports that poured in from the Orient viathe annual Pacific treasure fleet that traveled betweenthe Far East and Acapulco, laden with such exoticgoods as silver, ivory, spices and porce-lain. Once the craft arrived inMexico, it became

the basis for many importantand widespread folk art forms.

In Mexico, the art of paper-cutting goesback to pre-Columbian times, when bark paper (made

by women from bark collected by men in thespring) was used as an offering to

the gods and a tributeto the Aztec

e m p e r o r ,M o c t e z u m aII. On certain holidays, itdecorated the idols in templesand palaces, and priests embodying thegods and the cosmos wore elaborate costumes ofcolored paper. Cutouts of dark paper were made torepresent evil spirits, while white paper representedgood spirits and was used by healers and witches intheir rituals.

Color schemes selected for papel picado are fre-quently linked with specific festivities. Sky blue orpink and white are commonly chosen for celebrationsin honor of the Virgin Mary, yellow and white for pa-tron saints. Vibrant pink, orange and purple are thekey tones employed for o f r e n d a s (offerings) associat-ed with El Día de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead.Shades of purple are also widely used at Easter. Thecolors of the Mexican flag—red, white and green—areset aside for venerating the nation’s patroness, La Vir-gen de Guadalupe, as well as for commemorating In-dependence Day, September 16. Rainbow hues areappropriate for Christmas and non-religiousfestivities.

Cut from colored tis-sue paper (or

plastic) to simulate lace,papel picado can be seen

today hanging from Day of the Dead altars and deco-rating graves during November. Also during Christ-

mas, papel picado decorates indoor and outdoor fes-tivities in Mexico.

Visit the online Playgoer’s Guide to La Posada Mágicaat www.scr.org to read more about these and otherMexican holiday traditions.


‘Vamos A Pie’Vamos a pie caminandoCaminando, caminandoUna posada BuscandoBuscando para El.

Velas prendidas alumbranLa noche más santa de DiosEste camino terminaEn oración.

Vamos con fe caminandoCaminando, caminandoLos angeles saben cuandoSaben cuando llegará.

A la posada más lindaLlena de luz y amorEn esta noche veremosAl Redentor.

Vamos a pie caminandoCaminando, caminandoUna posada buscandoBuscando buscando.

‘Este Canto Mio’Este canto mío canto con pasiónPor el Niño Dios quien es mi salvaciónSi mi voz al cielo no alcanzaEs porque le falta esperanza

Gloria gloria gloria al SeñorEschuchame y hazme el favorQuiero ver el Rey de la humanidadEn la Noche Buena de la Navidad.

Mucho gusto siento en mi corazónCada vez que canto, santa es mi canciónYa se acerca el momento deEl Nacimiento de la Nueva Fe.

Gloria gloria gloria al SeñorEschuchame y hazme el favorQuiero ver el Rey de la humanidadEn la Noche Buena de la Navidad.

Words by Octavio Solis; music by Marcos LoyaTranslation by Santiago Uceda

Sing Along with the Posada‘We go on foot’We go on footWalking, walkingSearching for a posadaSearching for Him

Burning candles shine onGod’s holiest nightThis path ends With a prayer

We walk along in faithWalking, walkingThe angels know when They know when He will arrive

To the most beautiful posadaFilled with light and love On this night we will seeThe savior

We go on footWalking, walkingSearching for a posadaSearching, searching

‘My Song’I sing my song with passionFor baby Jesus, my salvationIf my voice won’t reach heavenIt is because it lacks hope

Glory, glory, glory to the LordListen to me, do me a favorI want to see the King of humanityOn Christmas’ holy night

I feel pleasure in my heartEvery time I sing, holy is my songThe moment is nearThe birth of a new faith

Glory, glory, glory to the LordListen to me, do me a favorI want to see the King of humanityOn Christmas’ holy night


returns to SCR for her twelfthappearance in La Posada Mági-c a. This year she traveled toChile and to New York to per-form in the indie film Love Sim-p l e directed by Mark Von Stern-

berg. She also recreated her role of Amina at NewYork City’s Stella Adler Theatre in the production ofLos Muertos by Timothy McNeil, with Mark Ruffalo.Los Muertos, was first presented last year at ElephantTheatre under the direction of David Fofi. She ap-peared in E l e c t r i c i d a d by Luis Alfaro, directed by LisaPeterson at Mark Taper Forum and Ten Tiny LoveS t o r i e s by Rodrigo Garcia. She has performed at LosAngeles Theatre Center (LATC) as the Bride in B l o o dW e d d i n g, directed by Margarita Galban, as Yerma inY e r m a and as Martirio in The House of BernardaA l b a with Carmen Zapata. She played Jenny in T h eThreepenny Opera, directed by Angelina Reaux, andwas part of Ron Sossi’s Odyssey Theatre Ensembleadaptation of F a u s t. She was Artistic Director of LosAngeles Diversified Theater Company, where sheperformed and adapted The Three Sisters, designedand appeared in the Ovation Award-nominated pro-duction of He Who Gets Slapped with Bud Cort andperformed and produced the original musical pro-duction of C a d e r a s. Other stage credits includeleading roles in the world premieres of The House ofthe Spirits at LATC; Cervantes’ I n t e r l u d e s at Stages,directed by Florinel Fatulescu; Made in Lanus, di-rected by Lillian Garrett at The Old Globe; and A c-c e l e r a n d o by Lisa Loomer. She played Juana in T h eFalse Chronicle of Juana La Loca at Festival Cer-vantino in Mexico and has performed in Europe andPuerto Rico. Film credits include The D i s a p p e a r-ance of Garcia Lorca with Andy Garcia; U n i v e r s ’ l,directed by Ana Nicholas; Noriega: God’s Favoritewith Bob Hoskins, directed by Roger Spottiswoodeand Happy Feet with Robin Williams.

is very happy to return to SCR,following his award winning per-formance as Cesar Chavez in EdBegley’s Cesar and Rubenwhich ran for three months atthe NOHO Arts Center. A grad-

uate of the American Center for Music Theater, herecently completed work on the indie short G r a v e-yard Shift, due out early next year. His theatricalcredits span from Broadway to regional, as well astouring the world from Vietnam to Venice as a Pro-duction Singer for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.Broadway: Joseph and the Amazing TechnicolorD r e a m c o a t starring Michael Damian, first Nationaltour with Sam Harris (cast album). R e g i o n a l : M a nof La Mancha (tour) with Robert Goulet, B a r k a tCoast Playhouse, The Fantasticks (El Gallo) at Ari-zona Theater Company, S e l e n a (Abraham) at Doolit-tle Theater, L a l o at Mark Taper Forum, World GoesR o u n d at Rubicon (Robbie Nomination), P a l o m a a tCasa De Sousa, Pacific Overtures (Manjiro), M y s t e r yof Edwin Drood (John Jasper, Inland Empire Award),Beggars Holiday with the late, great Carl Anderson,and Guido in N i n e and Che in E v i t a, both of whichhe received the Los Angeles D r a m a - L o g u e A w a r d .Film and television credits include The Hitcher, 2007(DVD), “The Mullets” (recurring), “Beverly Hills,90210,” “Ally McBeal,” “Los Alvarez” (pilot) and “Mal-colm in the Middle.” As always, his performance isdedicated to the angels on his shoulder.

returns to SCR for his seventhseason in La Posada Mágica.He was also seen at SCR in theworld premiere of The HollowLands, the Theatre for YoungAudiences productions of T h e

Adventures of Pør Quinly and Sideways Stories from

A rtist BiographiesDE N I S E BL A S O R*Consuelo/Widow

DA N N Y BO L E R O*Papi/Jose Cruz

SO L CA S T I L L O*Refugio/Buzzard

P 1 0 SOUTH COAST REPERTORY • La Posada Mágica

Wayside School, the Pacific Playwrights Festivalworkshops of Sea of Tranquility and References toSalvador Dalí Make Me Hot, the Educational Tour-ing production of Bad Water Blues and the readingof The BFG. At San Diego Repertory Theatre he ap-peared in Zoot Suit, The Imaginary Invalid and B a r-rio Hollywood. Other theatre credits include the na-tional tour of Veteranos: A Tribute, West Side Story,Bye Bye Birdie and Talking to Yellow Roses. M r .Castillo was seen in Showtime’s “Resurrection Blvd.”and Valor Production’s Who’s James Cagney? H ealso recently wrote a screenplay that will be shot byValor Productions in February 2008. Mr. Castillodedicates his performance to his lovely wife, terrificdaughter, and gives his thanks to them and the audi-ence. Mr. Castillo is a proud member of Actors’ Eq-u i t y .

made his SCR debut last seasonin Hamlet and recently appearedin the Theatre for Young Audi-ences production of The BFG(Big Friendly Giant). Theatrecredits include Anna in the

Tropics at TheatreWorks; King Lear and L i l i o m a tKansas City Repertory Theatre; King Lear, The Tem-pest and The Merchant of Venice at California Shake-speare Festival; Hamlet at Ojai Shakespeare Festival;Dracula at Allied Artists; So It Is! If So it Seems to Youand Twelfth Night at A Noise Within; The ThreepennyO p e r a and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at The-atricum Botanicum; and Romeo and Juliet and T h eTaming of the Shrew at The Pasadena ShakespeareCompany. Film and television credits include D e l t aFarce and Face Value; roles on “Ugly Betty,” “CSI,”“House,” “CSI: Miami,” “Crossing Jordan,” Seven Days“American Family”; and recurring roles on “GeneralHospital” and “Spyder Games.” Mr. DeSantos isthrilled to be part of the company for the 2008 seasonof the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

is making her SCR debut. The-atre credits include Two Sistersand a Pi a n o at The Old Globe;Threepenny Opera, The Te m-p e s t and M e d e a at CW Post The-atre Company; Halfway There

at the Periwinkle National Theatre; Romeo and Juli-e t at the Bloomsburg Theatre; Winnie the Po o h f o rWestco Productions; A Ve ry Old Man with Enor-mous Wi n g s at the Kirk Douglas Theatre; i l l u m i N A-T I O N at Mark Taper Fo rum; La Ro n d e at Riant The-atre; I n b e t w e e n / Pe a c e m a k e r at George Street Play-h o u s e ; Purim Day at Lamb’s Theatre; The Odd Cou-p l e at Shadow Lawn Summer Stage; Damn Ya n k e e sat Paul Robeson Theatre; The Secret Gard e n at Fo rtSalem Theater; and The Skriker at Kennedy CenterStage. Film and television credits include H e n ryPoole is Here, Fun with Dick and Jane, S t e p f o rdWives, House of D, “Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Apos-tles,” “Cold Case,” “3 lbs.,” “Strong Medicine,”“NYPD Blue,” “Six Feet Under,” “J o e y” and “TheS h i e l d . ”

is an accomplished musicianand composer and a master ofacoustic guitar. He is alsoadept on requinto, jarr a n a ,c u a t r o , 12-string, mandolin,

electric guitar and various indigenous folk instru-ments. Curr e n t l y, he is a Visiting Artist and AdjunctI n s t ructor at California State University, DominguezHills. He teaches a Multicultural Pe rf o rming Art scourse and a course on Chicana/o Latina/o music.R e c e n t l y, he scored Looking Back, Severo Pe r e z ’d o c u m e n t a ry on renowned visual artist Carm e nLomas Garza. In 1996 he composed the score forthe “American Playhouse” film adaptation of To m a sRivera’s a n d the earth did not swallow him (y nose lo trago la tierr a). Mr. Loya’s debut CD, Love isthe Re a s o n, garnered an Independent Contempo-r a ry Jazz Album of the Year nomination. His musicis featured in the films Deep Cover, The Wa t e r-dance, A Million to Juan, Old Gringo, Vibes, Standand Deliver, Born in East LA, Hold Me, Kiss Me,Thrill Me and Kiss Me a Killer (for which he re-ceived a nomination for the Independent SpiritAward) as well as Director Robert Rodriguez’ O n c eUpon a Time in Mexico. He scored and/or com-posed music for several plays, including the Los An-geles Theatre Center productions of La Vi c t i m a ,August 29 (D r a m a - Lo g u e Award, Best OriginalMusic) and Stone We d d i n g (Los Angeles Drama Crit-ics Circle Award nomination). His television workincludes the musical scores for the PBS productions“Dreams of Flying,” “Elders,” “Between Fr i e n d s ”

GL O R I A GA R AY U A*Gracie

MA R C O S LO YAComposer/Musical Director/Ensemble

DAV I D DESA N T O S*Eli/Bones/Lauro

and “Los Pinateros.” His music can be heard in the“Mangas” episode of the PBS series “Foto Novela”for which he also composed the theme. He serv e das musical director for Univision’s long-running “ElShow de Paul Rodriguez,” the Buenavista/Disney“Navidad en las Americas” special, the ABC special“Latin Nights” and NBC’s “Vida Awards.” Mr. Loyahas perf o rmed and/or toured with a variety of per-f o rmers including Placido Domingo, Linda Ronstadt(with the Houston Symphony Orchestra), CeliaC ruz, Tito Puente, Lalo Guerrero, Chick Corea,Chaka Khan, Hugh Masekela, Phillip Bailey, StephenStills, Vicki Carr, Luis Enrique and Jose Fe l i c i a n o .With Madonna, he appeared in the video “La IslaBonita.” He can be seen perf o rming solo, with hisacoustic ensemble Trio Los Cinco, or with the Mar-cos Loya Latin Jazz Band. He dedicates his perf o r-mance to his mother, Bertha Loya, and the memoryof his father, Arthur Loya, whose courage and loveremain a constant source of inspiration.

was raised with the rich, cultur-ally diverse music of Los Ange-les and has traveled and per-f o rmed throughout the South-west. He represented Chicanomusic in Paris with Lalo Guer-

rero and Flaco Jimenez. His education includesMusic Theory and Instrumental Studies at Cerr i t o sCollege and UCLA’s Ethno musicology program withemphasis in Mariachi music. His vast musical expe-rience includes Tex-Mex, conjuntos, orq u e s t a s t y l e s ,mariachi, zydeco, jump blues, jazz, jarocho, huaste-co, nueva cancion, trio romantico, early Californ i aand Chicano movimiento music. Other groups Mr.M a rtinez has perf o rmed with include Herm a n o sBaca and Lil Joe y La Familia. He was part of theMariachi concert Las Tres Voces de Oro, backing

Lucha Villa, Lola Beltran and Miguel Aceves Meija.He perf o rmed with the UCLA Mariachi under the di-rection of Nati Cano of Los Comperos, and in theUniversal film Who Will Sing the Songs s t a rring Fr e d-dy Fender and Vikki Carr. He perf o rmed andrecorded with Los Pe rros del Pueblo Nuevo and Tr i oLos Cinco with Marcos Loya, Mundo Armijo and Ra yIslas. The group perf o rmed Dia de Los Muert o sand La Vi rgen del Te p e y a c by Luis Valdez at theJapan Theatre, the opening ceremony of LuisValdez’ B a n d i d o at Mark Taper Fo rum and with Cul-ture Clash in La Carpa at Mark Taper Fo rum. Hetoured with The Four Brown Hats theatre produc-tion of Veteranos: A Legacy of Va l o r between 2002and 2004. This year he perf o rmed for the troops inIraq and Afghanistan with Los Tex Maniacs, a Te x a sbased band. He perf o rmed through these countriesfor nine different military bases. It was a life chang-ing experience to remember forever.

is a veteran actor and award-winning filmmaker who return sfor his seventh year as Horacio.During the past 30 years, hehas honed his craft as an actor.Recent credits include “The

Shield,” “CSI,” “24,” “Lincoln Heights” and “A l i a s ”among many others. In recent years, he has devot-ed his passion to creating socially relevant docu-mentaries and shorts. His Dancing on the Edged o c u m e n t a ry went on to win the Outstanding Doc-u m e n t a ry Award at the 2005 IMAGeNation Aborigi-nal Film and Video Festival in Canada. This filmalso screened to excellent reviews at the 2007 Na-tional Association of Broadcasting (NAB) Show inLas Vegas where two of his films were selected top a rticipate at the event’s first Content Village. Itwas the only film screened multiple times to accom-

La Posada Mágica • SOUTH COAST REPERTORY P 1 1

LO R E N Z O MA RT I N E ZMusician/Ensemble

MI G U E L NA J E R A*Horacio


modate the high box-office demand. Najera’s film,Phillip’s Story, is a documentary dealing with a Na-tive American teenager stricken with HIV/AIDS.This tragic and inspiring film is used by the Associa-tion of American Indian Physicians as an educatingtool and shown on reservations across the nation.He wrote and directed L i b e r t a d , a short thatscreened to critical acclaim at WGBH Boston as partof their Latino film series. DreamWorks alsoscreened this film as part of their in house film se-ries. Current projects include Mayor of Arv i n, afeature film he co-wrote with Yareli Arizmendi andSergio Arau (A Day Without a Mexican); Black Elk,a documentary about his teachings and their rele-vance to the 21st century as told by Black Elk’s de-scendants. He is the Executive Producer and Direc-tor of the 2008 Oscar Night America Los Angeles, anAcademy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences sanc-tioned charity event in Los Angeles. Najera is thePresident of Americua Films—a company that pro-duces and develops stories that are part of theAmerican fabric but until now have virtually beeninvisible. He is co-founder of the newly form e d“Labor of Love Film Project Fund,” a non-profit or-ganization that raises funds to create human inter-est and social changing documentaries and short s .He is also the founder of Ce Acatl Productions, anindependent film production company. Najera hasan MFA in Film, Theatre and Television Directingfrom the California Institute of the Arts, receivedhis BA in Drama from San Francisco State Universityand attended the American Conserv a t o ry Theater inSan Fr a n c i s c o .

appeared at SCR previously inS c r a p p e r s and staged readingsof La Posada Mágica and T h eOld Matador. Theatre creditsinclude The Three Sisters a tLATC; People Like Me at Play-

wrights’ Arena; He Who Gets Slapped at HudsonTheatre; A Midsummer Night’s Dream and A To u c hof the Po e t with the Latino Classical Repert o ry; T h i sLa n d at the California Youth Theatre; The Old Mata-d o r at Arizona Theatre Company; The House ofB e rn a rda Alba, Cross in the Mirr o r and Fu e n t e o v e-j u n a at the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts; as wellas touring productions with Will & Co. and BluePalm. In addition, Ms. Ortega has been a memberof Kaiser Pe rmanente’s Educational Theatre Pro-

grams for the past nine years. Film and televisioncredits include Pa n i c, “The Division,” “StrongMedicine,” “Air America,” “Babylon 5,” “The Pre-t e n d e r” and “Chicago Hope.” Most recently, she wasseen at the Cannes and LALIFF film festivals in ADay at the Theatre produced by Valor productions.

r e t u rns to La Posada Mágica,where she originated the rolesof Mom and Mariluz. She alsoappeared in SC R’ s Man of theF l e s h and participated in manyof SC R’s Hispanic Playwrights

Project readings. Ms. Velarde understudied the roleof Eponine in Les Miserables at the Shubert Theatrein Los Angeles. Some of her other theatrical creditsinclude leading roles in Latins Anonymous at SanDiego Repertory Theatre; B.C. Historia, produced bythe Bilingual Foundation of the Arts at the Los Ange-les Theatre Center; the award-winning A Piece of MyH e a rt at International City Theatre; and multipleroles in Happy Birt h d a y, Angel, an anti-gang playproduced by SC R. Some of her starring televisioncredits include “General Hospital,” “Hotel Malibu,”“Days of Our Lives,” “Down the Shore,” “SunsetBeach,” “Empty Nest,” “Beverly Hills, 90210,” “TheBad Land,” “Brother’s Keeper,” “Malcolm in the Mid-dle” and “The Practice.” Ms. Velarde has also ap-peared in films including The Addict, Choose Me, ThePeople Under the Stairs and Outbreak. She has lead-ing roles in My Indian Summer, a CBS After SchoolSpecial and Mi Casa Es Su Casa, an award-winningfilm produced by AFI. She is also a licensed therapistwho works with adolescents and adults. She has twohandsome sons, Justin and Lucas, and has been mar-ried to drummer David Page for 22 years. She wishesto thank her family and friends and wishes everyonea blessed holiday season. Feliz Navidad!

PLAYWRIGHT, DIRECTOR& DESIGNERS

OC TAV I O SO L I S (P l a y w r i g h t / D i r e c t o r) is a playwrightand director living in San Francisco. His works Manof the Flesh, Prospect, El Paso Blue, Santos & Santos,El Otro, Dreamlandia, Bethlehem, Gibraltar, TheSeven Visions of Encarn a c i o n and The Ballad ofPancho and Lucy have been mounted at theatres na-tionwide. Shiner, his collaborative project with ErikEhn, was mounted by Undermain Theatre in Dallas.

TE R E S A VE L A R D E*Caridad/Widow

ER I C A ORT E G A*Mom/Mariluz


His most recent project is M a rfa Lights, a new playwritten for West Texas State A&M in Canyon, Te x a s .Solis has received an NEA Playwriting Fellowship, twoplaywriting grants from The Kennedy Center, the WillGlickman Playwright Award, the 1998 TCG/NEA The-atre Artists in Residence Grant, the 1998 McKnightFellowship grant from The Playwrights’ Center inMinneapolis and the 2000-2001 National TheatreArtists Residency Grant. His new play Lydia opens atthe Denver Center Theatre Company in January 2008and June in a Box opens at Intersection for the Artsin March. Solis is a member of the Dramatists Guild,an alumnus of New Dramatists and a SCR AssociateArtist.

MARCOS LOYA (Composer/Musical Director) See biog-raphy on page P-11.

CH R I S T O P H E R AC E B O (Scenic Design) designed SC R’ sworld premiere productions of My Wandering Boy,The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler, The Beardof Avon, Hold Please and California Scenarios; andthe West Coast premiere of The Countess. R e c e n tproductions include the world premieres of T h eClean House at Yale Repertory and at Lincoln CenterTheater; Electricidad at The Goodman Theatre (andCTG); and Water and Power, Living Out and ChavezR a v i n e for Center Theatre Group. Other regionaldesign work includes productions for Guthrie The-ater, Berkeley Repertory, La Jolla Playhouse, OregonShakespeare Festival, The Goodman Theatre, DenverCenter Theatre Company, The Children’s TheatreCompany in Minneapolis, Hartford Stage and Po rt-land Center Stage, among others. He received hisM FA in design at the University of California, SanDiego and is a past recipient of the NEA/TCG fellow-ship for designers. He is the Associate Artistic Direc-tor of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

SH I G E R U YA J I (Costume Design) has designed cos-tumes for over 50 SCR productions including most

recently A Little Night Music, My Wandering Boy,The Fu rther Adventures of Hedda Gabler, HabeasCorpus a n d Cyrano de Berg e r a c. His other recentwork has been seen at Lincoln Center Theater, Ya l eR e p e rt o ry Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Fe s t i v a l ,C o rnerstone Theater Company and San Jose Reper-t o ry Theatre, as well as at Nashville Ballet. He isthe recipient of numerous awards and recogni-tions, including six Los Angeles Drama Critics Cir-cle Awards and a Bay Area Theatre Critics CircleAward, as well as an Emmy Award nomination forCathy Rigby’s Peter Pa n. Mr. Yaji is a member ofthe United Scenic Artists Local 829 and the UCI rvine Drama Department faculty.

LO N N I E RA FA E L AL C A R A Z (Lighting Design) is anAssociate Professor at UC Irvine and a professionallighting designer. He has designed at various re-gional theatres, such as Berkeley Repert o ry The-atre, Sierra Repert o ry Theatre, Arena Stage, LagunaPlayhouse, Alabama Shakespeare Festival and UtahS h a kespearean Festival. In addition to his twelveseasons with La Posada Mágica, productions atSCR include Doubt, My Wandering Boy, The Princeand the Pa u p e r, Blue Door, Man from Nebraska,Bunnicula, The Hoboken Chicken Emerg e n c y,Play Strindberg, Dimly Perceived Threats to theSystem, Sidney Bechet Killed a Man (for which hereceived a D r a m a - Lo g u e Award), B A F O, Later Lifeand Three Vi e w i n g s. He designed Culture Clash’sThe Bird s at both SCR and Berkeley Repert o ry,along with their national touring show, R a d i oM a m b o. Recent design experience includes AHoltville Night’s Dream, Wa rriors Don’t Cry,LETHE, I Ask You, Farewell to Manzanar and Wa k-ing Up In Lost Hills with Cornerstone TheaterC o m p a n y, where he is an associate artist; and UtahS h a kespearean Festival’s 2006 summer season ofshows: Hamlet, The Merry Wives of Wi n d s o r a n dAntony & Cleopatra. He was also a designer forUniversal Studios, Japan, where he designed the


live shows Te rminator 2 in 3D, and Monster Make-up, the attractions Jurassic Park the Ride andSnoopy Studios, along with exterior architecturalfacades throughout the park. He is a member ofthe United Scenic Art i s t / I ATSE - Local 829.

LI N D A KO S TA L I K (C h o r e o g r a p h e r) is a retiredProfessor from the Theatre Arts and DanceD e p a rtment at Cal State Los Angeles. Her career asd a n c e r, choreographer, and educator has spanned44 years. She has choreographed numerousproductions for professional theatres such asPlaywrights Horizons, The Goodman Theatre,I n t e rnational City Theatre, Steve Allen and others.Ms. Kostalik will be directing Grammy nomineeBobby Rodriguez in A Latin Jazz Christmas Showand has recently worked on the musical revue T h eTr i b u t e with Crissy Guerrero and Dave Fo l e y. Shecontinues to explore creative work in videographyand design. As always, she is pleased to be backwith the SCR family. Happy Holidays!

JA M I E TU C K E R* (Stage Manager) completed hisM FA in Dance, specializing in Stage Management,at UCI in 1994. Since coming to SC R, Mr. Tu c ke rhas stage managed or assisted on over 28 shows inaddition to seven seasons of La Posada Mágica.Some of his favorites have been the world pre-mieres of Richard Greenberg’s Three Days of Rain,The Violet Hour and A Naked Girl on the AppianWa y; Rolin Jones’ The Intelligent Design of JennyC h o w; and Noah Haidle’s M r. Marm a l a d e. Otherfavorites include Anna in the Tr o p i c s , A View fromthe Bridge and H a m l e t. If you can’t find him inthe theatre, he is likely to be on the diamond orriding his bike down PCH. Mr. Tu c ker is a proudmember of Actors Equity.

DAV I D EM M E S (Producing Artistic Director) is co-founder of SC R. He has received numerous

PA M A N D JI M MU Z Z Y (H o n o r a ry Producers),one of SC R’s most enthusiastic couples, arehelping brighten the holidays for the secondyear as underwriters of La Posada Mágica.Strong supporters of adventurous theatre, theMuzzys have twice underwritten world pre-mieres at South Coast Repert o ry, the 2005production of Princess Marjorie and 2006’sThe Fu rther Adventures of Hedda Gabler.They are major donors to the Next Stage Cam-paign, Platinum Circle members and sub-scribers to both stages as well as the Theatrefor Young Audiences series. That’s enthusi-a s m !

TA R G E T (Corporate Producer) has held out acorporate hand to SCR once again by under-writing the holiday production La Po s a d aM á g i c a. Target’s partnership with SCR andOrange County children goes back to 1986and includes underwriting of the Young Con-s e rv a t o ry Players, The Target Tour of originalplays to underserved schools, “A Dickens of AD a y” holiday fundraiser, Festival Latino andthe Theatre Discovery Project. Two seasonsago, the company made a generous grant toestablish the “Target Family Pe rf o rmances” ofselected Theatre for Young Audiences and LaPosada Mágica p e rf o rmances for families atsignificantly reduced prices. “At Target, we aremaking a real difference every day throughour community partnerships with organiza-tions like SC R,” said Laysha Ward, Vice Presi-dent, Community Relations, Ta r g e t . “The Ta r-get Family Pe rf o rmances give families a greato p p o rtunity to experience theatrical entert a i n-ment at an affordable cost.”


awards for productions he has directed during hisSCR career, including a Los Angeles Drama CriticsCircle Award for the direction of George Bern a r dS h a w’s The Philanderer. He directed the worldpremieres of Amy Freed’s Safe in Hell, The Beardof Avon and Freedomland, Thomas Babe’s G r e a tDay in the Morn i n g, Keith Reddin’s Rum andCoke a n d But Not for Me and Neal Bell’s C o l dS w e a t; the American premieres of Te rry J o h n s o n ’ sUnsuitable for Adults and Joe Penhall’s D u m bS h o w; the West Coast premieres of C.P. Ta y l o r’ sGood and Harry Kondoleon’s Christmas on Mars;and the Southland premiere of Top Girls (at SC Rand the Westwood Playhouse). Other productionsinclude the West Coast premieres of T h r e eViewings by Jeffrey Hatcher, The Secret Rapture b yDavid Hare and New England by Richard Nelson;and A r c a d i a by Tom Stoppard, The Importance ofBeing Earnest by Oscar Wilde, Ay c k b o u rn ’ sWoman in Mind and You Never Can Tell b yGeorge Bernard Shaw, which he restaged for theSingapore Festival of Arts. He has served as atheatre panelist and onsite evaluator for theNational Endowment for the Arts, on theExecutive Committee of the League of ResidentTheatres, and as a panelist for the California Art sCouncil. After attending Orange Coast College, hereceived his BA and MA from San Francisco StateU n i v e r s i t y, and his PhD in theatre and film fromU SC.

MA RT I N BE N S O N (A rtistic Director), co-founderof SCR with his colleague David Emmes, hasdirected nearly one third of the plays producedhere. He has distinguished himself in the stagingof contemporary work, including Wi l l i a mNicholson’s The Retreat from Moscow, the worldpremiere of Horton Foote’s Getting Fr a n k i eM a rried — and Aft e rw a rd s and the criticallyacclaimed California premiere of Nicholson’sS h a d o w l a n d s. He has won accolades for hisdirection of five major works by George Bern a r dS h a w, including the Los Angeles Drama CriticsCircle (LADCC) Award-winners Major Barbara,Misalliance and H e a rtbreak House. Among hisnumerous world premieres is Margaret Edson’sPulitzer Prize-winning Wit, which he also directed

at Seattle Repert o ry Theatre and the Alley Theatrein Houston. He has directed American classicsincluding Ah, Wi l d e rn e s s !, A Streetcar NamedDesire, A Delicate Balance and A View from theB r i d g e . Benson has received the L A D C CDistinguished Achievement in Directing awards anunparalleled seven times for the three Shawproductions, John Millington Synge’s Playboy ofthe We s t e rn Wo r l d, Arthur Miller’s The Cru c i b l e,Sally Nemeth’s Holy Days and Wi t . He alsodirected the film version of Holy Days using theoriginal SCR cast. Along with Emmes, he acceptedSC R’s 1988 Tony Award for Outstanding ResidentProfessional Theatre and won the 1995 Theatre LAOvation Award for Lifetime Achievement. Bensonreceived his BA in Theatre from San Fr a n c i s c oState University.

PA U L A TO M E I (Managing Director) is responsiblefor the overall administration of South CoastR e p e rt o ry and has been Managing Director since1994. A member of the SCR staff since 1979, shehas served in a number of administrativecapacities including Subscriptions Manager,Business Manager and General Manager. Shes e rved on the board of Theatre CommunicationsGroup (TCG), the national service organizationfor theatre, from 1998-2006, and was its Presidentfor four years. She has also served as Treasurer ofTCG, Vice President of the League of ResidentTheatres (LORT) and has been a member of theL O RT Negotiating Committee for industry- w i d eunion agreements. In addition, she representsSCR at national conferences of TCG and LORT; hasbeen a theatre panel ist for the NationalEndowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Californ i aA rts Council, and site visitor for the NEA; serv e don the Advisory Committee for the Art sAdministration Cert if icate Program at theUniversity of California, Irvine; and has been aguest lecturer in the graduate school of businessat Stanford and the University of California, Irv i n e .She recently joined the board of Arts OrangeC o u n t y, the county wide arts council. Ms. To m e igraduated from the University of California, Irv i n ewith a degree in Economics and pursued anadditional course of study in theatre and dance.

The Actors and Stage Managers em-ployed in this production are mem-bers of Actors’ Equity Association, theUnion of Professional Actors andStage Managers in the United States.

The Scenic, Costume, Lighting andSound Designers in LORT theatresare represented by United ScenicArtists Local USA-829, IATSE.

The Director is a member of the So-ciety of Stage Directors and Chore-ographers, Inc., an independent na-tional labor union.

presents la posada magica - south coast repertory€¦ · angel goes first, followed by two more...

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