Tears, laughter and mariachi music fill the stage and the lives of the characters in Jose Cruz Gonzalez\u2019s \u201cAmerican Mariachi.\u201d<\/p>\n
James Vasquez directs this joint production with Denver Center for the Performing Arts Theatre Company, just arrived from its Denver run and plays through April 29 at The Old Globe.<\/p>\n Local favorite Jennifer Paredes plays Lucha, who dreams of becoming a nurse, but at the moment is the designated caregiver for mother Amalia (Doreen Montalvos), a victim of early-onset dementia.<\/p>\n Lucha, like her mother, loves to sing; in fact, only music (one song in particular) seems to bring Amalia out of the dementia-induced fog into which she sinks more deeply every day.<\/p>\n When Lucha\u2019s cousin and best friend Hortensia, aka Boli (Heather Velazquez) drags in one day, announcing that she has just been fired, an idea occurs to Lucha: Why don\u2019t they start a women\u2019s mariachi group?<\/p>\n Loony, no? After all, this is the mid-1970s and women don\u2019t do mariachi. And since it\u2019s mostly performed in bars, women aren\u2019t even allowed to hear most of the mariachi.<\/p>\n Lucha and Boli start recruiting, despite the opposition of Lucha\u2019s dad Federico (Bobby Plasencia), who needs her to care for Amalia while he is at work. The scenes where they find new recruits at churches \u2014 one Catholic, one fundamentalist \u2014are a hoot. Isabel (Amanda Robles) is a quiet little girl who sings *really* loud. Unfortunately, her husband Mateo (Luis Quintero) is just as loud in his disapproval. (Quintero also plays the group\u2019s gay tailor Rene to the hilt).<\/p>\n Gabby (Natalie Camunas) is the painfully shy one, but she introduces the girls to hairstylist Soyla (Crissy Guerrero), a pistol of a sexpot (and a sexpot with a pistol) who doesn\u2019t worry about getting permission from anyone, boasting \u201cI only have lovers and I don\u2019t have to ask them shit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAmerican Mariachi\u201d is a family story, not an immigrant saga. You won\u2019t hear about border crossings, gangs, prison sentences or drug use. Theatergoers are dropped into an American Latino family as it is \u2013 complete with bilingual conversation (untranslated) and a father (Federico) who plays with a mariachi band when he\u2019s not at work, cooking for others.<\/p>\n When it comes to finding instruments, Lucha turns to Mino (Rodney Lizcano), a kindly carpenter who repairs instruments in his garage. Mino has never quite gotten over a rift between him and his old buddy Federico.<\/p>\n \u201cAmerican Mariachi\u201d also boasts a real mariachi band, which plays often and well.<\/p>\n Meghan Anderson Doyle\u2019s costumes, Paul Miller\u2019s lighting and Ken Travis\u2019 sound design are fine as well.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re looking for a great plot, \u201cMariachi\u201d may be a bit too paint-by-numbers to fill the bill. But the emotions are real, the music jaunty and the cast winning, and it\u2019s a fine, engaging portrait of an American Latino family.<\/p>\n![\"Emotions](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/americanmariachi-08-print.jpg\")
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Regina Garcia\u2019s set \u2013 a courtyard brick wall with lots of bright pink graffiti (or art): flowers, a mariachi, a woman\u2019s face, cactus \u2013 sets the tone.<\/p>\n