VivirLatino

VivirLatino Goes Behind the Curtain With TimesTalks

09:32 H | Topics: Events - New York City - Theatre

Last night I had the pleasure of going behind the curtain with the talento artistico of the theatre. TimesTalks (as in the New York Times) along with Teatro Stage Fest sponsored a panel discussion with Graciela Daniele, Eugenio Derbez, Bianca Marroquin, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. The talk was moderated by a dry Robin Pogrebin, a cultural reporter for the New York Times.

The talk was introduced by the director of Teatro Stage Fest, Susana Tubert, who said that the artists in the panel were "not Latino artist, rather artists who happened to be Latino" (a line that doesn't sit well with me- as if one has nothing to do with the other or as if being Latino just happens to be with no wider implication).

Lin-Manuel Miranda, the mind behind the words and music to the Tony nominated In the Heights, garnered the most applause, while the mostly white theater going crowd seemed unfamiliar with Eugenio Derbez, who ironically enough had a few Mexican farandula cameras anxiously waiting outside.

Eugenio Derbez was humble but introduced himself by promoting recognizable projects with name appeal, for example saying that he was producing "a project like Desperate Housewives, but with maids." He mentioned his work in Under the Same Moon and Latinologues , not his role in the horrible Univision show La Familia P. Luche.

One question asked by the moderator was if being Latino helped or hurt them (I hate the implication that "Latino" is something to overcome rather than something to embrace). Bianca Marroquin, who starred as Roxy in both the Mexican and Broadway version of Chicago, said that she continues to be surprised that when she goes to audition for "Latino" roles, she is told she doesn't look Latina enough, when she grew up on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border. Graciela Daniele, originally from Argentina, whose work as a director and choreographer spans decades, commented on how little had changed in the 40 or so years since she started to work in the industry, but also noted that Latino artists still had it better now than before and offered advice to Bianca.

Lin- Manuel Miranda, described his love of theatre with a Latino twist, saying it was a thrill as a high school senior to direct white kids to be Puerto Rican in a production of West Side Story. He cited his three greatest musical influences as being Marc Anthony, Paul Simon, and Ruben Blades and lavished praise on the music in the Capeman, but was bothered by the fact that so many years after West Side Story Broadway was telling the same story of NY Latino gangs with knives. In the Heights was a bet against himself to do something different.

The moderator seemed surprised that there was no drugs or violence in In the Heights, and that she was waiting for the story to turn. She asked if it was a conscious decision to keep the Heights clean.
Miranda was brilliant in his response saying that the positive side and the real side of Washington Heights are not mutually exclusive and that his inspiration came more from Fiddler on the Roof than West Side Story, with the common thread being tradition.

When asked why Latinos comprise only 5.5% of the theatre-going public. Miranda said it was an issue of it being not part of the Latino culture, or saved for special events (that's how I was exposed to theatre), compounded by economic barriers.

Overall the discussion was very interesting and insightful as to the struggles and barriers that Latino theatre artists overcome daily.

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