Anthony Rodriguez grew up in a household where English and Spanish were spoken interchangeably and is now artistic director of a theater troupe based in Gwinnett County, where nearly 2o percent of the population is Hispanic.
Recent U.S. Census Bureau statistics, which found that the number of Hispanics in Gwinnett doubled over the decade starting in 2000, leads this American-born son of Cuban parents who immigrated in 1961 to believe there's an audience for Spanish-language stagings at Aurora Theatre just off the historic square in Lawrenceville.
So Thursday night, Aurora will open the world premiere production of the Spanish-language version of playwright Elaine Romero's "Barrio Hollywood," a drama about a Mexican-American boxer who dreams of punching his way out of poverty. Presented in its more intimate, 90-seat Studio Stage, the four-character play revives Aurora's Teatro del Sol Spanish-language theater initiative launched in 2004 but shelved in recent years as the troupe adjusted after moving from Duluth.
While the actors will be speaking Spanish, English supertitleswill translate the action above the stage. One of the biggest challenges during rehearsals, said Rodriguez, who is directing, is that all of the actors speak variations of Spanish. Joey Florez Jr., who portrays boxer Alex Moreno, is of Puerto Rican decent, while Maria Sager has Chilean roots, Sylvia Castro's heritage is Ecuadorian and Alexandros Salazar's ancestry is Colombian.
It helped that Chicago playwright Romero, whose family hails from Mexico but who is not fluent in Spanish, was able to clarify things while participating in rehearsals for three days.
Rodriguez said he began pondering the notion of Teatro del Sol after his mother, Lucy, passed away in 1996. Its debut staging in 2004 was"Life Is a Dream." The artistic director's proud dad, Jose, died while "4 Guys Named Jose and una Mujer Named Maria" was in rehearsals in 2005. Their son is dedicating "Barrio Hollywood" to his parents.
"I really wanted to continue doing something that would not just help me continue to stay connected to my heritage," Rodriguez said, "but would allow for other actors to maintain their connections to their heritage and would allow for our audience to introduce it to their kids."
While Aurora is working to get attention for "Barrio" in Atlanta's Spanish-language media, is marketing to high school and college Spanish classes and is distributing bilingual postcards to metro Spanish markets, Rodriguez acknowledged he's uncertain about audience demand. "I'll be honest, it's a lot like putting toes in water," he said.
Importantly, supporters at Georgia Gwinnett College, which sponsors the GGC Lab Series in Aurora's Studio, were enthusiastic when Rodriguez proposed adding a third play, specifically in Spanish, to this year's season. GGC is on board to fund the Lab Series for 2011-12, Rodriguez said, adding, "I think you can be assured there will be another [Teatro play] next season."
He also dreams of Aurora touring a Spanish-language staging in Cuba one day.
Theater preview
"Barrio Hollywood"
Opens tonight.8 p.m. Thursdays–Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays. Through May 1. Aurora Theatre, 128 Pike St., Lawrenceville. Tickets, $15. 678-226-6222, www.auroratheatre.com
Another production employing Español
By coincidence, Midtown's Center for Puppetry Arts also has a production on the boards that makes healthy use of Spanish, a revival of "Beauty and the Beast."
Director JonLudwig's interpretation employs an urban setting where Beauty and her mother run a salon owned by tyrant Doña Arruga. When her mother stumbles upon the Beast's lair during a business deal gone awry, Beauty makes a deal with the devil (who turns out to be not so devilish).
Most characters bounce back and forth between English and Spanish, and the mice spout only Spanish, but the kid-friendly action and music make the message easy to understand in any language. Puppeteer Luis R. Hernandez, along with Jacinto Urbino of the Latin American Association, handled most of the script translation.
-- Howard Pousner
Onstage
"Beauty and the Beast"
10, 11:30 a.m. Tuesdays-Fridays; 11 a.m., 1, 3 p.m. Saturdays, 1, 3 p.m. Sundays. Through May 29. Center for Puppetry Arts, 1404 Spring St., Atlanta. Tickets, $16, includes performance, exhibits and Create-A-Puppet Workshop (or to-go kit). 404-873-3391, www.puppet.org.
