teatroluna.org

Lunadas Playwright Spotlight: Liz Sandoval

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 02:47:21 +0000

When and how did you become interested in the theater?

I’ve always loved being a storyteller. Whether it was reading aloud to my young students or writing an essay for my college newspaper. And I’ve always loved live performances. It wasn’t until I’d graduated college and was working as a teacher that I realized how much I loved the storytelling of acting–and wanted to delve into it further. So I took a leave of absence from my full-time public school job to become a full-time theatre student.

What was your inspiration for The Not-So-Young and the Very Restless?

It evolved from an essay I’d written, where I shared some frustrations concerning the dating experience. Like how a guy can get fat and all he has to do is grow a goatee and throw on a Hawaiian shirt–but God forbid a woman “let herself go” this way. I knew, though, that I wanted to document the deeper pain and frustration of the dating experience–because so many people can relate to it. My essay evolved into a short one-woman piece and then after I’d completed the writing program at Second City and more “life” had happened, I utilized a lot of my personal experiences to tell the overall story. In other words, a lot of what you see in this musical is autobiographical.

Any words of wisdom for our readers?

Could anything be more cliché than, “You don’t need a mate to feel ‘complete’?” And yet it’s the honest-to-goodness truth. It’s something that I still have to be reminded of from time to time.

Elizabeth Sandoval, a Chicago native, is a teacher/writer/performer whose writing has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News, San Gabriel Valley Tribune and other Los Angeles-area publications, Newsweek, USA Today, Latina magazine, on various websites, and on Chicago Public Radio.

Elizabeth earned a Liberal Studies B.A. and teaching credential from CSU Fullerton and has studied acting, musical theatre, improv, and writing in Los Angeles and Chicago.

She is honored to have Teatro Luna produce “The Not-So-Young and the Very Restless” as its first Lunada of 2012.

Lunada 1 of 2012: 2/20/2012 Featuring Liz Sandoval

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:06:33 +0000

Sh*t White Girls Say To Latinas Video

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:46:42 +0000

We couldn’t be prouder to post this video Directed and Performed by our very own Artistic Associate Christina Igaraividez. Check it out and tell us what you think! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/26/sht-white-girls-say-to-latinas_n_1234121.html?ref=latino-voices

xox

alex

Blue Moon Open House Soiree

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:32:52 +0000

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Announcing LADIES NIGHTS for CROSSED!

Sat, 26 Nov 2011 23:30:57 +0000

That’s Right! Ladies Night is in full effect for Crossed!

Every Thursday night that there is a performance (Dec 1, 8, & 15th) Ladies with groups of 4 + can get special ticket price (only $20) for the show, talk-back, and one free drink (it’s the luna special of the night as only eligible drink) at the Viaduct Bar including additional drink specials all night long! So, what are you waiting for? Book your tickets now!

Ladies Night Ticket Specials must be purchased online and cannot be reserved in advance. If you purchase a different ticket price online you are not eligible for the special promotion. YOU MUST PURCHASE THE LADIES NIGHT ticket listing! You must come with a group of 4 or more to be eligible! If one member of your party does not show up, you will not be eligible for the deal. Drink tickets are given when you pick up your ticket and your full party must be in attendance for ticket to be redeemable!

- General Crossed Tickets Link (Look for Thursdays)

CAN TV Features Crossed!

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:50:09 +0000

So you didn’t get to see one of the previews for CROSSED but still want to see what its all about before you buy your ticket? Check out this little teaser that CAN TV came and created during our tech week….

Click to Watch Video Feature by CAN TV

And for the record: No thats not our final set, and NO those aren’t the costumes for the play, and YES Miranda and I look a little stressed and tired–let’s just say its been a crazy few weeks! But all in all, I am excited for you to see this little teaser because I get excited every time I hear the opening notes of the TANGO! And stay tuned this week for the official CROSSED TRAILER that will include actual performance video, reviews, and audience reactions!

x0x,

alex m

To Purchase Tix

Wanna buy your tickets now to CROSSED: Immigrant = Mexican? ( How Going South Flipped Our Script )? Follow this link: CROSSED TIX

First Preview Jitters!

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 23:33:16 +0000

Okay, so I have only about two minutes to type this out but I need to write something! I am sitting backstage with Miranda doing some final set things and hanging curtains and processing tickets and we just can’t control our nervous energy! WE ARE SO NERVOUS/EXCITED/SCARED/PROUD/HONORED all at the same time! We have had a grueling tech and honestly– a pretty grueling rehearsal process for this project….. we even lost an actor due to a family emergency the day before tech!!! PUEDES CREER? So added to the normal stress of tech we ended up hiring two amazing actresses who would share the roll by flopping nights– but that just puts more pressure on the cast because they have to catch TWO people up on the whole show with very little rehearsal time….. but lordy has this tech been insane and fun and exhausting. Miranda and I couldn’t be more proud of these “kiddies”. Our design team is amazing. They have had our back the whole way. A particularly special shout out to our normal crew who we would be lost without: Mac Vaughey, Dan Matthews, and of course, the one and only DARIA (Christine Pascual).

So things I’m stressed/watching in this run to see what we have to cut/change/fix before opening on monday:

general cohesiveness
places where we are too obvious– where can we cut back on language and just let the emotional cap a scene? where can we use more metaphor. where can we elevate through theatricality rather than explicit language?
what is holding up tempo? were having a huge lagging issue in transitions and some scenes/monologues— but thats an easier fix
sound levels
clean movement
CLARITY CLARITY CLARITY
and finding the funny. its in there. its just gotta come back out…

so if you’re one of the lucky ones who is going to attend one of our three previews— let us know where you think we can tweak to make this the best show it can be! and come back after opening and let us know how we do!

ok gotta run— have more curtains to hang…

con mucho amor!

alex meda

“It’s Just Not Us” and how we came to CROSSED

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 03:51:42 +0000

“Its just not….us”

Below is a message from our Director of Artistic Development, Miranda Gonzalez as she reflects on how Teatro Luna handled one of the most difficult and complicated situations we have found ourselves artistically in our history. More specifically, how we went from The North South Plays to CROSSED in less than 4 weeks…. By the way— you can find out more about CROSSED here and you can purchase tickets from that page, or directly here.

———–

Over the years TL has created work based off of conversations that brew out of our “Check-ins”. For those of you that are outside of our process, checking in before we begin a rehearsal, a meeting, or a reading, is a crucial step to building an ensemble (It is also our way of nicely saying, lets chismiar!). Checking-in allows the actors/producers/designers a chance to get anything off of their minds and dispose of it in the circle, in other words, we say it and leave it behind if its bad or celebrate it if its good. Whatever is said in that circle, stays in that circle, and is not to be discussed outside of that circle. It’s a good way for a voyeur, like myself, to get a glimpse into a persons life. It helps me understand the dynamic of the group, but most importantly it helps build a show, a great show. Checking-in is very much a part of TL’s organizational culture, among many other things.

Being able to articulate TL’s organizational culture means we have reached a milestone. Trust me, in the beginning we were a bunch of young girls, just going with the flow answering most questions with “I don’t know, it’s just what we do”. But, being able to explain the lasting impact of something that seems so insignificant in a rehearsal room, means we have definitely matured. I must say it feels wonderful to be out of those tantrum years and into the preteen age. I don’t know if you remember feeling the difference in maturity, but I sure do. It was around the time that my mother could tell me “no, you cannot” and I understood why, thus beginning to embark on the “but how can I do it without her knowing” phase. It is the moment in a persons life where they begin a new level of higher order thinking. That’s a good way to put, TL is now at a new level of higher order thinking (those of you that are educators know exactly what I mean).

Which brings me to my next point, The North/South Plays. As I sat back at the August 30th DCA performance (after a month long incubation there) and watched the workshop reading of North/South, I couldn’t have felt more detached from the piece. As it was, the project had already made me feel like I was hired help and not a part of the producing team (even though I was). So, to sit there and see work that only scratched the surface of the phrase “impactful theater”, made my stomach turn. Wait, let me be clear, what I saw was not terrible, what I saw was something that was just “playing it safe” and that is not TL’s mantra. It was made clear to me that the TL image we built, scrubbing toilets, sanding floors, and protesting on Michigan Avenue was nowhere to be found.The soul, the passion, the activism, was gone. It confirmed for us that we were on the wrong track. TL is a company that KNOWS when an audience is impacted, we are a theater for social change, our mission statement is clear and specific, we see pah-len-ty (plenty) of theater and that script yelled college play. So what do I do as the D.A.D ( Director of Artistic Development) of this company? Do I continue to pretend this is the best way we can tell a story about borders? The borders that my grandparents crossed? No. So I knew I had to let it be known. Let my opinion be known. And, that is exactly what I did. I had a glass of wine, wrote a long email stating: I don’t see Teatro Luna in this piece, called my Executive Director (you know, to get her approval) and clicked send. There it went. Moments later I received a lot of “finally” and “that’s right girl” replies, from TL’s writing team. The co-collaborators, on the other hand were in complete shock and called an immediate phone conference. After expressing my artistic opinion on the matter and realizing that the other team still couldn’t understand my logic, all I could come up with was…”Look, I’m sorry but, Its just not us”.

Now let me say that the responses were great. Right away the producers came together to show their support and to figure out what we could do to make the production something we could all be proud of. But, the kicker was, with what time and what space! We had just learned that the CCPA had been sold and our sub-lease was no longer being honored (along with several other theater companies). This put us in a bind and quick decisions had to be made. Needless to say it was in the best interest of the other company’s producers to focus on the current play that had lost a home and no longer move forward on this co-production.

I am not a superstitious person (well maybe, I mean I am Mexican after all) but I could not help but take all of this as a sign from the universe. A “hey you need to TELL this story RIGHT” kind of a thing. The North/South Plays made me not only understand our aesthetic, but forced me to learn to articulate it. I immediately felt a weight lifted. I immediately felt free to create. I felt free from having to justify my process . All of my team trusted and supported my vision, my way of creating. And, after just 4 writing meetings we came up with the script and the name CROSSED! This 8th ensemble built show is a huge moment for not just me, but Teatro Luna. It marks our journey into adolescence and proves our desire to create social change.

I have to tell you, our work is not easy to explain in euro-centric or classical narrative type theatrical terms. Our ensemble work can be described as a series of vignettes (according to critics), yet not episodic (as theater majors would attempt to define it), and definitely not sketch. So then, what is it exactly? For me, it is an art of story-telling that can fit part of the definition of hip-hop theater! Which can be described, as a series of stories that take the audience through a psychitzophrenic state, told with a choreo-collage structure under one theme, accompanied by music and dance. PHEW! I told you its not really easy to explain. All I know is, I love that we don’t tell stories in straight narratives, I love that the definition of our work will constantly evolve, I love that it is so specific it broadens our reach, but most of all I love that our stories are authentic and genuine, because all of that forcing a story so that there is an obvious stasis….. ”Just aint us!” We tell it like it is and THAT is what makes theater a movement, not just a play.

More About CROSSED

CROSSED opens for previews November 21, 2011 and plays in previews Nov 22 and Nov 27. It opens for the Press and general public November 28, 2011 at 7:30 pm, reception to follow. Tickets range from $12 for previews ( and group rate of 12 and over) $15 limited discount tickets available every night on a first come first serve basis, and $20 & $25 tickets available nightly. There is no seating difference between the ticket prices, but we rather view them as a sliding scale approach in order to always remain accessible to individuals would are interested in attending.

Marimachas Rock the House

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 05:03:55 +0000

By Liza Ann/Analisa

What an amazing show, everyone! I am not saying this because I am biased (but even if I am), I laughed all my butts off! It was raunchy, it was raw, it was saucy, and a little scatological, but what intelligence in all its cleverly humorous observations. There were so many highlights for me: Melissa Duprey had me thinking about all my unshaven places, Antonia Arcely invisible pants, Diana Campos’ partner’s infinite patience, Cristina Igaraividez (TL company member) and Pablo Rodriguez cell phone personalities rocked. And of course, Gwen La Roka was ON. Her confidence and energy had us all engaged. She connected with the audience and managed to bring up a little bit of everyone into her monologue. Our quirky Gwen told us about chancletazos and misbehaving children, and the ways she envied larger boobs, not only for free drinks but the way we, of the larger persuasion, can use our chest as a purse. I have to say, I have surprised a few when I pull out change or little notebooks from my bra. I know another Lunatica who regularly keeps her cell phone stashed in there as well. It is just so damn convenient! But back to Gwen and all the performers on that Marimachas stage–my nerdy self enjoyed the queerness of it all, the subtle subversive ways we speak about our bodies in order to take charge, to own it. It was a delight to see. Anyway, I I enjoyed myself immensely and everyone else there at Calles y Sueños was having a wonderful time. Thank you to all who came and to those who missed it this time, make sure to keep your eyes open for the next one.

PlayLab 1A 2011 with Mujeres Alegres: Final Session

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 13:34:12 +0000

On Sunday November 6th, the PlayLab 1A session with Mujeres Alegres had its last session for this year. We finished with a lively discussion of Suzan Lori-Parks Fuckin A and Nilo Cruz’s The Beauty of the Father. I think we had a fantastic discussion about both plays and we are all very excited to have the opportunity to see both on stage (as part of Urban Theater Company’s current season–so check them out!)

I want to thank all the “playlabbers” who were a part of this year’s group. This was only a little taste of the wonderful world of theater production…so I hope that a little something stayed with everyone, whether that was appreciating the sacrifice inherent in the choice of a vocation in the theater by learning about Moliere and Commedia, or knowing that some struggles are still the same today as they were for Oedipus in 429 BCE or for Nora in 1879.

It was a great pleasure for me to lead this session. I always learn something new about each play as students make their own discoveries and explorations. ¡Ojalá que se repita!

For those of you to come, keep your eyes open for our next session sometime in 2012 (before Armageddon!).