South Coast Repertory Presents Octavio Solis’ La Posada Mágica (The Magical Journey)
The Holiday Tale with a Latin Beat Celebrates its 15th Consecutive Season at SCR
COSTA MESA, Calif. (November 13, 2008)—Blending the traditions of Mexican street theater and Latin Jazz, La Posada Mágica (The Magical Journey) returns to South Coast Repertory for its 15th consecutive holiday season. This contemporary counterpart to A Christmas Carol is written and directed by Octavio Solis with music by Marcos Loya. Performed in English, La Posada Mágica runs on the Julianne Argyros Stage from Dec. 11 through Dec. 23. Low-priced previews begin Dec. 11. Opening Night is Dec. 14 at 4:30 p.m. Tickets to La Posada Mágica may be purchased online at www.scr.org, by phone at (714) 708-5555 or in person at the SCR box office.
Set on Christmas Eve, La Posada Mágica is the story of Gracie, a 15-year-old girl who has lost her connection with the holiday after her baby brother’s death earlier in the year. Despondent over the loss, she shuns her family’s attempts to celebrate. When a posada of her neighbors arrives at her home, she is reluctantly swept along by their enthusiasm. Along the way Gracie blows out each procession candle, sending the march off course and onto an amazing journey. By its end, she and the others have re-discovered Christmas and community.
Playwright Solis based La Posada Mágica on the traditional Latin American Christmas observance in which community members make a procession through their neighborhood to commemorate Mary and Joseph’s search for lodging. Jazz musician/composer Loya will perform his songs and music live at every performance.
Thanks to the generosity of Target, this year’s presentation of La Posada Mágica includes a special Target Family Performance on December 20 at 11:00 a.m.
Octavio Solis is a playwright and director living in San Francisco. His works Lydia, June in a Box, Lethe, Marfa Lights, Gibraltar, The Ballad of Pancho and Lucy, The 7 Visions of Encarnacion, Bethlehem, Dreamlandia, El Otro, Man of the Flesh, Prospect, El Paso Blue and Santos & Santos have been mounted at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Dallas Theater Center, Magic Theatre, Intersection for the Arts, San Diego Repertory Theatre, San Jose Repertory Theatre, ShadowLight Theatre in San Francisco, Venture Theatre in Philadelphia, Latino Chicago Theatre Company, New York Summer Play Festival and Cornerstone Theater Company. His collaborative works include Burning Dreams, co written with Julie Hebert and Gina Leishman; Shiner, written with Erik Ehn and Great Highway, written with Wendy Weiner. Solis has received an NEA 1995-97 Playwriting Fellowship, the Roger L. Stevens Award from the Kennedy Center, the Will Glickman Playwright Award, a production grant from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, the 1998 TCG/NEA Theatre Artists in Residence Grant, the 1998 McKnight Fellowship grant from Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis and the National Latino Playwriting Award in 2003. He is the recipient of the 2000-01 National Theatre Artists Residency Grant from TCG and the Pew Charitable Trust for Gibraltar at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Solis is a Thornton Wilder Fellow for the MacDowell Colony, a New Dramatists alum, a member of the Dramatists Guild and an Associate Artist at SCR.
Marcos Loya is an accomplished musician, composer and a master of acoustic guitar. His debut CD, Love is the Reason, garnered an Independent Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year nomination. His film music is featured in director Robert Rodriguez’ Once Upon a Time in Mexico as well as Deep Cover, The Waterdance, A Million to Juan, Old Gringo, Vibes, Stand and Deliver, Born in East LA, Hold Me, Kiss Me, Thrill Me and Kiss Me a Killer (for which he received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award). With Madonna, he recorded “La Isla Bonita” and appeared in the video.
The cast features Denise Blasor (Consuelo/Widow), Danny Bolero (Papi/Jose Cruz), Sol Castillo (Refugio/Buzzard), David DeSantos (Eli/Bones/Lauro), Gloria Garayua (Gracie), Miguel Najera (Horacio), Erica Ortega (Mariluz/Mom) and Teresa Velarde (Caridad/Widow). Joining Loya onstage is guitarist Lorenzo Martinez.
The creative team for La Posada Mágica includes Christopher Acebo (scenic design), Shigeru Yaji (costume design), Lonnie Rafael Alcaraz (lighting design), Marcos Loya (musical director), Linda Kostalik (choreographer) and Jennifer Ellen Butler (stage manager).
Socorro and Ernesto Vasquez are the Honorary Producers. Target is the Corporate Producer.
TICKETS to La Posada Mágica (The Magical Journey) can be purchased online at www.scr.org, by phone at (714) 708-5555 or by visiting the box office at 655 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa. Performances begin on Dec. 11 and continue through Dec. 23. Ticket prices range from $14 to $35. Low-priced preview performances are available from Dec. 11-14. Performance times Previews: Thursday, Dec. 11 at 7:45 p.m., Friday, Dec. 12 at 7:45 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 13 at 3:00 p.m. & 7:45 p.m and Sunday, Dec. 14 at 12:30 p.m. Regular Performances: Tuesday - Friday evenings at 7:45 p.m. Saturdays, Dec. 20 at 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Sundays: Dec. 14 at 4:30 p.m. and Dec. 21 at 12:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. Discounts are available for children 12 and under and groups of 15 or more.
LOCATION: South Coast Repertory is located at 655 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa, at the Bristol Street/Avenue of the Arts exit off the San Diego (405) Freeway in the Folino Theater Center, part of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Parking is available off Anton Blvd. on Park Center Drive.
CALENDAR: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (11/7-23), A Christmas Carol (11/29-12/27), NewSCRipts: Extraordinary Chambers (12/8), La Posada Mágica (The Magical Journey) (12/11-23), You, Nero (1/4-25), A Year with Frog and Toad (2/13-3/1), Noises Off (2/6-3/8), Goldfish (3/15-4/5).
Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory, under the artistic direction of David Emmes and Martin Benson, is widely recognized as one of the leading professional theaters in the United States. Founded in 1964, SCR is committed to theater that illuminates the compelling personal and social issues of our time, not only on its stages but through its education and outreach programs. While its productions represent a balance of classic and modern theater, SCR is renowned for its extensive new play development program, including the Pacific Playwrights Festival. Of SCR’s more than 400 productions, 108 have been world premieres with subsequent stagings achieving enormous success across America and around the world. SCR-developed works have garnered eight Pulitzer Prize nominations with Margaret Edson’s Wit winning the prize in 1999 and David Lindsay-Abaire’s Rabbit Hole in 2007. Located in Costa Mesa, California, in 2002 SCR opened the Folino Theater Center, an expanded three-theater complex that includes the 507-seat Julianne Argyros Stage, the 336-seat Julianne Argyros Stage and the 94-seat Nicholas Studio.
Biographies
DENISE BLASOR (Consuelo/Widow) returns to SCR for her thirteenth appearance in La Posada Mágica. This year she performed in the world premiere of Octavio Solis’ June in a Box at Intersection for the Arts in San Francisco and worked with Solis’ daughter Gracie. Blasor recreated her role of Amina at New York City’s Stella Adler Theatre in the production of Los Muertos by Timothy McNeil, with Mark Ruffalo. Los Muertos was first presented at Elephant Theatre under the direction of David Fofi. She appeared in Electricidad by Luis Alfaro, directed by Lisa Peterson at Mark Taper Forum and Ten Tiny Love Stories by Rodrigo Garcia. She has performed at Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC) as the Bride in Blood Wedding, directed by Margarita Galban, as Yerma in Yerma and as Martirio in The House of Bernarda Alba with Carmen Zapata. She played Jenny in The Threepenny Opera, directed by Angelina Reaux. Blasor was part of Ron Sossi’s Odyssey Theatre Ensemble for many years, where her most recent performance was the adaptation of Faust. She was Artistic Director of Los Angeles Diversified Theater Company, where she performed and adapted The Three Sisters, designed and appeared in He Who Gets Slapped with Bud Cort (Ovation Award-nominations) and produced the original musical production of Caderas. Other stage credits include leading roles in the world premieres of The House of the Spirits at LATC; Cervantes’ Interludes at Stages, directed by Florinel Fatulescu; Made in Lanus, directed by Lillian Garrett at The Old Globe; and Accelerando by Lisa Loomer. She played Juana in The False Chronicle of Juana La Loca at Festival Cervantino in Mexico and has performed in Europe, Latin America and Puerto Rico. Film credits include The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca with Andy Garcia; Univers’l directed by Ana Nicholas; Noriega: God’s Favorite with Bob Hoskins, directed by Roger Spottiswoode; Happy Feet with Robin Williams; and indie film Love Simple directed by Mark Von Sternberg.
DANNY BOLERO (Papi/Jose Cruz) is a graduate of the American Center for Music Theater. Bolero has performed at regional theaters throughout the United States, on Broadway, and around the world, performing as production singer for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. Last year, he was awarded the Ida B. Payne Award for Best Actor in a Musical by the Austin Circle of Theater Critics for his portrayal of Cesar Chavez in Ed Begley’s Cesar and Ruben, which he reprised again last year at the NOHO Arts Center. On Broadway, he appeared in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, with Michael Damian (cast recording). A new member to L.A.’s Musical Theatre Guild, Bolero has performed in the Guild’s recent productions of The Fix and Seesaw. Other credits include Bark, Is This Any Way to Start a Marriage?, El Gallo in The Fantasticks, Twice Upon a Time, Beggar’s Holiday with Carl Anderson, Mark Taper Forum’s Lalo, Man of La Mancha with Robert Goulet, Selena, Pacific Overtures, The World Goes ‘Round, (Robbie Award Nominee), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Inland Empire Award), Zorro the Musical, currently receiving rave reviews in London’s West End and Guido in Nine and Che in Evita, (Drama-Louge Award). He recently enjoyed a short run of Dance with Me, the Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz musical, which was showcased at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre Festival in NYC. Film and television credits include Viva la Causa!, the 2007 remake of the The Hitcher with Sean Bean, “The Mullets,” “The Young and the Restless,” “Ally McBeal,” “Ghost Whisperer,” “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Malcom in the Middle.” Bolero is in the final phase of completing work on his one-man show entitled Shadowboxing.
SOL CASTILLO (Refugio/Buzzard) returns to SCR for his eighth season in La Posada Mágica. Castillo was also seen at SCR in the world premiere of The Hollow Lands and the Theatre for Young Audiences productions of The Adventures of Pør Quinly, Sideways Stories from Wayside School and Charlotte's Web. Additional SCR credits include the Pacific Playwrights Festival workshops of Sea of Tranquillity and References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot, the Educational Touring production of Bad Water Blues and the reading of The BFG (Big Friendly Giant). At San Diego Repertory Theatre he appeared in Zoot Suit, The Imaginary Invalid and Barrio Hollywood. Other theater credits include the national tour of Veteranos: A Tribute, West Side Story, Bye Bye Birdie and Talking to Yellow Roses. Castillo was seen in Showtime's “Resurrection Blvd.” and Valor Production’s Who’s James Cagney? Castillo also wrote a screenplay that was shot by Valor Productions in February 2008.
DAVID DESANTOS (Eli/Bones/Lauro) returns to SCR after appearing in Hamlet and the Theatre for Young Audiences production of The BFG (Big Friendly Giant). Theater credits include A View From The Bridge, Othello and The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler. Desantos will be in Paradise Lost and Octavio Solis’ world premiere adaptation of Don Quixote at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Additional stage credits include Anna in the Tropics at TheatreWorks; King Lear and Liliom at Kansas City Repertory Theatre; King Lear, The Tempest and The Merchant of Venice at California Shakespeare Festival; Hamlet at Ojai Shakespeare Festival; Dracula at Allied Artists; So It Is! If So it Seems to You and Twelfth Night at A Noise Within; The Threepenny Opera and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Theatricum Botanicum; and Romeo and Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew at The Pasadena Shakespeare Company. Film and television credits include “Ugly Betty,” “CSI,” “House,” “CSI: Miami,” “Crossing Jordan,” “American Family,” Seven Day, Delta Farce and Face Value and recurring roles on “General Hospital” and “Spyder Games."
GLORIA GARAYUA (Gracie) returns for her second year in La Posada Mágica. Theater credits include A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings at the Kirk Douglas Theatre; illumination at Mark Taper Forum; Two Sisters and a Piano at The Old Globe; American Triage at Marin Theatre Company; Inbetween/ Peacemaker at George Street Playhouse; Purim Day at Lamb’s Theatre; Threepenny Opera, The Tempest and Medea at Long Island University; Romeo and Juliet at the Bloomsburg Theatre and The Skriker at Kennedy Center Stage. Film and television credits include Henry Poole is Here, Fun with Dick and Jane, House of D, a recurring role as an intern on “Grey’s Anatomy,” guest-starring roles on “Weeds,” “ER,” “Cold Case,” “Life,” “The Shield,” “Strong Medicine,” “NYPD Blue” and co-starring roles on “Six Feet Under” and “Joey."
MIGUEL NAJERA (Horacio) is a veteran actor and award-winning filmmaker who returns for his seventh year as Horacio. Recent television credits include ”Grey’s Anatomy”, “The Shield,” “CSI,” “24,” “Lincoln Heights” and “Alias” among many others. In recent years, he has devoted his passion to creating socially relevant documentaries and shorts. Najera recently completed a documentary on cancer research at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science. His Dancing on the Edge documentary went on to win the Outstanding Documentary Award at the 2005 IMAGeNation Aboriginal Film and Video Festival in Canada. Najera’s film, Phillip’s Story, is a documentary dealing with a Native American teenager stricken with HIV/AIDS. This tragic and inspiring film is used by the Association of American Indian Physicians as an educating tool and shown on reservations across the nation. He wrote and directed Libertad, a short that screened to critical acclaim at WGBH Boston as part of their Latino film series. DreamWorks also screened this film as part of their in-house film series. Current projects include Mayor of Arvin, a feature film he co-wrote with Yareli Arizmendi and Sergio Arau (A Day Without a Mexican). Najera is the executive producer and director of the 2008 Oscar Night America Los Angeles, an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sanctioned charity event in Los Angeles. Najera is the president of Americua Films—a company that produces and develops films and documentaries. He has an MFA in Film, Theatre and Television Directing from the California Institute of the Arts, received his BA in Drama from San Francisco State University and attended the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.
ERICA ORTEGA (Mom/Mariluz) appeared at SCR previously in Scrappers and staged readings of La Posada Mágica and The Old Matador. Theater credits include The Three Sisters at Los Angeles Theater Center; People Like Me at Playwrights’ Arena; He Who Gets Slapped at The Hudson Theater; A Midsummer Night’s Dream and A Touch of the Poet with the Latino Classical Repertory; This Land at the California Youth Theatre; The Old Matador at Arizona Theatre Company; The House of Bernarda Alba, Cross in the Mirror and Fuenteovejuna at the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts; as well as touring productions with Will & Co. and Blue Palm. Ortega is a supervisor at Kaiser Permanente’s Educational Theatre Programs. Film and television credits include Panic, “The Division,” “Strong Medicine,” “Air America,” “Babylon 5,” “The Pretender” and “Chicago Hope.” Most recently, she was seen at the Cannes and LALIFF film festivals in A Day at the Theatre produced by Valor productions.
TERESA VELARDE (Caridad/Widow) returns to La Posada Mágica, where she originated the roles of Mom and Mariluz. Other SCR credits include Man of the Flesh and many of SCR’s Hispanic Playwrights Project readings. Velarde understudied the role of Eponine in Les Miserables at the Shubert Theater in Los Angeles. Additional theater credits include leading roles in Latins Anonymous at San Diego Repertory Theatre; B.C. Historia, produced by the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts at the Los Angeles Theater Center; the award-winning A Piece of My Heart at International City Theatre and multiple roles in Happy Birthday, Angel, an anti-gang play produced by SCR. Starring television credits include "General Hospital," "Hotel Malibu," "Days of Our Lives," "Down the Shore," "Sunset Beach," "Empty Nest," "Beverly Hills, 90210," "The Bad Land," "Brother’s Keeper," "Malcolm in the Middle" and "The Practice." Velarde has also appeared in films including The Addict, Choose Me, The People Under the Stairs and Outbreak. She has leading roles in My Indian Summer, a CBS After School Special and Mi Casa Es Su Casa, an award-winning film produced by AFI. She is also a licensed therapist who works with adolescents and adults and trains new therapists in Los Alamitos. She is also currently assisting the homeless and underserved helping to provide mental health services in the Orange County area.
Fact Sheet
LA POSADA MAGICA (THE MAGICAL JOURNEY) By Octavio Solis, Music by Marcos Loya Directed by Octavio Solis
CREATIVE TEAM: Christopher Acebo (scenic design), Shigeru Yaji (costume design), Lonnie Rafael Alcaraz (lighting design), Marcos Loya (musical director), Linda Kostalik (choreographer) and Jennifer Ellen Butler (stage manager).
CAST: Denise Blasor (Consuelo, Widow), Danny Bolero (Papi, Jose Cruz), Sol Castillo (Refugio, Buzzard), Gloria Garayua (Gracie), Marcos Loya (Ensemble), Lorenzo Martinez (Ensemble), Miguel Najera (Horacio), Erica Ortega (Mariluz, Mom) and Teresa Velarde (Caridad, Widow).
SYNOPSIS: An enchanting musical play about a young girl’s journey through her community on Christmas Eve.
RUNS: Dec. 11 – 23, 2008
PREVIEWS: Dec 11 THU at 7:45pm Dec 12 FRI at 7:45pm Dec 13 SAT at 3:00pm Dec 13 SAT at 7:45pm Dec 14 SUN at 12:30pm OPENING NIGHT: Dec 14 SUN at 4:30pm (Press Night) REGULAR PERFORMANCES: Dec 14 SUN at 4:30pm Dec 16 TUE at 11:30am (Student Matinee) Dec 17 WED at 11:30am (Student Matinee) Dec 18 THU at 7:45pm Dec 19 FRI at 7:45pm Dec 20 SAT at 11:00am (Target Family Performance) Dec 20 SAT at 3:00pm Dec 21 SUN at 12:30pm Dec 21 SUN at 4:30pm Dec 22 TUE at 7:45pm Dec 23 WED at 3:00pm Dec 23 WED at 7:45pm
HONORARY PRODUCERS: Socorro and Ernesto Vasquez / Target
BOX OFFICE WINDOW HOURS: 10am to showtime Tuesdays through Saturdays; noon to 6pm Sundays; 10am to 6 pm Mondays and non-performance days. Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. American Express, VISA and MasterCard accepted. (714) 708-5555. www.scr.org
LOCATION: Folino Theatre Center, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa CA 92626. One block east of South Coast Plaza at the Bristol Street/Avenue of the Arts exit off the San Diego (405) Freeway.
