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Tony Garcia, a guiding light of Denver’s El Centro Su Teatro for more than thirty years, is a little more relaxed these days: The purchase of the Denver Civic Theatre by the long-lived Chicano troupe is a done deal. “The building is ours,” he says, “and we’re not going to go out of our community again. Not in my lifetime.” The Su Teatro story is rooted in displacement — from the dismantling of the old Auraria barrio to the company’s long tenure in Globeville — and Garcia and company are ready to work.
“We’re going into active creative period,” Garcia explains. “Moving into the space will intensify what we believe is our core work: something uniquely about the Chicano experience, something homegrown, something that has to do with the history of Chicanos in Denver and the Southwest.”
To that end, Su Teatro kicks off its first season at the Civic with Lamented Last Dance at the Rainbow Ballroom and El Louie and Other Post Pachuco Dreams, a pair of interconnected original one-acts inspired by a classic Chicano poem by Jose Montoya, which tells the story of the homecoming of a Korean war veteran during a transitional time for the Chicano community. Created in collaboration with one of Su Teatro’s most talented friends — musician and actor Daniel Valdez — the intertwined works mark a new page for the history-laden local theater company.
Last Dance and El Louie premiere tonight at the Civic, 721 Santa Fe Drive, with a cake-and-champagne reception; tickets are $35. Shows continue through October 30. For tickets and a full schedule, call 303-296-0219; get more information at www.suteatro.org.
Thursdays-Saturdays. Starts: Oct. 16. Continues through Oct. 30, 2010
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