Radio QGLLU - Sal Lopez and Latino Theater: "Presente" 2024 Encuentro

Experience the vibrant world of Latino theater as we sit down with the distinguished Sal Lopez, a founding member of the Latino Theater Company. Sal offers us a front-row seat to the upcoming 2024 Encuentro named Presente, revealing an exciting lineup of 19 days packed with 119 performances at the Los Angeles Theater Center. Imagine being part of an audience immersed in complete darkness with "Odd Man Out," or witnessing the unique visual storytelling of "A Girl Grows Wings," a compelling DACA story told entirely without dialogue. These innovative performances are just a taste of the trailblazing creativity that awaits theater enthusiasts and curious minds alike.

We chat about the diverse tapestry of Latino theater companies making their mark from Puerto Rico, Arizona, New York, Colorado, and Mexico, showcasing their talents on a national stage. Sal also shares the incredible journey behind "Whittier Boulevard," a play penned by the company members themselves, which captures the essence of community storytelling. This episode promises an engaging exploration into the magic of live performance, offering listeners a chance to discover the groundbreaking artistry pushing the boundaries of what theater can be. Join us as we celebrate the stories, cultures, and voices that make Latino theater a vibrant cornerstone of the arts.

Transcript

Rita Gonzales: 0:04

Welcome to the Out Agenda. Coming to you on archivekpfkorg, I'm Rita Gonzalez. Well, we have another segment of Radio Q Glue, and my co-host today is Eduardo Archuleta. We have a special treat for us today. We're going to be talking to Sal Lopez, who is a founding member of the Latino Theater Company, and it's amazing how much he's done in the theater community. It's so extensive his resume and you saw him once, didn't you?

Eduardo Archuleta: 0:36

I did. I saw him years ago in what he describes as his first musical. It was Wanted Experience Operators, and at that time he was performing with the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts. Yeah, I love that place.

Rita Gonzales: 0:55

Is it still there? I don't know.

Eduardo Archuleta: 0:57

That I don't know.

Rita Gonzales: 0:58

I'm going to have to find out, because that is a great location and a great theater. It's an old jailhouse, isn't it?

Eduardo Archuleta: 1:04

It was? I believe it was.

Rita Gonzales: 1:06

And that's the only way I want to go to a jailhouse is to see a play.

Eduardo Archuleta: 1:12

Well, maybe not the only way, but I don't want to be arrested, okay.

Rita Gonzales: 1:17

All right, but this one, it's fascinating, this show. It's just there's so many plays. But I can go on and on, but why don't we let cell tell it?

Sal Lopez: 1:36

we are here with, with saul lopez, who is, and I'll let you say what you do well, I'm an actor and I'm also a founding member of the Latino Theatre Company, and we are hosting the 2024 Encuentro named Presente, and so what we're going to be doing is basically 19 days of 119 performances in six theaters in three weeks.

Eduardo Archuleta: 2:08

And this is going to all be around LA or in LA proper.

Sal Lopez: 2:12

They will all be at the Los Angeles Theater Center, 514 South Spring Street in downtown LA, and we have six theaters there. We actually have five, but we'll kind of create another stage and that lobby will be humming with activity and artists from all over the country. We will have 19 companies Latino companies from all over the country Puerto Rico, arizona, new York, colorado, mexico, arizona, new York, colorado, etc. And so it's going to be very, very exciting, and some of the things that we're going to be presenting theater-wise are going to be very innovative, very different. There's one, for instance, that's called the Odd man Out. That's an opening night. We will be opening six plays the Red Rose A Girl had Her Ex Whittier Boulevard. The Delicate Tears and Odd man Out. And Odd man Out. I only mention that because it's so unique and different. It's an immersive experience where the play you follow this blind man, and so the play is all done in the dark. So you, yeah, so you listen to everything as as if you were blind as well wow, that's an interesting concept.

Sal Lopez: 3:37

I like that yeah, there's other stuff like that, like a girl grows wings is a is a collaboration with we commissioned 10 writers, and this has nothing to do with Encuentro but it does, because this particular play that we commissioned is one of 10 writers that we commissioned to do plays, and three of those plays, or two of those plays, have already gone up Ghost Waltz that played in our last season, and then Tacos La Brooklyn, which was in our last year, premiered at the LATC. And Girls Wings is a collaboration with Compañía Secreta from Mexico and Marisela, who is the author, and this is a piece that has no dialogue. So it's a really fascinating piece and it has to do with a DACA story. It's fascinating, so they use puppets, et cetera and physicality. It's amazing. We hosted them last year year and they did two pieces and so, anyway, out of that grew this collaboration.

Sal Lopez: 4:51

And then Whittier Boulevard, which is our company play, was written by the four of us five of us actually and we premiered that last year and we're bringing it back for the Encuentro. Actually, it takes place in the future, 2042, which coincides with the 100-year 1942 and the Zoot Suit riots, the Zoot Suit riots with the 100-year 1942 and the Zoot Suit Riots, the Zoot Suit Riots, but anyway, it takes place in a dystopian future where a lot of our rights have been taken away and it has to do with ageism.

Rita Gonzales: 5:26

People who are 75 are then taken down Whittier Boulevard and we don't know where they're taken to, but they're never seen from again and this is all a place, so these are all plays all in the same location, so you can go from one play to another exactly it's like the IMAX theaters, where you know how they go to different theaters yes, yeah, you're right, and it's really hard to it's a multiplex for theater and it's a great facility.

Eduardo Archuleta: 5:55

I've been there before to numerous events there and um, it's a great facility there on spring.

Sal Lopez: 6:02

Yeah, it's an amazing building. It was a bank that was converted and, uh, back in 1984 I guess it was 83, 83, something like that and then we also renovated in the 90s when we took it over, and then now we have a lease from the city. So we're continuing to blossom and to really thrive there. When other companies have been closing, you know it's sad. We are actually thriving and I think it's because we provide a service to the community that reflects the community. And that is our goal. That is our mission is to create theater that reflects the color and experience of our city.

Eduardo Archuleta: 6:51

It's a great facility and if you make a night of it, there are some good places to grab a bite to downtown oh absolutely Absolutely.

Sal Lopez: 7:00

There's many places around there to have dinner before, in between plays, et cetera, and there's going to be lots of things to attend to, including some devised works, panels, et cetera, and including a movie. We're going to be presenting a movie that the Latino Theater Company did and it took us 18 years to complete. It's called Mo and it's based on one of the plays that we did, called Dementia, loosely inspired by one of the members of our company, and so we're going to be presenting that on 29th of october, but anyway, so we will also be presenting that and that will be free, and, uh, it's a beautiful building. I think it's the largest lobby, uh, actually, on west of the mississippi theater lobby and lobby. If you've been there, you've seen that stained glass ceiling that we have, pretty amazing. But yeah, it's an amazing place and we're proud to be able to operate it.

Rita Gonzales: 8:10

It's easy access too, because there's a parking lot nearby, and then, also, if you want to take the metro, the bus, there's other different ways to get there. It's easily accessible that way.

Sal Lopez: 8:23

Yes, we have a huge parking lot right behind the theater. That is for us, for the theater patrons, and we validate. It's not a full validation, but we do validate partial parking.

Rita Gonzales: 8:38

So what time do the plays start? I mean, they're going all day long.

Sal Lopez: 8:44

Yes, there will be different times obviously, but you can go to the website, the LATCorg. You can get a schedule of everything that's going on, the times etc. And tickets.

Rita Gonzales: 9:03

I know this is a Latin theater group, but are some of the plays bilingual?

Sal Lopez: 9:09

Actually, all of our plays most of the plays are going to be in English, but all of them will have super titles. So they'll have super titles in Spanish if they're in English, but all of them will have super titles. So they'll have super titles in Spanish if they're in English, and those that are in Spanish will have super titles in English.

Rita Gonzales: 9:23

So everyone will be able to understand what's going on.

Sal Lopez: 9:26

Exactly. I'm glad you mentioned that yes.

Rita Gonzales: 9:29

And how many days it's running again.

Sal Lopez: 9:31

I know you said it, but so it's running from the 24th is basically our opening night to the 10th of november that's a lot of plays.

Rita Gonzales: 9:42

That's so exciting.

Sal Lopez: 9:43

A lot of plays in a short amount of time, really three weeks you can't see them all.

Rita Gonzales: 9:47

That's what's.

Sal Lopez: 9:48

That's the well you can't see them all, actually, you can't really yeah, oh yeah I thought there was some overlapping of some of them uh well, yeah, but you can see them all because they're they're structured in a way that they're not all at the same. I mean some, obviously, some overlap, some are at the same time, but you'll be able to see them, yes, for sure so so can you buy an all-day pass, or do you have to pay for each play individually?

Sal Lopez: 10:17

You can buy an all-day pass and there are several options. You have a, you have a $380 pass, a $190 pass, an $80 pass, and so these are for like 19 plays or six plays or two play pass, and you can purchase those also online. And if you need to talk to someone, you can always call the Latino Theater Company at 213-489-0994.

Eduardo Archuleta: 10:48

Can you repeat that number again please 213-489-0994.

Sal Lopez: 10:49

Okay, thank you Can you repeat that number again, please 213-489-0994.

Rita Gonzales: 10:56

So all the information should be on the website. If there's any questions, yes, and if we're ordering tickets.

Sal Lopez: 11:00

Yes, and these are festival passes that we're talking about.

Rita Gonzales: 11:05

And your big opening is on.

Sal Lopez: 11:07

Is on the 24th.

Rita Gonzales: 11:08

On October 24th. Yeah, 24th.

Eduardo Archuleta: 11:10

Yeah, that's a thursday, correct, you know?

Rita Gonzales: 11:13

just uh plan, make an evening of it let me ask you real quick how long have you been doing this?

Sal Lopez: 11:19

this is our third in guentro we did uh. The first one was in 2014 and then we did another one in I believe it was 2017 or whatever it was. It was a the world uh encuentro. And then we did what COVID hit and we couldn't do it. So we did one on zoom and uh online and we presented plays online, which was kind of interesting because we and you know, it's obviously it's different the experience of theater, but uh, that was the first version of Whittier Boulevard that we did and uh, and it was really, really fascinating, but also, um, you know, people from all the parts of the world could see it, even even and thank god, we've a lot of our plays.

Sal Lopez: 12:09

We recorded them, you know, for uh to to to have a file. You know a record of them and we were able to. We, we put captions on them because the sound isn't ideal, because if you just save them for uh to have a file, to have a file, to have a record of your work, but we were able to put captions on them and help with the sound and broadcast them, and people from other parts of the world were able to see that. But that was for anyway. That was for when we had the pandemic. So now it's wonderful to have the audience back and have the place buzzing like it should be, like it deserves to be. You know, with all the theaters going and people coming in and out, it's quite electric, you know, because you have all of these artists in the same place. It's just really amazing.

Rita Gonzales: 13:07

Well, I'm going to do my best to get down there and see some of those plays.

Eduardo Archuleta: 13:11

We want to encourage everyone to go online see what's playing and support the theater group.

Rita Gonzales: 13:19

Yes, the Latino community is very important, our history.

Sal Lopez: 13:24

Absolutely.

Rita Gonzales: 13:24

Right there on stage.

Sal Lopez: 13:26

And you'll have a great time. You'll meet some amazing people and you know, it's about telling our stories. You know, after all, theater is the most ancient form of telling stories. And our iPhones and our streaming and movies and all that TV will come and go, but theater will live on because it's live and it's a symbiotic relationship between audience and the performers. It cannot exist alone. You need both of those people to both of those things in order for theater to function. You need an audience and you need the performers, and they feed off of each other. Together we share a story.

Rita Gonzales: 14:10

Well, thank you, sal, for joining us. Looking forward to seeing you there, likewise.

Sal Lopez: 14:15

Yes, look forward to it. Thank you, eduardo.

Eduardo Archuleta: 14:20

Tio Eduardo, no problem, thank you.

Sal Lopez: 14:23

So long Bye-bye.

Rita Gonzales: 14:24

Once again, we've been speaking to Sal Lopez, founding member of the Latino Theater Company, and I hope you're able to get a chance to see it because there's going to be so many wonderful plays and many opportunities. But we do want to hear from you. Like us on our Facebook page or email us at theoutagenda at gmailcom. I'm Rita Gonzalez and Eduardo Archuleta. Thanks for listening, and have a wonderful week, and remember that being out is the first step to being equal. Now, stay tuned for this Way Out.