Washington, DC — GALA Hispanic Theatre’s Producing Artistic Director and Co-Founder Hugo Medrano proudly announces an Illuminating, Affirming & Hilarious 2022-2023 Season. “As we emerge from the pandemic, the ‘Big Lie’, and the increase in racial and gun violence,” states Mr. Medrano, “our 47th season provides a welcome respite to revel in stories that illuminate and affirm the human spirit with humor and laughter. “We will continue to bring you the best of the Latino performing arts—from a modern version of a classic zarzuela about an independent-minded woman who exposes the hypocrisies of men and love; to a neighborly clash over a long-standing fence line that reveals racial, cultural and generational differences; to a house full of hilarious ghostly characters trying to hold on to the past; to a musical revue celebrating the rhythms and rituals of the Afro-Peruvian legacy.
“With an expanded Fuego Flamenco Festival, innovative productions for children, and our popular GALA Film Fest”, adds Medrano, “the new season will entertain, energize, and stimulate the senses as we face the world anew.”
MAIN STAGE SEASON PRODUCTIONS
REVOLTOSA – The Troublemaker
Variaciones de la zarzuela de 1897 para el hoy (Variations on the 1897 zarzuela for today)
By Paco Gámez (Spain)
Based on the text by J. López Silva and C. Fernandez Shaw, with music by Ruperto Chapí
Directed by José Luis Arellano (Helen Hayes Award winner)
Music Direction by David Peralto (Spain)
September 8 – October 2, 2022
In Spanish with English surtitles
Revoltosa is at its heart a story about an outspoken woman who upturns traditions with her neighbors and delights in exposing social hypocrisies. This entertaining zarzuela, the most performed in Madrid, reveals the different perspectives of men and women in relationships at different stages of love—married couples who have stopped loving and young lovers exploring their first flirtation. Brimming with secret jealousies and desires, the zarzuela Revoltosa is so popular, so Spanish… and yet so universal. With its unforgettable music, hearts will burst in joyful celebration.
JARDÍN SALVAJE – Native Gardens
By Karen Zacarías
Directed by Rebecca Aparicio
February 2 – 26, 2023
In Spanish with English surtitles
GALA is proud to present the world premiere in Spanish of Native Gardens, a timely and brilliant comedy by Karen Zacarías. In a northwest DC neighborhood, two families – one a young Latino couple new to the neighborhood, the other a pair of older conservatives – clash over a garden dispute that soon turns into much more. This new interpretation of the play places the cultural and generational conflict in the context of the Latinx community, creating an experience that is equally enlightening and entertaining.
LA VALENTÍA – Valor
By Alfredo Sanzol (Spain)
Directed by José Zayas (Puerto Rico/Dominican Republic)
April 20 – May 14, 2023
In Spanish with English surtitles
Alfredo Sanzol, a playwright with an “infallible sense for connecting with the audience” (El País), expertly constructs a tale brimming with family feuds and supernatural secrets in La valentía. This rollicking comedy finds sisters Trini and Guarda battling over whether to sell their beloved family summer home that sits next to a bustling highway. With each increasingly absurd tactic they use to get their way, the sisters encounter mysterious visitors who provide hilarious twists and turns.
KUMANANA! An Afro-Peruvian Musical Revue
Text by Zelmira Aguilar
Music & Lyrics by Victoria and Nicomedes Santa Cruz (Peru)
Directed by Hugo Medrano (Helen Hayes Award winner)
June 7 – 25, 2023
In Spanish with English surtitles
GALA celebrates the legacy of the Santa Cruz siblings in this captivating musical revue that features their own original music and writing. As poets, musicians, dancers, choreographers, and historians, Victoria and Nicomedes Santa Cruz led the resurgence of Afro-Peruvian arts in the 1960s. Their efforts to restage and reconstruct forgotten genres of Afro-Peruvian cultural history in Lima’s most prestigious theaters provided powerful resistance to their marginalization at a crucial moment in history. Directed by GALA’s Founding Artistic Director, Hugo Medrano, and featuring Vicky Leyva, the region’s foremost Afro-Peruvian singer and human rights leader, Kumanana shines a spotlight on the wealth of artistry from the Afro-Peruvian community.
FILM, MUSIC, AND PERFORMANCE
FUEGO FLAMENCO XVIII
18th Annual Flamenco Festival
Honorary Producers: Lynne and Joseph Horning
October 29 – November 13, 2022
Featuring local, regional, and international artists in an expanded three-week festival!
ANTONIO GRANJERO + ENTREFLAMENCO (Santa Fe, New Mexico)
CERRANDO EL CÍRCULO
October 29 – 30, 2022
Founded in 1998 by Artistic Director Antonio Granjero in Madrid, Spain, this company has been serving New Mexico since 2011 through dance performance and educational programming. Ignite your senses with high octane flamenco performances by Antonio Granjero + Entreflamenco, making their GALA debut with Cerrando el círculo. This critically acclaimed piece showcases dancers Angel Muñoz and Estefanía Ramírez; singers Manuel Gago and Trini de la Isla; and guitarist Juan José Alba.
FLAMENCO APARICIO DANCE CO. (District of Columbia)
FLAMENCO MEN
November 4 – 6, 2022
Flamenco Men explores the masculine energy and style of flamenco, featuring the unique qualities and stylistic range of four accomplished male flamenco artists led by legendary DC artist and GALA’s Fuego Flamenco Festival curator Edwin Aparicio. The show features dancer Gabriel Matias, who won the 2021 Fuego Flamenco GALA Award at the prestigious Competition of Flamenco and Spanish Dance in Madrid. With their fiery footwork and muscular grace, this company promises to raise the roof.
FLAMENCO SPAIN ARTS & CULTURE AND FEDERACIÓN DE COMUNIDADES
ANDALUZAS CENTRO ESPAÑA (FECACE) (Spain)
ALEJANDRA
Featuring dancer Lucía Ruibal and guitarist José Almarcha
November 10 – 13, 2022
Experience José Almarcha’s masterful guitar playing in Alejandra, an intimate composition that pays tribute to his late mother. A “great and lucid composer” (El País), memories reverberate within each note and theme that he develops, providing glimpses into his personal history, his roots, and his identity. Almarcha’s partnership with soloist Lucía Ruibal, an unmistakably powerful performer, brings new depth to this genre.
GALA Film Fest: Latin American Innovation
Titles TBA
November 30 – December 4, 2022
All films in Spanish with English subtitles
This year’s festival will feature six contemporary films by emerging directors and a classic from the Mexican Golden Age. Join us for exclusive talkbacks with producers, artists, directors, and experts, and receptions after the screenings.
GALita – BILINGUAL PROGRAMS FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES
LA LLAMADA DE SYLVIA MÉNDEZ: Separate Is Never Equal
By Cornelia Cody
Directed by Elena Velasco
October 15 – 24, 2022
Can an eight-year-old girl make a difference? Learn how at that age Sylvia Mendez became the face of the landmark case to desegregate California schools to Latinx children in the 1940s and inspired people of all ages to fight for change. La llamada de Sylvia Méndez mixes powerful poetry, charming music, and a moving story in a testament to integrity, inclusion, and friendship.
FLAMENCO EN FAMILIA
November 5, 2022
Sara Jerez and Richard Marlowe lead an interactive performance with castanets, fans, and zapateo demonstrations for children and the entire family. FREE!
LA FIESTA DE LOS REYES MAGOS – Three Kings Day
January 8, 2023
Join us for our annual Three Kings Day Celebration! This festive end to the holiday season will feature the timeless story of the Magi, performances by local musicians and dance troupes, a street parade, and free gifts for children.
PRÍNCIPE Y PRÍNCIPE – Prince & Prince
By Perla Szuchmacher
Directed by Eric Schwartz
March 11 – 24, 2023
Based on the children’s book King and King by Linda Haan and Stern, Príncipe y Príncipe captures the charm of fairy tales at their finest. When a Queen calls together all the unmarried princesses in the land to meet her son, he must discover which will be his true love. But it may not be a princess he’s searching for… A funny, sweet, and heartwarming celebration of love in all forms.
PASO NUEVO YOUTH PROGRAM
Under the direction of artist Francisca Tapia, GALA’s FREE after-school youth program offers bilingual training in drama, movement, writing, and technical theater to youth ages 14 to 19. Students create new, original works and perform for the public in the Fall, Spring, and Summer. The Fall showcase will be Thursday, December 15, 2022 at 7 pm and the Spring showcase will be Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 7 PM. Paso Nuevo is the winner of the 2012 National Arts and Humanities Youth Arts Program Award.
GENERAL INFORMATION
SCHEDULE: Main stage season productions are Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 pm, and Sundays at 2 pm. For other performance times, visit http://www.galatheatre.org or call (202) 234-7174. All schedules are subject to change.
TICKETS: Single tickets to main stage productions and Flamenco shows are $48; tickets for military, seniors (65+), teachers, and student 25+ are $35; tickets for students Under 25 are $25; and tickets for groups of 10 or more people are $35 each. Tickets for the Fall and Spring public performances of GALita are $10 for children and $12 for adults. To purchase tickets, visit www.galatheatre.org or call (202) 234-7174.
LOCATION, PARKING & METRO: GALA Theatre is located at 3333 14th Street NW, Washington, D.C. Discounted parking of $4 is available in the secure Giant parking garage directly behind the theater. The entrance is located on Park Road and Holmead Street, NW (you must validate your parking ticket at the theatre lobby). GALA is located one block north from the Columbia Heights Metro station (Green/Yellow Lines).
FOR MORE INFORMATION, call (202) 234-7174 or visit www.galatheatre.org.
GALA mailing address: 2437 15th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20009.
GALA is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization supported in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the DC Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs, private foundations, corporations, and individuals. GALA is a member of the Theatre Communications Group, the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture, and the National Performance Network.
