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POWER TO THE PANZA! THIS IS WHAT SAN ANTO NEEDS!


When I worked with la Vicki Grise at the Esperanza years ago, it was obvious to me she was a star. She had presence, wit, maldiciones and fideo-love. What else do you need? Between her and Irma Mayorga, the Ph.D from Stanford playwright and resident creative genius, they conceived and produced The Panza Monologues. Vicki has now finished her second year at Cal Arts - the nation's top program in the performing arts and Irma teaches theatre at Florida State University, where she is a star tambien.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Irma-Mayorga/12900109138?ref=share

Some musings from Vicki on not getting to premiere The Panza Monologues in San Anto this summer:

una notitita (ok its a notitote but not a mitote) we will be filming
the panza monologues in Los Angeles August 2nd. i am of course dissapointed that we werent able to do the filming in ourhome town (ran around woodlawn lake this morning - so glad to be home)but i'm actually not angry. so many people have opened up space for usto do our work with extreme generosity. i remain ever hopeful and
extremely grateful (yes, i have watched the secret since i moved to
california). evelyn street is doing a second printing of the panza
monologues and maybe someone will bring us to san antonio for the
book/DVD release. aver...till then i will be taking a much needed rest
(oh and writing that thing they call a thesis)!

i ran into vincent valdez the other day. he was telling me about
hearing obama talk in san antonio and one of the things he said was
that it was the first time he had ever heard a presedential candidate
talk about the importance of the arts in america, about reinstituting
arts in the schools and supporting artists with living wages, that
creative energy was vital to the future development of this country
and that it was the first time he saw so many people in san antonio
gathered in one site - outside of a concert, basketball game, or
fiesta.

i teach playwrighting in east LA and i see the desperate need and
desire our gente have for the arts. this is cultural survival, pura
neta. and while i do not have much faith in any institution or
canidate to reverse the ramifications of the cultural wars (i am still
an anarchist in spirit) - i do believe people are fighting back/ have
always fought back. i feel that we are at an important crossroads -
our young people want a different future (we all want a different
future) -

power to the panza!

fideo luv -vgrise

Photo Credits: Vicki Grise performing "The Panza Monologues"
The Panza Monologues.

Comments

Rose said…
What a shame this could not be done in San Anto. This is what we in SA need. Art for la gente by la gente. When my ebook business gets off the ground, I would love to give support to our homegrown talent. -- Rose Contreras, Onda Books

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