As an aspiring actor in high school a few years ago, Angel Vazquez envisioned himself someday clinching a major role in an acclaimed play on a renowned stage. That day has come for the 18 year old from Van Nuys.
Vazquez is part of a group of Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC) acting students featured in “A Mexican Trilogy: An American Story,” an award-winning work now playing at the Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC) in downtown LA.
“It feels like a dream come true and the beginning of something new and big,” says Vazquez, who stars in “Hope,” the second part of the trilogy produced by LAVC.
Written by playwright and actress Evelina Fernandez, “A Mexican Trilogy” chronicles the Mexican American experience through the intergenerational story of a single family. The work won the Ted Schmitt Award from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle in 2012.
The current play is directed by Jose Luis Valenzuela, the artistic director of the Latino Theater Company (LTC) at the LATC.
A Multi-Generational Story
The trilogy spans three generations of the Morales family, from the time its progenitors Silvestre and Esperanza leave Mexico during that nation’s violent revolution in 1915 – which saw hundreds of thousands of Mexicans heading north in search of safety and prosperity in the U.S.
“Faith,” “Hope” and “Charity” comprise the series, respectively taking place during World War II, the Vietnam War and the Iraq War. Although the armed conflicts of the 1940s, 1960s and 2000s greatly impacted and defined the lives of the Moraleses, the family draws inspiration from historical figures of the times, like presidents Franklin Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy and Pope John Paul II.
Abounding in drama, romance, sibling rivalry and struggles, the trilogy also features plenty of humor and popular music in English and Spanish that help paint a complex, multilayered picture of a Latino family in America – something rarely seen in theater, television and film.
Valley College’s ‘Hope’
LAVC was one of three regional colleges selected last year by the LTC for the production of “A Mexican Trilogy.” The collaboration is part of the company’s Impact Theater Initiative, a new partnership with the LA Community College District that promotes the U.S. Latino theater experience in the curriculum and practice of campuses’ theater departments. The initiative also provides free subscriptions to LTC’s programming to all enrolled students.
The other two schools included in the trilogy were East LA College and LA City College.
Each college produced a part of the trilogy that was originally presented in their respective campus theaters, with LAVC’s “Hope” playing last November, according to theater professor Samantha Jo Jaffray, who also designed the costumes for the drama.
Then it was time for the big stage. Last weekend, the three parts, “Faith,” “Hope” and “Charity” came together for a two-week run in downtown LA.
A 1960s Family
“Hope” takes place in Phoenix in 1961-62. Elena, the daughter of Mexican immigrant parents – Silvestre and Esperanza – is married and has four children, Betty, Gina, Johnny and Bobby. Her family struggles financially while she has to deal with a cheating and neglectful husband. Big television monitors speak of the growing power of the medium, broadcasting news of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the danger of nuclear war. There is also the Vietnam War.
Actors and Their Roles
The LAVC student actors are proud of their characters and their play’s run at LATC.
“‘Hope’ is the story a lot of Hispanics go through in life,” says Luna Nova, who plays Gina, the oldest of four siblings who is anxious and skeptical about the future and afraid of not accomplishing her goals. “She’s tough and reminds people that not all is hunky-dory in the world,” said Nova. “That’s why they come to see her as mean.”
Nova, 24, says Gina reminds her of her mother Brenda, who is from Guatemala. “Both are intelligent, brave and the oldest sibling in their families,” she says. “For that reason, I talked a lot with my mother to prepare for my character.”
For his part, Roman Avilez, who plays Johnny, says performing at LATC has given him a “deeper passion for theater” and enabled him to tap into his inner strength as an artist. “Johnny represents the happiness and joy in a [young] person, while also showing his struggle trying to be a perfect son for his father when in reality the perfection he is chasing is not real,” says the 20-year-old thespian. Avilez adds, “Johnny then realizes that family is important overall, that being yourself is what matters, which could be seen as Johnny maturing during this process.”
Other cast members of LAVC’s “Hope” include Justine Ortega, Raylene Marquez Lopez, Joel Catano, Cuauhtemoc Alejandro, Ruben Gabriel Hernandez, Nancy A. Garcia, Veronica Avalos, Rafael Estrada and Claire Gongora.
Award Nominations
Performing in the play has brought accolades to several “Hope” actors and crew members.
Nova, Alejandro, and Garcia are nominees for the Irene Ryan Award from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, according to professor Jaffray. Crystal Nieto is up for the Design, Technology, and Management award. This national fest involves 18,000 students annually from colleges and universities across the country.
For tickets and more information for “A Mexican Trilogy: An American Story” visit www.latinotheaterco.org/amexicantrilogy.