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Putting on the POWER SUIT!
Topics: Zoot Suit, Bakersfield, Luis Valdez, Mas Magazine, Bakotopia, Lauren Helper, theater, theatre, Review, Spotlight, Kristina Saldana
Posted by lhelper Mon Mar 3, 2008 18:08:07 PST
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0 responses 2 comments Location: 1622 19th st., Bakersfield, CA 93301

Putting on the POWER SUIT!
Spotlight Theatre to chronicle infamous Sleepy Lagoon murder trial & the cultural mood of the times in popular Latino play, “Zoot Suit”. RUNNING MARCH 9-22!



By Lauren Helper, Bakotopia / MÁS Magazine

The long, tailored jacket paired with high-waisted trousers and swinging gold chain, topped off by a flat-brimmed, feathered hat — the oversized zoot suit style of the 1930s and ’40s has become a familiar part of America’s cultural wardrobe.

And, thanks to Luis Valdez’s popular play, so has the plight of the men who wore it.

First-time director Kristina Saldana, along with a cast of about two dozen local actors, will try “Zoot Suit” on for size at the Spotlight Theater beginning tonight, March 7.

“It’s an important piece of history, and also a great piece of theater,” said Saldana, 22.

In “Zoot Suit,” set in the barrios of Los Angeles against the backdrop of World War II, Valdez weaves a story involving the real-life events of the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial — when a group of young Mexican-Americans were wrongfully charged with murder — and the Zoot Suit Riots, using them to examine prejudices, the role of the media in the judicial system, and Latino family culture.

In the play, Henry Reyna (inspired by real-life defendant Henry Leyvas) is a pachuco gangster about to give up his flashy clothes for a Navy uniform when he and his gang are thrown in jail for a murder they did not commit.


Real-life Sleepy Lagoon defendant Henry Leyvas

The mythical character El Pachuco cajoles Reyna to resist the social injustices of an unfair trial and fight for his community. He does so, but the play ends without resolving his future.


"El Pachuco"

In the 1970s, Valdez wrote “Zoot Suit” as a fictional work that mixed in some of the facts from the trial and the riots. In reality, the Sleepy Lagoon (1942-43) case was the largest mass trial in California’s history — with 17 young Mexican-American boys arrested for the murder of one man. Five others were charged with assault.

Yet it’s not a subject typically taught in history classes.

“I learned about it from my dad,” said Saldana, a Cal State student. “He’d say, ‘It happened like this ...’”

Opening in 1978, the original “Zoot Suit” sold out every time it played in Los Angeles, setting a new standard for Chicano theater and making Valdez a recognized leader in American drama.


'Zoot Suit' - the play and movie..

A film version, produced in 1981 starring Edward James Olmos and Daniel Valdez (the playwright’s brother, who had played Henry in the stage production as well), brought the vivid portrayal of social injustice to movie theaters.

“I didn’t watch the movie. I didn’t want it to cloud my vision,” said Saldana, first tapped to direct the local “Zoot Suit” production more than a year ago.

Spotlight artistic director Hal Friedman said the theater wanted to do a play that would appeal to the large local Hispanic community. After a meeting with the Kern County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, “Zoot Suit” was chosen.



Since the Spotlight got the rights to go ahead with the play the first of the year, Saldana has been working to ensure that her “Zoot Suit” incarnation is a success, starting with auditions at the first of the year.

Saldana was originally concerned about finding enough talented local Hispanic actors to cast the roles — like main characters Henry Reyna and El Pachuco, Henry’s family, his 38th Street Gang and the rival Downey Gang.
She ended up being pleasantly surprised by the large talent pool — with one exception.

“No white people showed up,” said Saldana, chuckling. “I had to put out a second call and say, ‘There are parts for you, too!’”

Saldana ended up casting quite a few theater “newbies,” including five high school students.

Eric Bracamonte, 23, said he found a lot he could relate to in the character of 21-year-old Henry Reyna, described as “dark, Indian looking, older than his years.”

“He’s the leader of a street gang, but he’s always trying to better himself and his situation, which is evident when he decides to join the Navy,” said Bracamonte, who said he hopes his portrayal is “as real and honest as it can be.”

Bracamonte said he gets very attached to the characters he plays, and Reyna is no exception.



“I’ll be walking down the street thinking about the part and talking to myself. People probably think I’m crazy,” Bracamonte said with a laugh.

Bracamonte, who was familiar with the film version of “Zoot Suit” before he signed on for the part, said although the story is rooted in history, it still has relevance for today’s audience.

“A lot of the themes still apply. It’s timeless,” he said.

While Bracamonte’s role requires a natural intensity to stand out as a believable leader, the part of El Pachuco — the archetypal zoot-suiter who narrates the show and acts as the conscience of Reyna — is that of a one-man Greek chorus.

“I kind of think of him as that little devil on your shoulder,” said Phil Velasquez, 24, of his role as the voice of cynical reason.

The character of El Pachuco — a slang word that stands for the zoot suit style of dress, the attitude and the language — was a persona worn by rebellious young Chicanos whose zoot suits were worn with a swagger and defiance.

When the audience meets El Pachuco at the start of the play, after adjusting his clothing and painstakingly tending to his hair, “He is transformed into the very image of the pachuco myth, from his porkpie hat to the tip of his four-foot watch chain. Now he turns to the audience. His three-soled shoes with metal taps click-clack as he proudly, slovenly, defiantly makes his way down stage. He stops and assumes a pachuco stance,” reads the “Zoot Suit” script.

“The stance is the hardest part. It kills my calves,” said Velasquez, who’s been acting for 10 years.

Velasquez said he was happy to get the part because he’s always been fascinated by the Sleepy Lagoon trial and Zoot Suit Riots.

“My uncle likes to tell stories, so the subject was familiar to me,” said Velasquez, whose role requires him to to sing — “You better get hep tonight/and put on that zoot suit!” — and speak in Spanish.

“It’s quite a bit of Spanish. I’m really regretting that my parents didn’t teach me,” said Velasquez, who’s having a choir major help him with his singing voice.

The play’s language also includes smatterings of “Calo,” a dialect distinctive to the Pachuco culture. The program provides a translation for the audience of the most commonly used words, such as carnal/carnalito, which means brother or little brother; ese, which means “bro” or dude; and ruca, which means girlfriend.

Norma Gaspar, 46, who moved here from Mexico five years ago, plays Henry’s mother, Dolores Reyna.

Gaspar describes Dolores as a “typical mom,” worried about her kids going out and getting into trouble.

“‘Zoot Suit’ really communicates the importance of families staying together no matter what,” said Gaspar, who added that although Valdez’s play reaches back into history for a specific Mexican-American incident, it concerns the problems of all ethnic minorities in America.

“I’ve learned that unfortunately things haven’t changed too much. People are still judging other races based on skin color and the way they dress.”


• “Zoot Suit,” written by Luis Valdez & directed by Kristina Saldana, at the Spotlight Theatre, 1622 19th St.
• Shows: March 7, 8, 14, 15, 21 & 22 at 8 p.m.; and March 9 and 16 at 2 p.m.
• Tickets: $15 for general admission; $12 students, seniors and active military; $5, children under 11. Tickets are an additional $3 if purchased the day of the show.
• Details: 634-0692
• Alice McGrath, on whom the character in “Zoot Suit” Alice Broomfield is based, will speak on Sunday, March 9, at 12:30 p.m. For more than 65 years, Alice Greenfield McGrath has been a social justice activist and advocate. She worked for the Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee in the 1940s, and continues to fight for fairness in the courts and the availability of affordable legal services.


Kern County connection: Luis Valdez
Luis Valdez, widely regarded as the father of Chicano theater in the United States, was born in Delano, Calif. to migrant farmworker parents.

Valdez graduated from James Lick High School in San Jose and went on to attend San Jose State University (SJSU) on a scholarship for math and physics.

He later switched his major and earned a degree in English in 1964, and began pursuing his interest in drama.

After graduation, Valdez spent the next few months with The San Francisco Mime Troupe, where he was introduced to agitprop theatre.

In 1965, Valdez came back to Delano in order to aid Cesar Chavez’s fight for farmworker rights. It was here that Valdez discovered the value of drama as propaganda. He convinced some of the workers to act in plays that would illustrate their plight, and began a theater company, El Teatro Campesino. The brief plays Valdez wrote for the troupe helped their civil rights struggles.

Valdez and the troupe became responsible for creating a specific form of drama — the acto — which became a genuinely Mexican-American form defined by its brief, flexible sketches relating to working-class Chicanos that carried with them a social or political message.

Valdez’s first work that brought him some attention to larger audiences was the play “Zoot Suit,” which weaves a story involving the real-life events of the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial, when a group of young Mexican-Americans were wrongfully charged with murder — and the Zoot Suit Riots. “Zoot Suit” ran in 1978 at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and played for 46 weeks to more than 40,000 people. With “Zoot Suit,” Valdez became the first Chicano director to have a play presented on Broadway in 1979. It was made into a film in 1981.

The film that brought Valdez his breakthrough into mainstream America as a writer and director was “La Bamba,” which debuted in 1987. The film, about Ritchie Valens, a popular Chicano 1950s rock and roller, was an overwhelming box office success.

Story printed in Bakotopia Magazine, Issue 23, 3-6-08 and Mas Magazine 3-7-08

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Comment From: matt

I love 'Zoot Suit' the movie, can't wait to see the play! Excellent write-up Lauren! Matt :-) Comment From: twinkie

EEEEK! I loved the movie Zoot Suit also! We watched it as a double matinee along with E.T. Yeah, I know weird pairing, right? Still, it left me mesmerized. The suits, the suave chicos, everything. In fact, I just bought the movie last year on amazon.com. How exciting. I will definitely be hitting the Spotlight for this!