Photo Source: Martin Rojas
That's the premise of "Trío Los Machos," Josefina López's follow-up to her enormously successful "Real Women Have Curves." The self-described homage to her father, written partly to reconcile her feminist views with Latino "macho" culture, mixes fabulous tunes with charming characters, local history, and color—with a bit of politics thrown in. But it's far from a seamless amalgamation. While this theatrical hodgepodge of material has lots of high notes, it's difficult to overlook elements that are just plain jarring.
Directed by Edward Padilla, veteran performers Miguel Santana, Roberto Garza, and Henry Aceves Madrid are endearing as Lalo, Nacho, and Paco, respectively. They're the present-day Los Machos, restaurant balladeers who've lost their mojo; it's so lost that their off-key songs and quarrels are driving away customers. But underneath the fighting, their deep, loving bond can be seen. We grow to understand that bond when we meet the men in their youth, working as braceros. Gilbert Rodriguez, Josh Duron, and Adrian Quiñonez are good as the young trio; what a treat to hear the music as it's supposed to be. Rodriguez in particular is a dynamite musician.
In the music "Trío Los Machos" draws its greatest strength. Much of López's dialogue comes across as strained, but the songs from the group's heyday are delightful, especially after the fantastic Rocio Mendoza joins the cast as lead singer and love interest Aurelia.
The contributions of other musicians, including Roberto Carlos and Jesus Martinez, are also strong points of the production. Design and technical aspects are less successful; the new theater's large performance space feels cramped, and on opening night, a flickering slide show seriously distracted from the story of the braceros—a potentially fascinating tale that is not yet stylistically integrated into this new work.
Presented by and at Casa 0101 Theater, 2102 E. First St., L.A. June 8–July 8. Fri. and Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 5 p.m. (323) 263-7684 or www.casa0101.org.
