FAITH: PART ONE OF A MEXICAN TRILOGY World Premiere Plays Latino Theater Company, 10/19-11/11

"Faith: Part One of a Mexican Trilogy," a World Premiere engagement of a new play by Evelina Fernandez, will be directed by Jose Luis Valenzuela and presented by The Latino Theater Company at the Los Angeles Theatre Center (in Theatre 3, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, Calif.). The production opens Friday, October 19, 2012 at 8 p.m., runs through Sunday, November 11.

"Faith" finds Silvestre and Esperanza Morales and their children in Arizona, a couple decades after the Mexican Revolution, during the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The family is poor, but still better off than the older generation was in Mexico.

Silvestre and Esperanza have three daughters, all born in the U.S.A. The girls have never been to Mexico, and America is all the country they know. Esperanza is very Old World and strict with them. Silvestre is more easy-going.

The girls are beautiful and musically talented, and Las Hermanas Morales find approval entering amateur singing competitions. Faith, the eldest, wants to go to Los Angeles to sing in nightclubs, which can only enrage her mother. All three youngsters are approaching womanhood, which means they are tempted by boys and sex and other trouble-making pursuits.

Silvestre is a miner and also a union organizer, an activity deeply rooted in his Catholic faith which will nonetheless place him in great danger. He has also kept a secret hidden in his heart, away from Esperanza's view.

So there's plenty for Esperanza to worry about.

The cast includes Evelina Fernandez, Esperanza America, Alexis de la Rocha, Olivia Delgado, Sal Lopez, Xavi Moreno, Matias Ponce, Geoffrey Rivas, and Lucy Rodriguez.

The show plays Thursday through Saturday at 8:00, Sunday at 3:00. Tickets are $34. Students, seniors and veterans: $20. LATC Members: $15. A limited number of tickets will be available for Thursday performances at $10. On Opening Night, October 19, all seats are $34.

SPECIAL: A dinner-and-show option is available on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. A $50 ticket includes one show admission plus dinner at the nearby Portofino Restaurant (5th & Main Streets).

For reservations, call toll-free, (866) 811-4111 or go online at www.thelatc.org.

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