Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater To Premiere New Musical

Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater-NYC's foremost theater company championing Latinx cultural expression and centering Puerto Rican artistry-will premiere ¡GUARACHA! on Friday, November 15. ¡GUARACHA! is an ensemble musical adapted from the acclaimed satirical novel-La guaracha del Macho Camacho (Macho Camacho's Beat) by Luis Rafael Sánchez. In creating the book and lyrics for ¡GUARACHA!, Pregones/PRTT Artistic Director Rosalba Rolón relayed Sanchez's incisive wit and humor through original music by Pregones/PRTT's Musical Director Desmar Guevara, and performances by a Latinx acting ensemble and a live five-piece band.

Set during an epic traffic jam in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the lively commentary of six over the top characters: The Deejay, The Senator, The Socialite Wife, The Son, The Mistress and Doña Chon (the nosey neighbor) gives way to poignant social critique. As the sun blazes, one hit song-"La vida es una cosa fenomenal" (Life Is A Phenomenal Thing)-blares out of the car radios of every immobilized car. One by one, in counterpoint and in unison, each of the characters in ¡GUARACHA! reveals their innermost dreams and perplexities, and how we're all tangled up in each other's lives.

The idea for a musical adaptation was jointly proposed by Rolón and the late Miriam Colón, both longtime admirers of the source novel and its author. "I am thrilled that our theater will make Miriam's dream of the production of ¡GUARACHA! a reality," says Rolón who also directs the play. "I am beyond excited that an author of the significance of Luis Rafael Sánchez has supported our creative process and that the production is surrounded by a community of talented artists." The work's premiere takes on a special meaning as it is dedicated to the memory of Colón, a towering figure of Puerto Rican, Latinx, and bilingual theater.

Published in 1976, Sánchez's novel was quickly acknowledged as a Latin American masterpiece, lauded for its keen insight into postmodern life and for possessing a rhythmic quality drawn from quotidian Puerto Rican life. The show will run November 15 through December 15 at the historic home of the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater on West 47th Street, and is performed in Spanish and English with supertitles in both languages.

This performance is made possible, in part, with public funds from the National Endowment for Arts; The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with City Council; and The New York State Council on the Arts, with support from Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. Southwest Airlines is the official airline of Pregones/PRTT.

¡GUARACHA! will run 8:00 pm Thursdays through Saturdays, with 3:00 pm matinees on Saturdays and Sundays. The show is being presented in Pregones/PRTT's Off-Broadway theater house located at 304 West 47th Street, New York, NY. Tickets start at $20.00 and are on sale now at www.PregonesPRTT.org or by phone at 718-585-1202

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