Closing the curtains

UTPA Theatre previews new fall season, final year

Note: This article originally appeared in the Sep. 4, 2014 issue of The Pan American. The Pan American was the student newspaper at my former university, The University of Texas - Pan American, where I got into writing. Ultimately, TPA was shut down as a result of a merger with neighboring university to make way for The University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley and the new student publication did not transfer anything from TPA. Here's one of my articles for them that was saved thanks to the miracle of Google Docs.

The University Theatre Productions is getting ready for its fall season that begins next month. Theater Director Thomas Grabowski discussed how the start of the 2014 fall semester marks the beginning of the end of the University Theatre Program. This is due to the upcoming merger with The University of Texas at Brownsville that will open The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley next fall.

“When we started picking performances for this school year, we didn’t even realize that it actually was our last year,” said the University of Illinois alum who has been at the University for 33 years. “We’re assuming that we’re going to continue doing the same thing we’ve been doing and prepare for our spring season. We haven’t heard anything saying otherwise.”

THE PRODUCTIONS

The season starts off with Richard III, a historical play by William Shakespeare that depicts the rise of King Richard III of England and his two-year reign from 1483 to 1485. In the play, the king is portrayed as a villainous hero who schemes his way to the top. It is set to run Oct. 8–12 at the Albert L. Jeffers Theatre.

Zebastian Duchene, a junior who has the role of Richard III’s co-conspirator, the Duke of Buckingham, noted the changes the adaptation makes from Shakespeare’s drama. According to the finance major, changes include the condensing of several storylines to focus exclusively on Richard III, as well as a completely different setting.

“The production is set in an post-apocalyptic world where society is trying to rebuild itself after an undisclosed fallout,” the McAllen native said. “Even though it’s a different place, the play manages to recreate the political climate of the story that personifies several human faults.”

UTPA Professor Brian Warren wrote the play and managed to slash as much as half of the original four-hour run-time to make Richard III accessible for students while ensuring the adaptation will satisfy Shakespeare purists. He noted that this is the first time that the theater department has performed one of Shakespeare’s historical plays, which covered English history from the 12th to the 16th centuries.

Despite the fact that the original play was written more than four centuries ago, the Iowa native believes that audiences would still be interested in the story due to the themes in Richard III he sees as “relevant,” and the popularity of the award-winning series House of Cards. The blockbuster series from Netflix depicts a congressman who schemes and backstabs his way to the top, much like Richard III.

“The play is a behind-the-scenes look at politically ambitious people who do things in the name of power,” Warren said. “Even though the events depicted took place in the 15th century, the behavior of these characters and the question the play asks, ‘how much power can these people have before they start to lose themselves?’ makes for a compelling drama.”

DRAMA

The second production from the theater department is the original drama Locked. It depicts an African-American family that discovers an ancestor of theirs was a slave - a realization that shocks them. Locked was inspired by a family heirloom that UTPA art professor Lorenzo Pace, a co-writer of the production, is in possession of: the metal lock that bound his great-grandfather in chains when the latter was a slave.

English professor Philip Zwerling, the other writer of the production, commented on the difficulty of casting the play, which featured a dominant African-American cast. This caused him and Pace to go out into the community into places such as Edinburg’s Rising Star Baptist Church to recruit actors.

“In the seven years I’ve been teaching here, I’ve never seen an African-American-themed production, this may be a first for the department,” the New York native said. “[Pace] and I were interested in seeing how a family would react to discover something as shocking as slavery about an ancestor. Even though the characters are fictional, it tells a story that is real and important.”

Locked is scheduled to run Oct. 23–26 in the UTPA Studio Theatre, adjacent to the Albert L. Jeffers Theatre in the Arts and Humanities Building.

COMEDY

Following a slave-themed drama, the tone for the department’s next play is wildly different. The Mystery of the Shady Palms RV Park, an original comedy by UTPA professor Eric Wiley follows the owner of a Winter Texan RV park who is desperately trying to sell it. THis biggest obstacle in getting rid of the park is the fact that visitors keep disappearing, turning off potential buyers.

“Part of the fun in watching the play is the performance of the students as they’ll all be acting as Winter Texans,” said Wiley, who received his doctorate in theatre from Louisiana State University in 1999. “They’ll be dressed in old-people makeup having fun, and that enthusiasm will hopefully translate in the audiences enjoying the play as much as the actors are enjoying acting in it.”

The Mystery of the Shady Palms RV Park will run Nov. 19-23 in the UTPA Studio Theatre.

CHRISTMAS

The final production of the season will be Pastorela, otherwise known as A Shepherd's Play, which is part of the department’s Theatre for Young Audiences Program. The program produces plays aimed at young audiences and features child actors working with student actors.

Pastorela tells the story of a group of shepherds who follow the star of Bethlehem to meet the Christ Child. It is directed by University Theatre alumna Martha Angelica Chavez de Palmerin and will run Dec. 4-7.

LOOKING AHEAD

Gina Marie, a veteran student actress for the last two years, is unfazed by the coming changes to the programs. The 28-year-old Pharr native pointed out that more students will have a chance to major in theatre, as UTB never had a theater program nor did they offered a degree in that field. Because of this, she is looking forward to see what the UTRGV theater program will offer.

“It’s a bittersweet year, but it’s helping our new season stand out more, marking the beginning of great things for the community,” said Marie, a theatre performance major. “I see [UTRGV] as not only something that will unite the community, but the entire Rio Grande Valley.”

Professor Warren is also interested in what the new university will bring and hopes some of the accomplishments from UTPA’s theater program will transform to UTRGV’s program.

“Our purpose is to educate the community and our students through our productions,” he said. “We’re going to continue with that mission and keep the quality of our plays. We’ll see where this collaboration with UTRGV takes us.”

More information about the UTPA Theatre Productions, including their spring lineup, can be found at the website.

A growing minority

UTPA students discuss rising Hispanic moviegoers

Note: This article originally appeared in the July 23, 2014 issue of The Pan American. The Pan American was the student newspaper at my former university, The University of Texas - Pan American, where I got into writing. Ultimately, TPA was shut down as a result of a merger with neighboring university to make way for The University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley and the new student publication did not transfer anything from TPA. Here's one of my articles for them that was saved thanks to the miracle of Google Docs.

Hannah Jones, an accounting major at UTPA, loves attending the movie theater. The Harlingen native religious watches a new movie at least twice a week, a habit she picked up from her family which is Hispanic on her mother’s side.

“My family always sees going to the movies as a family affair. My aunt takes my cousins there every weekend,” the 23-year-old explained. “It’s a great way for all of us to get together and have fun for a few hours and relax.”

According to a July 7 report from pop culture magazine Entertainment Weekly, 2014 box office earnings are down 4 percent from this point last year.However, because of the spending habits of Jones’ family, and other Hispanics nationwide, attendance from Hispanic moviegoers is on the rise.

The Motion Picture Association of America, or the MPAA, released its annual Theatrical Market Statistics March 27. Among the numbers that were reported, it was revealed that Hispanic audiences are becoming big consumers.

Despite the fact that Whites account for 54 percent of total ticket sales in 2013, they only watch an average of three movies per year, the lowest attendance of any ethnicity. Hispanic audiences made up the highest attendance by watching an average of six while African Americans and other ethnicities marked as “other” watch four films.

Jones’ views on moviegoing and family entertainment for Hispanic audiences is reflected in a January 2013 report from Nielsen Holdings. Nielsen, a New York based group that monitors what consumers buy and watch on a daily basis, found that Hispanic audiences were 86 percent more likely to attend movies with friends and family, compared to any other demographic.

Even though UTPA senior Arnold Fonseca hasn’t had a chance to go to the movies since the start of the spring semester due to schoolwork, he believes these numbers are important and reflect the rise of the Hispanic population, which is expected to nearly triple by 2060 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Hispanics are already the largest minority group in the country with 52 million people, or 17 percent of the American population.

“This culture isn’t going anywhere and we’re seeing how it’s affecting everything, even the movies,” the 25-year-old physics major said. “Attending the theaters is a form of escapism that’s perfect for hanging out with friends and family members, and now we know that other cultures enjoy it, especially since there’s a lot of deals going on to make going to the movies relatively cheaper than usual.”

The average price of a movie ticket is currently $7.96, down from $8.35 in the previous quarter, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In addition, all Rio Grande Valley theaters are currently participating in “Discount Tuesday,” where tickets are on sale at the discounted price of $5.25 all day every Tuesday at selected Carmike and Cinemark theaters nationwide.

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

Despite representing 17 percent of the total American population, Hispanics made a huge contribution in total ticket sales last year, according to the MPAA. Of the 1.34 billion tickets sold in 2013, a full quarter were bought by Hispanic moviegoers alone.

A recent film that succeeded due to its Hispanic audience was the Spanish-language comedy Instructions Not Included, starring Mexican comedian Eugenio Derbez. The film was a “sleeper hit” when it opened last summer, as box office analysts failed to predict the film’s final gross of nearly $45 million domestically - even though it opened in less than 350 theaters nationwide, according to Box Office Mojo. The movie ended up becoming both the highest-grossing Spanish film and the fourth highest-grossing foreign film in the U.S.

In an attempt to recapture the success of Instructions Not Included, Pantelion, the studio
that distributed the film, is releasing the Spanish-language drama Cantinflas during
next month’s Labor Day weekend, according to Variety. This is the same weekend Instructions was released in theaters last year. Cantinflas centers around Mario “Cantinflas” Moreno, the popular comedian who is often referred to as the “Mexican Charlie Chaplin.” The film depicts Cantinflas’
personal life as he films his American debut, the 1956 Academy Award winning
film Around the World in 80 Days.  

Seemingly, studios tried another method of luring Hispanic audiences to the theaters this past spring by releasing Spanish-dubbed versions of several movies. These included the religious dramas Son of God and Noah as well as the biopic Cesar Chavez.

According to an October 2012 article from The Hollywood Reporter, Hispanic audiences flock to movies with religious themes and films in the animated and horror genres.

The same article mentions that studios promote their movies to Hispanic audiences on Mexican radio channels and television stations such as Univision and Telemundo as well as in heavily populated Hispanic areas such as California, South Texas, and Miami.

AUDIENCE EXPECTATIONS

After hearing about these findings, UTPA student John Garza said the results were “eye-opening” and that he hoped it would lead to an increase in Hispanic actors. Nonetheless, he worried about what kind of message this could send studios, especially if they would decide to make more Hispanic-themed films.  

“Even though I’m Hispanic, even I wouldn’t want to see a movie that is minority-oriented because it would feel like pandering,” the 21-year-old senior said. “In most of the movies I’ve seen, Hispanics get the stereotyped roles like a cleaning person or the one who knows all about demons in horror movies. When are we going to get a movie franchise of our own?”

Garza believes that visibility is an issue for Hispanic actors, though recognition for the minority group in Hollywood. This past March, Mexican director became the first Latino to win a Best Director  Academy Award for his blockbuster film Gravity. Puerto Rican actor Benicio del Toro has a role in next month’s Guardians of the Galaxy, the latest superhero film from Marvel studios. Latina actress Michelle Rodriguez, meanwhile,  has appeared in several action films such as the Resident Evil and The Fast and the Furious  franchise as well as Avatar, the highest grossing film of all time, making her one of the most well-known female action stars.   

Despite the large attendance from Hispanics, Hispanic-themed films aren’t immediate successes. Cesar Chavez ultimately ended up grossing $5.5 million despite the legacy of the civil rights activist. The crime-horror film Deliver Us from Evil, which features a Spanish priest in a secondary role, was released July 3 and has so far accumulated $25 million. Last August saw the release of the Matt Damon sci-fi film Elysium, which was set in Los Angeles and featured a supporting cast of Hispanic actors. With a budget of $115 million, Elysium underwhelmed at the box office by grossing $93 million domestically.

Brian Warren, a UTPA professor in TV/film/theater, speculated that those films disappointed at the box office not because of the emphasis on Hispanic themes, but because of their quality.

“As a biopic, a horror film and a sci-fi film, all three of them don’t look anything different than what we usually get,” the University of Houston alumnus said. “Those films may have failed because of how oversaturated the marketplace is with films of the genres, and they didn’t look like they provided audiences with anything new. Despite the audiences it tries to reach, films need to be good, or at least look like they’re offering something different.”

While the Iowa native thinks the findings of the survey are vital and reflect what audiences want in their movies, he believes people respond to good stories, regardless of the race depicted onscreen.

“I still remember seeing the film Gandhi and being mesmerized by it despite the fact that the movie featured a lead character who was Indian. Story supersedes race,” he explained, “Movies tend to cross other barriers and can speak to anyone. They are a universal form of entertainment that people can enjoy despite who they see onscreen.”

A place to be proud

McAllen’s Cordoba Cafe holds PRIDE event

Note: This article originally appeared in The Pan American's website June 28, 2014. The Pan American was the student newspaper at my former university, The University of Texas - Pan American, where I got into writing. Ultimately, TPA was shut down as a result of a merger with neighboring university to make way for The University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley and the new student publication did not transfer anything from TPA. Here's one of my articles for them that was saved thanks to the miracle of Google Docs.

After a brief hesitation, UTPA student Samantha Herrera takes a quick breath to compose herself, then begins telling the audience at the patio of McAllen’s Cordoba Cafe of her coming out experience.

“My aunt and uncle, who I was living with at the time in Edinburg, were Baptist ministers so I wasn’t going to tell them,” the 22-year-old English major said to the hushed crowd June 22. “I didn’t feel safe to tell anyone about my identity as a queer woman until I went away from home to Michigan for my freshman year of college.”

This was the scene at the LGBT Pride Speak-Out event, which took place at 1303 N. 10th St. The function was hosted by several UTPA organizations including UTPA’s Feminist Club, which Herrera is a member of.  The gathering was held in June to commemorate Pride Month, a month-long celebration to honor the 1969 Stonewall Riots. According to the Library of Congress, the Stonewall Riots were a series of protests at a Manhattan gay bar following a police raid, and the event is considered to be a major tipping point in the fight for LGBT equality.

The LGBT Pride Speak-Out included a viewing of the film Antes Dios, Todos Somos Familia, or Before God, We Are All a Family. The 2013 film consists of interviews with several openly gay Catholic LGBT members and their families who talk about how they balance their religion and their sexuality. Following the viewing was an “open mic,” where audience members were invited to take the stage and talk about their experiences with homosexuality.

For Herrera, the open mic was the first time she had come out publicly, an experience she said was as scary as it was empowering. She was motivated to do so to celebrate her identity and inspire others to do the same.

“We don’t come out just once. First, we have to come out to ourselves, then to our family and friends, then we have to do it whenever someone asks us,” she explained. “As long as we create a space where we’re proud of ourselves, then I’m going to keep doing it.”

The UTPA chapter of the Texas Freedom Network  helped organize LGBT Pride Speak-Out. Texas Freedom Network is a liberal organization whose members seek to protect individual liberties and religious freedom. Ruben Garza, a field organizer for the group, was on hand at the event.

“We’re trying to get the message across that there’s a community of acceptance right here in the (Rio Grande) Valley, especially since down here it’s a predominant Catholic and ‘machismo’ culture,” said the 2013 UTPA Mexican-American studies and political science alumnus. “We want to create a space of understanding, unity, acceptance and visibility, especially since some events happening [in Texas] may not inspire hope for LGBT citizens.”

The Edinburg native was referring to several events that happened in Texas this past month that have gained national attention. These include a family court judge in Tarrant County, located in Fort Worth, denying parental rights to the biological twin boys of a homosexual couple, as well as the Texas Republican Party recently voting to adopt a platform that supports “reparative therapy” for gays.

Reparative therapy, otherwise known as “conversion therapy” according to the American Psychiatric Association, is a form of treatment that seeks to convert homosexuals to heterosexuality. The APA and other organizations oppose this therapy because it is based on the assumption that homosexuality is a mental disorder, or that people can change their orientation, which the APA declassified in 1974.

According to The Washington Post, since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a key part of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that denied federal recognition to married same-sex couples last year, seven more states have legalized same-sex marriage. This has raised the number total number of states that recognize same-sex unions to 19. The rest of the 31 states have a same-sex marriage ban and have pending lawsuits challenging the ruling as unconstitutional, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

After the event, which had approximately 25 attendees, Garza admitted that there was a missed opportunity due to the video screening and its intended audience.

“Most of the attendees were college-aged students who may have probably severed all ties with the church,” he said. “We wanted to invite several people, including the older generation, to make the movie relatable to them since they went through the same thing as the parents in the film, but we can always improve that for our next event.”

Lorena Singh, a community advocate for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, also attended the open mic. She quoted a 2009 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that surveyed 7,000 13 to 21-year-old LGBT students and the violent experiences they’ve faced because of their sexual orientation. According to the study, one in five LGBT students is a victim of physical assault in school.

“We need to be able to do better than this,” the 43-year-old UTPA alumna said. “We need to show the LGBT youth that they do have support available and they should never have to be afraid just because of who they are.”

Other Pride events included the third annual Pride March hosted by the campus group the UTPA LGBT alliance. The march was held Friday, June 27 in the C-1 parking lot at UTPA at 5:30 p.m.

‘A Night in Old Mexico’

Screening promotes local filmmaking

Note: This article originally appeared May 27, 2014 online at the website for The Pan American. The Pan American was the student newspaper at my former university, The University of Texas - Pan American, where I got into writing. Ultimately, TPA was shut down as a result of a merger with neighboring university to make way for The University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley and the new student publication did not transfer anything from TPA. Here's one of my articles for them that was saved thanks to the miracle of Google Docs.

Thanks to the CineSol Independent Film Festival, a showcase that screens films from Rio Grande Valley filmmakers annually across the RGV, local residents had a chance to see Robert Duvall’s A Night in Old Mexico, which was filmed in Brownsville.

In the movie, Academy Award-winning actor Duvall (Tender Mercies, 1984) plays a cantankerous rancher whose land is claimed by the bank, causing him to go on a trip to Mexico to serve as a last “hurrah.” His estranged grandson is dragged along and through a series of coincidences the two inadvertently end up with stolen money from a drug kingpin.

A Night in Old Mexico had a limited release May 16 that also coincided with its release via several digital platforms, such as iTunes and Amazon Instant. According to CineSol Festival Director Henry Serrato, this release strategy made many local theaters reluctant to carry the movie. This led him to screen the movie at Cine el Rey during Memorial Day weekend May 24 at 7 p.m. and May 25 at 2 and 5 p.m. for $10 per ticket. Previously, the film was shown at The University of Texas at Brownsville May 23.

Despite taking place in Mexico, A Night in Old Mexico was shot in Rio Hondo and Brownsville during summer 2012 over a period of three weeks. Locations in Brownsville included The Capitol Theatre on 1101 E. Levee St. and the Camille Lightner Playhouse at 1 Dean Porter Park.

For Serrato, a Harlingen native who graduated from UTPA in 1997, the screening was a chance to show how local filmmaking could benefit the Valley’s economy and local talent.

“When a film is shot down here, it brings in income to the city while also allowing us to build a reputation with film companies that will hopefully bring in more filmmaking opportunities for the Rio Grande Valley,” the 40-year-old explained. “The movie had at least 500 local people involved...as extras and for many, this was the only chance for them to see their work.”

Ashley Beane, an alumna of the University of North Texas, was one of the more than 80 people who attended the Friday evening screening to promote her non-profit organization Rio Grande Valley Film Society (FiSo). The organization has been active for three months and promotes the advancement of local filmmaking. She discussed several benefits of filming in the RGV, such as companies receiving tax incentives for shooting in low-income areas.

“We have a lot to offer and we need to show that the film industry in the RGV has a lot of talent available and can compete with the film industries of other much more well-known places,” the radio/TV/film graduate said.

Cynthia Sarmiento, an extra in the film, attended the Friday screening along with her family. Many of the Weslaco native’s scenes involved her interacting with Duvall; she's a big fan.

“He was so relaxed and down to earth and would always say ‘hi’ to everyone,” the 2011 UTPA alumna recalled. “One time, during a break from shooting, he actually sat next to me on a bench and started making small talk. I was so starstruck by the fact that he was talking to me that I just nodded and smiled at him and realized, ‘Crap, he probably thinks I’m not talking because I don’t know English or something.’”

Other recent Hollywood productions filmed in Brownsville include the 2012 Mel Gibson thriller Get the Gringo and a Season Two episode of the NBC drama Friday Night Lights. Endgame, an independent film about a Brownsville chess team starring Modern Family’s Rico Rodriguez and Napoleon Dynamite’s Efren Ramirez, is currently in post-production.