SAVE THE DATES: Destinos 5th Chicago International Latino Theater Festival to return September 15-October 16, 2022

Fest Alert

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

Destinos 5th Chicago International 

Latino Theater Festival 

(left) New Orleans performance artist José Torres-Tama performed Aliens, Immigrants & Other Evildoers at the National Museum of Mexican Art in 2019 as part of Destinos, 3rd Chicago International Latino Theater Festival (credit: J Taviesa). (right) Adriel Irizarry (front) and Wanda Baez starred in Chicago's Visión Latino Theatre's premiere Y Tu Abuela, Where is She? at The Den Theatre at last year's 4th Destinos (credit: Dylan Cruz)

Mark your calendar!

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we've been covering Destinos, Chicago International Latino Theater Festival since their inception and we've seen some incredible, world class talent and some amazing story telling over the years. Save the dates and check out Destinos, 5th Chicago International Latino Theater Festival.

Destinos, Chicago’s citywide international festival bringing together and showcasing Latino theater artists and companies from Chicago, the U.S. and Latin America, will return, live and in-person, September 15-October 16, 2022.

For five weeks this fall, Destinos will give Chicagoans and visitors to the city the chance to experience a rich, diverse multitude of Latino-themed shows, panels and student performances presented at marquee venues downtown, neighborhood storefront theaters and cultural institutions throughout the Chicago area.

“Do not miss the fifth annual Destinos,” said CLATA Executive Director Myrna Salazar. “Vibrant solo performances, spoken word, and large scale productions from Chicago and U.S. Latino companies, plus visiting artists and productions from Mexico, Puerto Rico and Latin America, will all be on display on Chicago’s top stages, each celebrating the Latino experience.”=

Stay tuned later this spring for the initial Destinos line-up. Until then, visit clata.org for more information and to sign up for CLATA’s weekly e-newsletter. Also, follow Destinos at @latinotheater on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to receive first notice of all festival events.

Destinos is produced by the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA), a transformative cultural engine helping drive the city’s local Latino theater community to international prominence.

CLATA was founded in 2016 as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization by Myrna Salazar and Chicago’s three most prominent Latino arts organizations: the National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA), the International Latino Cultural Center (ILCC), and the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance (PRAA).

For more, visit clata.org or call (312) 631-3112.

CLATA gratefully acknowledges ongoing support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Joyce Foundation, Ford Foundation, Walder Foundation, Arts Work Fund, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation, Illinois Humanities, Shubert Foundation, a CityArts grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Illinois Arts Council Agency, National Endowment for the Arts, Wintrust, Allstate, ComEd and Comcast/Xfinity.

(left) Corazón de Papel by Puerto Rico's Agua, Sol y Sereno, a powerful depiction of Puerto Rico, post-Hurricane Maria, had its Chicago premiere in 2021 at Chopin Theatre as part of Destinos, 4th Chicago International Latino Theater Festival (credit: George Riveron). (right) Chicago’s UrbanTheater Company premiered Back in the Day: An ‘80s House Music Dancesical in 2019, as part of the 3rd Destinos (credit: J Taviesa)

SAVE THE DATES: TEATRO VISTA 2019-20 SEASON

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

Midwest debut of Evelina Fernández’s ‘60s comedic drama with music Hope: Part II of A Mexican Trilogy is part of DESTINOS – Chicago International Latino Theater Festival

Romance meets physical theater in Marvin Quijada’s world premiere The Dream King, directed by Sandra Márquez

Make way for an all-female mariachi band in American Mariachi by José Cruz González, directed by Teatro Vista co-founder Henry Godinez, in association with Goodman Theatre

The Midwest premiere of Hope: Part II of A Mexican Trilogy by Evelina Fernández brings a grand exploration of Mexican American life in the ’60s to the start of Chicago’s fall theater season. Hope follows the voyage of the Morales family through that turbulent, transformational time, marked by a new young president, the dawn of the sexual revolution and the rock ‘n’ roll explosion. Teatro Vista Artistic Director Ricardo Gutiérrez directs. Hope: Part II of A Mexican Trilogy is also the company’s entry in DESTINOS – 3rd Chicago International Latino Theater Festival. Performances are September 21 – October 27, 2019 at a location TBA.

Next spring Teatro Vista breathes life into The Dream King, a world premiere by ensemble member Marvin Quijada, directed by fellow ensemble member Sandra Márquez. The Dream King is a genre-bending classic love story with a twist: a man falls in love with the woman of his dreams, while in his dreams. Imaginative, inventive, sweet and sometimes scary, The Dream King is a stunning piece of physical theater, told with a lush musical score and mostly without words. Performances are April 4 – May 10, 2020 at The Richard Christiansen Theatre in The Biograph, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago.

Women mariachis? It’s about time! Teatro Vista’s third 2019-20 production is American Mariachi, a heartwarming and hilarious new comedy about the freedom to dream big by José Cruz González, presented in association with Goodman Theatre. Familia, amor and tradición are at the heart of this hilarious and heartwarming new comedy about an all-female mariachi band. Goodman Resident Artistic Associate Henry Godinez, who co-founded Teatro Vista 30 years ago, directs. Performances are April 25-May 31, 2020 in Goodman’s Albert Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago.

Teatrovista.org is your online gateway to tickets and information about the company’s 2019-20 season.

Single tickets to Teatro Vista’s fall production Hope: Part II of A Mexican Trilogy go on sale this summer via clata.org, the DESTINOS – 3rd Chicago International Latino Theater Festival’s website.

Tickets to The Dream King go on sale Monday, February 24, 2020 online at victorygardens.org and via the Victory Gardens box office,
(773) 871-3000. Single tickets to Teatro Vista productions are $20-$35, with discounts for students, seniors and groups of 10 or more.

Memberships to Goodman Theatre’s 2019-20 season including American Mariachi are on sale now at goodmantheatre.org, in person, or by calling (312) 443-3800 (12noon – 5 p.m., daily). Single tickets to American Mariachi, $20-$70, go on sale on February 14, 2020. Discounted tickets for groups of 10 or more are available now. 

                                                               
More about Teatro Vista’s 2019-20 season

Hope: Part II of A Mexican Trilogy
A Midwest Premiere
By Evelina Fernández
Directed by Artistic Director Ricardo Gutiérrez
September 21 – October 27, 2019
At a location TBA
Part of DESTINOS – 3rd Chicago International Latino Theater Festival



The Midwest premiere of Hope: Part II of A Mexican Trilogy by Evelina Fernández is a grand exploration of Mexican American life in the ’60s. Hope follows the voyage of the Morales family through that turbulent, transformational time, marked by a new young president, the dawn of the sexual revolution and the rock ‘n’ roll explosion. Filled with nostalgic ballads, fantasy sequences and healthy doses of humor, Hope pops with keen visuals and poignant storytelling as it offers a glimpse of the Mexican diaspora in ’60s America.

Teatro Vista’s Hope: Part II of A Mexican Trilogy is presented as part of DESTINOS – 3rd Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, September 19 – October 27, 2019. DESTINOS, produced by the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA), is dedicated to showcasing the Latino experience as told by Latino artists from Chicago, the U.S. and Latin America. Discover more at CLATA.org.

Evelina Fernández (playwright), born and raised in East LA, is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter and actor and she writes about the U.S. Latinx experience. She received the L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Writing of a World Premiere Play for A Mexican Trilogy published by Samuel French. The first work in the trilogy, Hope: Part II of a Mexican Trilogy, premiered in October 2011 at the Los Angeles Theatre Center to critical acclaim, earning Fernández a Best Playwright Ovation Award nomination. Charity: Part III of A Mexican Trilogy premiered next in May 2012 (Backstage’s Critic’s Pick) and Faith: Part I of a Mexican Trilogy followed that October, also to critical acclaim. In fall 2016, the plays were combined for a six-hour epic production, A Mexican Trilogy: An American Story at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. Her plays have made the Los Angeles Times Critic's Choice list; Solitude (2009), Dementia (2010) and her holiday pageant play, La Virgen de Guadalupe, Dios Inantzin, have been featured in the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times. In 2003, Dementia won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Theater Production in L.A. and received four L.A. Stage Alliance Ovation Award nominations, including Best World Premiere. Her most recent play, Premeditation was nominated for three Ovation Awards including Best Theater Production in 2014. In March 2015, her adaptation of Plautus’s Pot of Gold, LA Olla was staged at the Getty Villa Lab and had a full production at her home base, the LATC. She was part of the CTG Writers Workshop where she began her “Virgin” series with The Mother of Henry. She was a writer for Emmy Nominated East Los High seasons two and three and is developing A Mexican Trilogy for television with Wise Entertainment, producers of East Los High. Fernández has won several awards and recognitions nationally and internationally for her work in film and television, including the Nosotros Golden Eagle Award for Outstanding Writing for her produced screenplay, Luminarias; International Film Festival in Bolivia (Best Screenplay – Luminarias), and many more. She was nominated for the Humanitas Prize in 2005 for an episode of PBS’s Maya and Miguel, “Give me a little sign." She was awarded the "Women in Entertainment" award by the Comision Femenil of Los Angeles along with other prominent Latinas; and was honored by the Community Coalition for her community work. She received a commendation from the Los Angeles City Council and was the recipient of the Lifetime Television Latino Pioneer Award in Washington, D.C; the Spirit Award from the Latino Legislative Caucus in Sacramento, CA and the Latina Business Women Association’s Entertainment Award. She was a proud member of Honorable Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s Transition Team in 2005, was appointed by both Mayor Villaraigosa and Mayor Garcetti as a Commissioner on the City of Los Angeles Human Relations Commission. Fernández was honored by La Opinion with the Mujeres Destacadas Award for her contribution to the Arts, received recognition awards from Playwright’s Arena, the National Hispanic Media Coalition and the California State Assembly. Fernández is a founding and board member of the Latino Theater Company and the Los Angeles Theatre Center.

Teatro Vista Executive Artistic Director Ricardo Gutiérrez (director) recently staged the company’s world premieres of Stephanie Alison Walker’s The Madres and The Abuelas. Other Teatro Vista directing credits are The Wolf at the End of the Block, Parachute Men, In The Time of the Butterflies, Between You, Me & The Lampshade, A View From The Bridge, Momma’s Boyz, i put the fear of mexico in ’em and La Mágica Posada. He is co-founder of the Alliance of Latinx Theatre Artists of Chicago (ALTA), a service organization dedicated to promoting and fostering Latinx theater artists in Chicago. As an actor, his credits include Destiny of Desire at Goodman Theatre and South Coast Repertory, In The Heights at Paramount and the world premieres of Song For The Disappeared and Fish Men at Goodman. He has also performed at Actors Theatre in Louisville, Denver Center Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Victory Gardens and Lookingglass Theatre. TV credits include Chicago PD, Sirens and Boss. Before joining Teatro Vista, Gutiérrez served as the artistic director of Nosotros in Los Angeles and The Canterbury Theatre in Indiana.



The Dream King
A World Premiere
By Marvin Quijada
Directed by Sandra Márquez
April 4 – May 10, 2020
At The Richard Christiansen Theatre in The Biograph,
2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago



The Dream King is a genre-bending classic love story with a twist: a man falls in love with the woman of his dreams, while in his dreams. Imaginative, inventive, sweet and sometimes scary, this piece of physical theater, told with a lush musical score and mostly without words, evokes wonder and delight as it delves into the places where sometimes you must confront your personal demons in order to prevail. 

Marvin Quijada (creator, performer) is a Chicago based electronic music producer/composer, iOS musician, DJ, theatrical actor, and a clown/mime. He is an ensemble member with Teatro Vista and Silent Theater. His Teatro Vista stage credits include La Havana Madrid, Mommas Boyz and i put the fear of mexico in ‘em. Other Chicago credits include Pericles, Short Shakespeare! The Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet and Othello (Chicago Shakespeare), Season on the Line (The House Theatre) and The Dueling Gentlemen (Silent Theatre Company) which he wrote and directed. His New York credits include Lulu: A Black and White Silent Play (Silent Theatre) which won best play at the NY Fringe Festival in 2005. TV credits include Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. Follow him on SoundCloud and Instagram: SILENT MARVIN.

Sandra Márquez (director) is a longtime Teatro Vista member where her directing credits include Fade, My Mañana Comes, Breakfast Lunch & Dinner and the Jeff-nominated Our Lady of the Underpass. She has acted in numerous Teatro Vista productions including A View from the Bridge for which she received a Jeff Award. Márquez joined the Steppenwolf ensemble in spring 2016 where she most appeared in Mary Page Marlowe, The Motherf**ker with the Hat, The Roommate, A Streetcar Named Desire, Sonia Flew and One Arm. She completed a three-year arc playing Clytemnestra in what was billed as Court Theater's Iphigenia Cycle (Iphigenia at Aulis, Electra and Agememnon). Film and television credits include Boss, Empire, Chicago Med, Chicago Justice and Timer. Márquez is on the theater faculty at Northwestern University.



American Mariachi
In association with Goodman Theatre
By José Cruz González
Directed by Henry Godinez
April 25 – May 31, 2020
At Goodman’s Albert Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago





Familia, amor and tradición are at the heart of this hilarious and heartwarming new comedy about the freedom to dream big. Lucha spends her days caring for her ailing mother, but longs to shake up her 1970s home life. When a forgotten record album sparks her mother’s memory, Lucha and her cousin strike upon a radical idea: to create an all-female mariachi band. Infused with live mariachi music, this “big-hearted, musical tug at the heartstrings” (Denver Post) reveals how music and love can make just about anything possible.

José Cruz González's plays include American Mariachi (Denver Center Theatre Company, Old Globe Theatre), Sunsets & Margaritas (Denver Center Theatre Company), September Shoes (Geva Theatre), Curious (Teatro del Pueblo), Among the Darkest Shadows (Wharton Center for Performing Arts), The Highest Heaven (Childsplay), The Long Road Today (South Coast Repertory), The Astronaut Farmworker (La Jolla Playhouse) and The Magic Rainforest (The Kennedy Center). González has written for PAZ, the Emmy Award nominated television series produced by Discovery Kids for The Learning Channel. His plays have been published by Dramatic Publishing, University of Texas Press, Smith and Kraus, Inc., Anchorage Press Plays, Inc., Playscripts, Inc., Lion and Seagoat Press, and Dutton Children’s Books. González was a 2016 PEN Center USA Literary Award Finalist, 2015 Orlin Corey Medallion by the Children’s Theatre Foundation, 2012 Ann Shaw Fellowship by Theatre for Young Audiences/USA, 2010 Kennedy Center National Teaching Artist Grant, and is a member of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He is a professor at California State University Los Angeles and a member of The Dramatists Guild of America and TYA/USA. He is a Playwright in Residence at Childsplay (AZ).

Henry Godinez (Director) is the Resident Artistic Associate at Goodman Theatre. As an actor, Godinez appeared most recently in Robert Falls’ reimagining of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, 2666 and the Goodman/Teatro Buendía of Cuba world premiere of Pedro Páramo, and at Writers Theatre in the title role of Quixote: In the Conquest of Self. He has also appeared on television in Chicago PD, Above the Law, The Beast, The Chicago Code, Boss and Chicago Fire. His Goodman directing credits include Charise Castro Smith’s Feathers and Teeth, The Sins of Sor Juana and Mariela in the Desert by Karen Zacarías; José Rivera’s Boleros for the Disenchanted (and world premiere at Yale Repertory Theatre); Regina Taylor’s Millennium Mambo; Luis Alfaro’s Electricidad and Straight as a Line; The Cook by Eduardo Machado; Zoot Suit by Luis Valdez; the Goodman/Teatro Vista co-production of José Rivera’s Cloud Tectonics and the 1996–2001 productions of A Christmas Carol. He also served as director of the Goodman’s Latino Theatre Festival. Co-founder and former artistic director of Teatro Vista, Godinez is the recipient of the 1999 Theatre Communications Group Alan Schneider Director Award, the Distinguished Service Award from the Lawyers for the Creative Arts and was honored as the 2008 Latino Professional of the Year by the Chicago Latino Network. Born in Havana, Cuba, Godinez is a professor at Northwestern University and serves on the Board of Directors of the Illinois Arts Council and Albany Park Theater Project.

 American Mariachi | Director Henry Godinez

About Teatro Vista

Teatro Vista shares and celebrates the riches of Latinx culture with Chicago audiences. The company provides work and professional advancement opportunities for Latinx theatre artists, with special emphasis on the company’s ensemble members, and seeks to enhance the curricular goals of Chicago students through theater. Teatro Vista was celebrated as one of “Chicago’s Cultural Leaders” by the Arts & Business Council of Chicago and received the League of Chicago Theatre’s Artistic Leadership Award.

Teatro Vista’s primary focus is producing new works by Latinx theatre artists and presenting classic plays featuring artists of color. Its artistic vision is shaped by the company’s ensemble members, a group of multi-generational, multi-ethnic and multi- disciplinary artists. They inform Teatro Vista’s artistic aesthetic by devising original works as well as by selecting plays with themes that are engaging and relevant to Chicago’s diverse population.

Teatro Vista was founded in 1990 by Edward Torres and Henry Godinez. As Teatro Vista’s first Artistic Director, Godinez guided the company during the formative years. He helped stage successful productions and establish vital relationships with other theatre companies and artists. When Godinez stepped down, Torres was appointed Artistic Director. Under Torres’ direction, Teatro Vista used the stage to engage, connect and challenge audience members using the company’s mission as his guide.

In 2012, Torres moved to New York and the Board of Directors promoted Associate Artistic Director Ricardo Gutiérrez to the position of Executive Artistic Director. In 2017, Sylvia Lopez joined Teatro Vista as Managing and Development Director. Previously, Lopez was Director of Marketing and Development of the International Latino Cultural Center and had her own
multicultural event production company.

Teatro Vista ensemble members include Charín Álvarez, Max Arciniega, Desmín Borges, Cheryl Lynn Bruce, Ramón Camín, Ivonne Coll, Laura Dahl, Sandra Delgado, Liza Fernández, Khanisha Foster, Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel, Issac Gomez, Ricardo Gutiérrez, Erik Juárez, Jon Lyon, Sandra Márquez, Eddie Martinez, Salome Martinez, Joe Minoso, Ayssette Muñoz, Christina Nieves, Marvin Quijada, Tommy Rivera-Vega, Gabriel Ruíz, Nate Santana, Cecilia Suarez and co-founder Edward Torres.

Teatro Vista’s Board of Directors is Tom Vega-Byrnes, President; Joan Pantsios, Secretary, and Ezequiel “Zeek” Agosto, Bhuvana Badrinathan, Adela Cepeda, Edgar Delgado, Ricardo Gutiérrez, Kelly Jones, Sylvia Lopez, Kareem Mohamednur, Carina Sanchez, Angel Torres and Jose Vasquez.

Teatro Vista is supported by Alphawood Foundation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, The MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events of the City of Chicago, Art Works, Illinois Arts Council, Lester and Hope Abelson, The Shubert Foundation, The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation, the Bayless Family Foundation and Vidal & Associates. Purple Group is Teatro Vista’s Headline Season Sponsor.

For more, visit teatrovista.org, or follow the company on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

About Goodman Theatre
GOODMAN THEATRE, America’s “Best Regional Theater” (Time) and “Chicago’s flagship resident stage” (Chicago Tribune), is a premier not-for-profit theater distinguished by the quality and scope of its artistic programming and civic engagement. Led by Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, the theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics. In addition, the Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” Key to the theater’s success are its distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Brian Dennehy, Rebecca Gilman, Henry Godinez, Dael Orlandersmith, Steve Scott, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor, Henry Wishcamper and Mary Zimmerman. Awards for artistic excellence include two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and more than 160 Joseph Jefferson Awards. GoodmanTheatre.org

FEST ALERT: 2nd ANNUAL DESTINOS, THE CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL LATINO THEATER FESTIVAL SEPTEMBER 20-NOVEMBER 4, 2018

Chi IL Live Shows On Our Radar:

DESTINOS, 

THE CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL LATINO 

THEATER FESTIVAL, 

RETURNS FOR ITS SECOND YEAR, 

SEPTEMBER 20-NOVEMBER 4, 2018

Travel the diaspora of new Latino theater via world-class, cutting-edge

artists and companies from Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Argentina,

Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and Puerto Rico

Participating theaters and companies include Chicago Shakespeare,

Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf and Victory Gardens, with Aguijón Theater,

National Museum of Mexican Art, The Miracle Center, Teatro Vista, UrbanTheater and Water People

What is the current state of contemporary Latino theater, in a time when cross-cultural understanding has never been more important?

Find out when the Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, known as Destinos, returns for its second annual outing, September 20-November 4, 2018.

Produced by the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA), Destinos will bring together top Latino theater artists and companies from Chicago, the U.S. and around Latin America for seven weeks of shows, panels and student performances held throughout the city.

The second annual Destinos will celebrate homegrown Latino theater artists and companies, both emerging and established, from the host city, Chicago. Destinos will also showcase artists from Dallas and Los Angeles. Theater artists and companies from Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and Puerto Rico round out the festival’s deep roster of international participants, helping underscore the growing reputation for Destinos as one of the country’s leading international Latino theater festivals.

Destinos presents in a range of marquee theaters like Chicago Shakespeare, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf, and Victory Gardens, to theaters and cultural institutions in predominantly Latino neighborhoods like Aguijón Theater in Belmont Cragin, National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen, The Miracle Center in Logan Square/Hermosa, and UrbanTheater Company in Humboldt Park. Other participating Chicago companies include Teatro Vista and Water People Theater.

“I'm honored and excited to have been given the opportunity to lead CLATA,” said Myrna Salazar, executive director, Chicago Latino Theater Alliance. “Through Destinos, the second Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, we continue to fuel the vital connection of Chicago's enriching and exciting Latino theater community to their international counterparts, whose lives and stories mirror each other, and are very much embedded in today’s American kaleidoscope of cultures."

Likewise, Martin R. Castro, founding board chair of CLATA, states “I’m so proud of the great line up we have for our second year of Destinos! There is literally something for every interest! Now more than ever, we must stand and celebrate our rich artistic and cultural heritage as Latinos and support Latinx theatre in Chicago, in the United States and in the hemisphere.” 

The second annual Destinos festival launches with a kick-off reception on Monday, September 17 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St. in downtown Chicago, in the GAR Hall & Rotunda. Leaders from the local Latino community will join the festival’s civic and philanthropic supporters, Chicago media, the city’s arts and theater community, and CLATA board, staff and volunteers to welcome and toast participating Latino theater artists from Chicago and around the world.

Stay tuned to the Destinos website, clata.org, in the coming weeks for the launch of online ticket sales, and news of other festival events including free roundtable discussions that will address political and identity issues within the Latino community.

To avoid hearing the words “sold out,” Chicago Latinos, Latinophiles and the city’s most avid cultural consumers are strongly encouraged to sign up for the Destinos weekly eblast at clata.org. Or, follow Destinos on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to receive first notice of all festival events.



Following is an advance sampler of the shows, artists, companies and venues confirmed to participate (at press time) in Destinos, September 20-November 4, 2018:


Chicago
American Jornalero / American Day Laborer (Midwest Premiere) by Ed Cardona Jr., a drama about a collision between immigrant day laborers and white power vigilantes, is a Teatro Vista presentation in the Richard Christiansen Theater at Victory Gardens,
2433 N. Lincoln Ave., October 18-21.

Casa Propia / A House of Her Own (Midwest Premiere) by Dolores Prida, a lighthearted yet poignant comedy about a woman’s tireless quest for her American Dream, will run October 18-November 25 at Aguijón Theater, 2707 N. Laramie Ave. in Belmont Cragin.

Musas / Muses (Midwest Premiere) by Néstor Caballero (Chicago Premiere), presented by Water People Theater in a co-presentation with American Writers Museum and The Poetry Foundation, imagines an extraordinary encounter between two icons of contemporary art, Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and American poet Sylvia Plath. Performances are September 20-23 in Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre as part of the LookOut Series, 1700 N. Halsted St.

Not For Sale (World Premiere) by Guadalís Del Carmen tackling issues of gentrification and displacement in Humboldt Park. With new neighbors looking to make changes west of Western Avenue in a community rich with decades of culture, the question persists who gets to lay claim to the neighborhood? Performances are September 20-October 21 at UrbanTheater Company, 2620 W. Division St. in Humboldt Park.

The Real Life Adventures of Jimmy de la Rosas (World Premiere) by Chicago playwright Ricardo Gamboa. Jimmy’s just your average boy on the block — except he can move things with his mind. When his mother goes missing, joining the numbers of other people disappearing from the hood, Jimmy will have to turn up the heat on his mutant abilities to rescue her and find out who is behind the kidnappings. Performances are October 11-21 at Pulaski Park, 1419 W. Blackhawk St. in Noble Square.

There’s a Coqui in My Shoe! (World Premiere) by The Miracle Center’s Playwright, Roberto J. Negron, an adaptation of Marissa de Jesus Paolicelli’s children’s book about Puerto Rico’s national mascot, the Coquí (little tree frog). Performances are September 21-October 13 at The Miracle Center, 2311 N. Pulaski Rd. in Logan Square/Hermosa.


National 



An American Odyssey (Midwest Premiere), via Culture Clash from Los Angeles, the award-winning Chicano kings of comedy with a character study of real people and true stories from the shadows, borders and badlands of America. This is a timely co-presentation with Victory Gardens Theater, October 4-7 in the Richard Christiansen Theater.

WET: A DACAmented Journey (Midwest premiere) by Alex Alpharaoh via Cara Mía Theatre and Ignite/Arts Dallas chronicles the desperation and limitations DREAMers feel navigating a broken U.S. immigration system. This co-presentation with the Latino Policy Forum runs October 11-14 in the Richard Christiansen Theater at Victory Gardens.


International






Luna de Cristal / Crystal Moon (U.S. Premiere) from Puerto Rico’s Cuarto Blanco tells the story of a family of three confronting the realities of their lives and the unexpected event that unites them, October 11-14 at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre, presented as part of the LookOut Series.


 


Mendoza (U.S. Premiere), an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s MacBeth reimagined against the 1910 backdrop of the Mexican Revolution, comes courtesy of Mexico’s Los Colochos Teatro in a co-presentation with the Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., October 2-7. Mendoza is adapted by Antonio Zuniga and Juan Carrillo, directed by Carrillo.





El Patio / The Patio (North American Premiere), by Oscar Gonzàlez, David Korish and Janko Navarro via Costa Rica’s Teatro Abya Yala, offers glimpses of masculinity in different situations, exploring the impossibility of fulfilling the societal idea of what it means to be a man today. It runs September 27-29 at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre, presented as part of the LookOut Series.

La Prietty Guoman / Pretty Woman (U.S. Premiere) from Teatro de la Ciudad Cabaret in Mexico City is a cabaret style narration of the life of an exuberant, brown and transgender girl who is a fan of the film Pretty Woman. It runs October 5-6 at the National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th St. in Pilsen.

Quiero Decir Te Amo / I Want to Say I Love You (North American premiere) is a drama by Humo Negro from Argentina about a car accident and a chance encounter that leads to a series of love letters and an unexpected romance. Performances are October 4-7 at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre, presented as part of the LookOut Series.




About Destinos, the Chicago International Latino Theater Festival

Now entering its second year, the Destinos festival is the signature program of the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA), a transformative cultural engine helping drive the city’s local Latino theater community to a more prominent level.

“In Spanish, the word Destinos has multiple meanings: destinies, destinations or fate,” explains Myrna Salazar, executive director, CLATA. “Destinos, the Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, shares the power of live theater to amplify ‘first-voice’ Latino artists and to create a cross-cultural experience.”

CLATA’s goal is to create the country’s leading international Latino theater festival with an emphasis on showcasing Chicago Latino theater artists and companies. Additionally CLATA provides local groups ongoing organizational support, is working diligently to create a permanent home for Chicago’s Latino theater artists, and ultimately works to underscore Chicago’s reputation as one of the most exciting and culturally diverse theater cities in the world.

CLATA was founded in 2016 as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization by Myrna Salazar and the three most prominent Chicago Latino arts organizations: National Museum of Mexican Art (NNMA), International Latino Cultural Center (ILCC), and Puerto Rican Arts Alliance (PRAA), with the generous support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. 

The first annual Destinos festival in the fall of 2017 ran for five weeks, and presented 61 performances by 10 companies from Chicago, the U.S. and Latin America. In sum, last year’s inaugural festival engaged approximately 8,000 people, including more than 850 students who attended matinee performances and participated in post-show discussions with artists, directors and playwrights.

The second annual Destinos 2018 festival is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Field Foundation of Illinois, The Joyce Foundation, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust, Choose Chicago, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Illinois Humanities, Southwest Airlines, Allstate, ComEd and Corona Extra.

For more information, visit clata.org or call (312) 631-3112.

FEST ALERT: Chicago International Latino Theater Festival: DESTINOS 9/29-10/29

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

1st Chicago International Latino Theater Festival! 

SEPTEMBER 29 - OCTOBER 29

 Chicago International Latino Theater Festival:

DESTINOS

Here at ChiIL Live Shows we're excited to see all the stellar companies bringing productions to Chicago's first Latino Theater Festival. We'll be out to review Amarillo at Chicago Shakespeare Theater's new space, The Yard. And we hope to catch many of the following offerings at Steppenwolf's 1700 space and Victory Gardens as well. Check out the full festival schedule HERE. 

I, the Worst of All (U.S. premiere)

By Iraida Tapias │ Directed by Juan José Martín

Performed by Water People Theater

Presented at the National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th St.

Medea (U.S. premiere)

By Marian Pabón │ Directed by Julio Ramos

Performed by Arte Boricua (Puerto Rico)

A LookOut Visiting Company

Presented at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre, 700 N. Halsted St.

Lovesick

Created by Teatro Luna │ Directed by Alexandra Meda

Performed by Teatro Luna

Presented at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave.

Death and the Maiden (La Muerte y la Doncella)

By Ariel Dorfman │ Directed by Sándor Menéndez

Performed by Aguijón Theater

A LookOut Visiting Company

Presented at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre, 700 N. Halsted St.

Growing Up Gonzales (regional premiere)

By Felix Rojas │ Directed by Felix Rojas

Performed by Andres "Chulisi" Rodriguez

Presented at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave.

Amarillo (regional premiere)

Created by Teatro Línea de Sombra’s ensemble │ Directed by Jorge A. Vargas

Co-presented by CLATA and Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Performed by Teatro Línea de Sombra (Mexico)

Presented at The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare, 800 E. Grand Ave.

Ashes of Light (world premiere)

By Marco Antonio Rodriguez │ Directed by Miranda Gonzalez

Performed by Urban Theater Company

Presented at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave.

The Mirror (U.S. premiere)

By Abelardo Estorino │Directed by María de Los Ángeles Montero Tamayo

Performed by Ludi Teatro (Cuba)

A LookOut Visiting Company

Presented at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre, 700 N. Halsted St.

Miss Julie (regional premiere)

Adapted by J.Ed Araiza │ Directed by Lorenzo Montanini

Performed by Vueltas Bravas Producciones (Colombia)

A LookOut Visiting Company

Presented at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre, 700 N. Halsted St.

Meet Juan(ito) Doe

By Ricardo Gamboa │Directed by Ricardo Gamboa and Ana Velazquez

Performed by Back of The Yards Theater in a special collaboration with Ricardo Gamboa

Presented at the Back of The Yards Storyfront, 4346 S. Ashland Ave.