Latin Grammy Winning Gaby Moreno Joins “The Queen of Make Believe”

Latin  Grammy Award Winning Chanteuse Gaby Moreno Performs In The Restaging Of Evangeline, The Queen Of Make-Believe March 29 To April 8 At Plaza De La Raza´s Margo Albert Theater.

Los Angeles, California – About Productions is proud to announce the Evangeline Initiative in commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the 1968 East L.A. Student Walkouts, and featuring multiple educational components serving East L.A. and regional youth. The Initiative includes a restaging of the critically acclaimed production of Evangeline, the Queen of Make-Believe for the first time in East L.A. Shows will run March 29-April 8, 2018 at Plaza de la Raza in Lincoln Heights.
Evangeline, the Queen of Make-Believe is the first and only original play to incorporate the Grammy Award-winning songbook of Louie Pérez and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos. “I’m excited to share our gutsy Evangeline again with this new staging,” Pérez explains, “especially with the fabulous singing voice of Gaby Moreno as The Neighborhood. I’m looking forward to seeing the production come alive again, and hearing Gaby’s interpretation of the songs David and I wrote.”
Guatemalan-born, L.A.-based Gaby Moreno is a  Latin Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter. Her non-speaking character, “The Neighborhood,” is witness to the play’s action and responds through the music which she will interpret in an acoustic style that compliments this intimate restaging. Moreno says “It’s really been wonderful to revisit these songs that became a part of my DNA after moving to Los Angeles. I strive to do these songs justice as they represent the hopes, dreams, cultures, and collective voices of a community which thrives no matter what the current climate is.” She adds “I feel the character Evangeline is a great feminist role model. She follows her own path despite pressures from home. She could easily fall into the common patterns which stereotype women but she marches to the beat of her own drum.”

Set in 1968 and told through story and song, Evangeline is a co-creation of Theresa Chavez (who also directs), Rose Portillo (Zoot Suit), and Louie Pérez, and centers on an East L.A. high school graduate who is a devoted daughter by day and a West Hollywood go-go dancer by night. Inspired by the time period, she spreads her wings and lands in the distinctly different world of the Hollywood art and music scene. As East L.A. begins its own civil rights movement, she must reconcile her personal journey with the need to hold on to her relationship with her family and her neighborhood.
The cast includes Ashley Diane performing the lead role of Evangeline. She will be joined by Blanca Araceli, Adrian Brizuela, Moises Castro, Kiki McCleary, and Keyla Monterroso Mejia.
Panel and Community Forum: this event is free to the public on March 31 at 4:00 pm (between shows)
The Legacy of the 1968 Student Walkouts: How Far Have We Come?
A three-generation panel of community activists, plus community forum.
Panelists include: Walkout organizers Paula Crisostomo and Vickie Castro, Associate Director of InnerCity Struggle Henry Perez, and current walkout high school student activist (TBA).
Additional Education Components
– Post-Play Discussions – see Performance Dates and Times below
– Residency at Pueblo de Los Angeles continuation high school (adjacent to Lincoln High School) – highest-risk students will study Evangeline themes and write plays reflecting their own lives. January 16 to March 22; Culmination at Pueblo on March 22.
– Free Morning Matinee of Evangeline, the Queen of Make-Believe for high school students on April 5th
– Evangeline Discovery Guide – explores 1960s cultural and political history; distribution to Pueblo and high schools attending morning matinee.
Performance Dates and Times: