by José de la Isla
Hispanic Link News Service
Part one
MEXICO CITY — Dan Guerrero was sitting with the sold-out audience at Teatro Jiménez Rueda downtown for the Chicano musical Zoot Suit, performed by the National Theater Company of Mexico April 4. This is its second Spanish-language run in Mexico.
The original play, written by Luis Valdez, opened on New York’s Broadway in 1979 and was made into a movie in 1981. Edward James Olmos played the lead as El Pachuco. It is part of a repository of enduring Latino performing arts now drawing on the next generation of audiences to appreciate.
This is how culture is passed along. The story has lessons that history books leave better to the arts for understanding. In this case, the music, choreography and styling also make for an engrossing evening.
Zoot Suit is loosely based on the 1940s’ Sleepy Lagoon homicide in Southern California and the so-called “zoot suit riots” when white soldiers and sailors rampaged against Mexican-American youth in baggy pants and the zoot suit pachuco style. The situation was a media driven mania that occurred from misplaced World War II patriotism and self-righteousness.
It was the same kind of public mistake as the one over Beatles-length hair, afros, ducktails, and tie-dye that were taken to mean youth resistance and opposition. Right after the jazz age, zoot suit came to denote what beatnik did later, followed by hippy, Rock’n’Roll and other forms of non-conformist, ergo “delinquent,” expression.
In the ’40s, Chicano youth were pinpointed as the opposition. Their style even meant the Axis in our midst, the enemy-within, with irrational reactions by some establishment people that even took official form.
All this is documented fact. It is similar to how reactionaries have made irrational thinking part of today’s perception of a part of the Latino community, who are labeled “Illegal aliens,” but are just people struggling to get by. This happens when part of the public gets freaked out and the other part can’t bring them back in check. Retribution maniacs can drive public opinion.
Similarly, something like that happened when Lou Dobbs, Pat Buchanan and others drove the mood of fear following the 2001 terrorist attacks. They and others misled the public and pointed an accusing finger at Latino undocumented Latinos as the enemies to blame.
Now here’s the genius of the play: it captures the spirit of the times, defense of the youths and their style, while telling the story using the distorted news coverage as messenger, Big Band sounds, swing, boleros, corridos, and salsa. Many are the compositions of Lalo Guerrero, Dan’s father.
This is the West Side Story of our time. Audiences on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border might now understand this better than when it first appeared.
Dan, a Hollywood producer, director and former Broadway agent, was in town to present a documentary at Casa California, the University of California center in this city, and take in the show. I participated in the arrangements, and he was met by an enthusiastic audience that included some of the cast from the play.
Lalo Guerrero (1916-2005) was a musical phenomenon in his time. He is known as “the original Chicano.” Lalo wrote and performed music for two national audiences simultaneously. The Casa California documentary about him and his music includes Linda Ronstadt, Dolores Huerta, César Chávez, Cheech Marín, President Clinton, Edward James Olmos, Paul Rodríguez, Luis Valdez and many others.
Dan will soon begin a talk show originating from Los Angeles on Pacifica Radio that is planned to go into syndication. A new stage version of Zoot Suit for U.S. audiences is also reported in the offing, with English and Spanish language performances.
As the curtain came down last week, lead actor Everardo Arzate stepped to the front of the stage to introduce the son of the man who contributed so much of its play’s music.
Dan Guerrero, like the play, received thunderous applause.
(José de la Isla, a nationally syndicated columnist for Hispanic Link and Scripps Howard news services, has been recognized for two consecutive years for his commentaries by New America Media. Reach him at joseisla3@yahoo.com.)
Find this column in Spanish and more news and commentary at www.hispaniclink.org.
