Fly Babies / Piojos: As I watch...

WELCOME TO MY FRIDAY BLOG!

As an artist of Pregones Theater I have performed many roles: actress, dramaturg, lyricist; and have directed a nice share of our repertory. I have created this blog to share my reflections on the way I make theater, in the context of Pregones Ensemble. So here is my first posting. I wrote it in November, after a very special performance at our beautiful theater in the Bronx.

Enjoy! Rosalba

FLY BABIES / PIOJOS: As I Watch...

November 19, 2011 @ Pregones Theater                                                                              

by Rosalba Rolón  -  Fly Babies blog 1 of 6                                                                                           

I sat all the way in the back of the theater to watch FLY BABIES / PIOJOS. Until that day, towards the end of the run, I hadn't had the courage to sit for the entire play. Each time I tried to watch it my attention was split between the performance, the audience, the sound, the tech booth...

Somehow I found the level of concentration needed to just sit and watch, without judgement, wondering how the heck we got to that point. I heard the songs I had written and the words I had found to tell a story, the characters I had carved. All of it was being 'told' back to me. FLY BABIES / PIOJOS is a musical play about lice. A social satire revealed through an entomologist, an opera singer, an upscale lice consultant, an activist and a struggling actor. Who carries lice, how does it spread, why do people from different backgrounds react different to them, how can they be controled? "The problem is the global exchange of certain kind of people", says one one of the characters. This point of view shapes the 'brown alert', created to control the explosion of 'brown' all over the world.

On this day the theater is packed with a very mixed audience. The youngest at least 3 years old. The oldest way into her 90's. Neighbors, visitors from out of town, teenagers and adult couples. I didn't know any of them which is a great thing. It is the kind of audience whose reactions are truly from the heart and from the gut.

As the play unfolds I see and feel its strenghts, I see the creases, its imperfections, like a tailor who sees a stitch out of place and would love to just grab it and fix it in the moment. But the actors and musicians own Fly Babies by now. The board ops in the tech booth are dancing while running the lighting, digital and translations boards. They are all giving 200%. To their delight, the audience gives 200% right back. The after-performance dialogue is meant for a group of students, but a good chunk of the audience stays for the conversation. The questions are astute. The testimonials are heartwarming. The performance is a triumph.

I can iron those creases later. I can fix the stitches in a snap. There will always be another opportunity. That's the beauty of a live performance, and of Pregones Theater. I will write about the process of creating FLY BABIES / PIOJOS in another blog. For now, I sigh.

WE DID IT!

(piojos - Spanish for "lice"; pronounced pee-o-hos)

Here’s to:

the players: Desmar Guevara (my right hand), musical director and composer, Antonio Vargas (my left hand), choreographer; actors (In alphabetical order) Rosal Colón, Shadia Feiruz, Elise Hernández, Jesús Martínez, Omar Pėrez; musicians Anthony Carrillo, Alberto Toro, Benji Willis;

the tech/stage team: Cleo Vivas, Jessica Moya, Milton Ruiz; stage manager Karina Fernández, stage/magic hand Charmaine Santiago;

the creative team: Lucrecia Briceño (lighting), Brian Ireland (set), Harry Nadal (costumes), Fish Rodríguez (visuals); Erika Rojas (photography)

my co-conspirators: Alvan Colón Lespier, Jorge Merced, Arnaldo López;

the awesome staff: Maggie González, Priscilla Aguilar, James Figueroa, Shaina Sosa, Bobby Bodón, Norma De La Cruz, Ismael Estrada.

Next Blog ... Next Friday

Fly Babies / Piojos - The Lyrics