Chavez
musical resonates
By Daniel Frias
On-line Forty-Niner
 HOLLYWOOD
— Friends and family of the late Cesar E.
Chavez gathered Friday night at the El Portal
Theatre in North Hollywood for the world
premiere of “Cesar and Ruben” the Cesar
Chavez story.
The musical, written and directed by Ed
Begley Jr., is a production celebrating
the life of Cesar Chavez and Ruben Salazar,
a journalist for the Los Angeles Times who
chronicled the work Chavez did in defense
of the migrant farm workers.
The two-hour musical opens with Ruben Salazar,
played by Tony D’Arc, at a bar in East LA.
Roberto Alcazar, who plays Cesar Chavez
is married to Rosa Moreno-Alcaraz, a psychologist
at Cal State Long Beach’s Counseling and
Psychological Services.
The musical journeys through Chavez’s life
through his eyes and puts the viewer on
a roller coaster of emotions throughout
the entire play, that makes the viewer laugh,
proud, joyful and happy. More importantly,
it makes you remember the life and legacy
of Chavez.
In the opening scene Cesar is talking to
Salazar trying to figure out where he is
and what happened to him.
“I’m here to help you remember,” Salazar
said. “Help us all remember.”
The sets, designed by James Jeremias, were
simple, as were the costumes. The girls
wore puffy fifties dresses with thin sweaters
and the men, depending on the scene, wore
slacks or jeans and fifties sombreros.
The most important thing in the musical
was, of course, the music. The music was
contemporary by artists Enrique Iglesias,
Peter Gabriel, Carlos Santana, Sting, Carmen
Moreno, Ruben Blades, Joni Mitchell and
several others.
The first song in the play was “Nunca Te
Olvidare” by Iglesias. Alcazar sang this
song beautifully and you felt Chavez’s profound
love for his wife Helen. The song was sung
in Spanish with the words in English shown
on the background.
The “Corrido de Dolores Huerta” by Carmen
Moreno in Act 1, scene 7 was one of the
more up-tempo songs and rhythmic dancing
scenes in the play. “Sangre Antigua” also
by Moreno in scene 5 has Alcazar sing with
his male ensemble about their pride of being
descendents of the Aztecs.
The play is full of ballads, up-tempo songs
and some rock ‘n’ roll. Even a rap song
by the Mexican rap group Control Machete
makes its way into the musical. Edward Laurence
Albert, who plays the role of the grower
Naylor, gives his rendition of “Si, Senor”
in act 2 scene 3. He does a pretty good
job of rapping in Spanish even though it’s
somewhat difficult to understand the words.
Alcazar and D’Arc have wonderful chemistry
on stage, giving a great performance through
his portrayal of Chavez.
The play ends where it begins with Alcaraz
signing “Nunca Te Olvidare” in Spanish.
This time he signs a duet with his wife
Helen, played by Marta Dubios, with black
and white pictures of Chavez from a boy
to a man shown on the background screen.
The spotlight shines of Alcaraz as he is
led off stage by Salazar.
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