Runs Until February 19th At Casa 0101
Theater Review
By Edgar Lopez
CASA 0101 Theater is now harboring a multicultural, vigorous and colorful iconic musical from Disney, Aladdin: Dual Language Edition. The revival of this beloved story on the stage of Los Angeles’ East Side art venue has caught the attention of several musical lovers in the community.
Based on the 1992 popular Disney’s animated film, this dual-language edition (English/Spanish) which is also presented by TNH productions, brings to the City of Los Angeles a new concept full of magical elements such as love, loyalty, optimism and hope.
The extraordinary thing about this new concept it is not only the love story between the street urchin and a beautiful princess who meet in the marketplace of the fictional Middle Eastern City of Agrabah, but about the diversified and talented cast (more than 20 actors and dancers) that make this production unique and inclusive. The dual-language concept first started in Texas in 2009.
Michael Torreblanca & Valeria Maldonado. Photo by Luis Gaudi
In the production , Aladdin (Michael Torreblanca) and princess Jasmine (Valeria Maldonado) and their loyal friends not only fight against the malicious and destructive forces of Jafar (Omar Mata) in order to conquer love, but also show the audience that every single member in a community has a lot to give regardless of their color of theirs skin or language.
With the help of the Genie (Lewis Powel III) and the Magic Carpet (Danielle Espinoza) the “street rat”, as Jafar likes to call him, overcomes all kinds of obstacles in his way, including the language barrier, which at the beginning of the story does not allow him to understand the words spoken by the beautiful daughter of the Sultan.
Dramaturgically, the purpose of this lovely production was to incorporate two languages (English and Spanish) so that bilingual audiences could easily understand the musical directed by Rigo Tejeda and produced by Conrado Terrazas, Felipe Agredano, Edward Padilla and Emmanuel Deleage.
Personally, Aladdin: Dual Language Edition conveys the importance for artists working together to work on new and broader concepts like this where, children and adults, no matter what ethnicity, can learn to identify and embrace diversity. As I stated above, it is very interesting, given the political situation of the country, to highlight the importance of a diverse community.
The production is presented on CASA 0101 Theater’s Main Stage, 2102 East First Street (at St. Lous Street directly across the street from the Hollenbeck Police Station), Boyle Heights, CA 90033.
When: 8 p.m Fridays; 2, 5 and 8 p.m Saturdays; 1, 4 and 7 p.m Sundays; ends Feb. 19
Information: (323) 263- 7684, www.casa0101.org
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